New evidence of the world's oldest alphabet, carved onto finger-length clay cylinders, outdates other scripts by 500 years.

"Previously, scholars thought the alphabet was invented in or around Egypt sometime after 1900 BCE," Schwartz said. "But our artifacts are older and from a different area on the map, suggesting ...

The early human discovery dating back to 2400 BC was made by analyzing clay fragments at a 16-year-long archaeological dig in ...

The writing was etched onto clay cylinders discovered during a dig at an ancient Syrian city ... "Previously, scholars thought the alphabet was invented in or around Egypt sometime after 1900 ...