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Serdar Yalçin , Macalester College

(THE CONVERSATION) The earliest form of the signature came from ancient Iraq in the form of cylinder seals.

Mesopotamians, the ancient inhabitants of the land between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, are credited for many firsts in human history, including writing, urbanism and the state. Among these inventions, cylinder seals are perhaps the most distinctive but least known.

Seals as artifacts

Thousands of these tiny objects – often no bigger than 2 inches (5 centimeters) in height and 1 inch (2.5 cm) in diameter – are displayed in museums today. They testify to an artistic tradition in ancient Iraq and Syria that remained uni

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