These ancient scripts offer tantalizing clues about civilizations we still don’t fully understand. De Agostini via Getty Images Published: May 15, 2026Last Updated: May 15, 2026 Early civilizations recorded trade, ritual and governance in various written forms, leaving behind systems of communication that shaped human history. Egyptian hieroglyphs and Maya glyphs have been deciphered, but others remain stubbornly encoded, even after centuries of study.