Modern-day home of the oldest discovered library in the world

SYRIA

This Middle Eastern country was once part of the ancient kingdom where the Ebla tablets—a collection of over 20,000 cuneiform texts—were unearthed in the 1970s.

The oldest known library was uncovered in the ancient city of Ebla, which is in present-day Syria. Archaeologists found thousands of clay tablets there dating back over 4,500 years, making it the earliest discovered organized collection of written works. The clue points to Syria because it’s the modern country where Ebla’s ruins—and thus the library—are located.