Glyn Moody<p>‘Spreadsheets of empire’: red tape goes back 4,000 years, say scientists after Iraq finds - <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/mar/15/stone-tablets-mesopotamia-iraq-red-tape-bureaucracy" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">theguardian.com/science/2025/m</span><span class="invisible">ar/15/stone-tablets-mesopotamia-iraq-red-tape-bureaucracy</span></a> "Ancient <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/Mesopotamian" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Mesopotamian</span></a> stone tablets show extraordinary detail and reach of government in cradle of world civilisations" <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/cuneiform" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>cuneiform</span></a></p>