World’s oldest alphabetic writing found in ancient Syrian tomb

Latest update:Nov 23, 2024 04:26 PM IST

In the early 2000s, archaeologists excavating a tomb at Tell Umm el-Marr, a site 35 miles east of Aleppo, Syria, discovered four clay cylinders marked with cryptic symbols.

Clay cylinders were discovered next to six skeletons. (Photo credit: X)

Small clay cylinders discovered in an ancient Syrian tomb may be the world’s oldest known evidence of alphabetic writing, predating previous examples by centuries, researchers believe.

In the early 2000s, archaeologists excavating a tomb at Tell Umm el-Marr, a site 35 miles east of Aleppo, Syria, discovered four clay cylinders marked with cryptic symbols. Decades later, a team of researchers from Johns Hopkins University and the University of Amsterdam concluded that these markings could represent letters of the alphabet. If confirmed, the discovery will challenge long-held assumptions about the origins of the alphabet.

Radiocarbon dating shows that the cylinders were made around 2400 BC, some 500 years earlier than the Proto-Sinaitic script, which is considered the oldest known alphabetic script, dating to around 1900 BC. on the Sinai Peninsula.

Clay cylinders were discovered alongside six skeletons, jewelry, cooking utensils and pottery, suggesting the tomb belonged to a wealthy family. On one cylinder is written the word “Silanu”, which archaeologists speculate may be the name – perhaps of the sender or recipient of the grave goods.

“But our artifacts are older and come from a different area on the map, suggesting that the alphabet may have a completely different origin story than we thought,” said Glenn Schwartz, a Johns Hopkins archaeologist, during a presentation at the recent American Society for Foreign Studies. meeting.

https://hub.jhu.edu/2024/11/21/ancient-alphabet-discovered-syria/

Alphabetic writing marks an important moment in human communication. Unlike earlier systems such as cuneiform or hieroglyphs, which required thousands of characters to represent words or syllables, alphabets simplify language into a set of 20–30 characters.

Schwartz explained, “Alphabetic writing changed the way people lived, thought, and communicated.”

This discovery may indicate that this transformative development of language began earlier and further north than previously thought.

The purpose of the artifacts remains unclear, but Schwartz speculates that the small holes in the cylinders may have been used to attach them to objects, perhaps as labels.

Although Schwartz and several prominent scientists believe that the symbols represent letters of the alphabet, this conclusion is not generally accepted.

“When you only have a few very short inscriptions, it can be difficult to determine how many characters the system has,” notes Philippa Steel, a classicist at the University of Cambridge. She remains cautious in suggesting that the symbols may resemble Proto-Sinaitic writing. but it is not necessary to confirm it as alphabetical.