Oldest alphabetic writing found in ancient Syrian tomb

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Oldest alphabetic writing found in ancient Syrian tomb
by Clarence Oxford
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Nov 21, 2024

Etched onto small clay cylinders, researchers from Johns Hopkins University have uncovered what could be the earliest known alphabetic writing in human history. The artifacts, excavated from a tomb in Syria, date back to around 2400 BCE - approximately 500 years earlier than previously identified alphabetic scripts.

The discovery challenges existing theories about the origins and spread of alphabetic writing, offering new perspectives on communication in early urban civilizations.

"Alphabets revolutionized writing by making it accessible to people beyond royalty and the socially elite. Alphabetic writing changed the way people lived, how they thought, how they communicated," said Glenn Schwartz, a Johns Hopkins University archaeology professor. Schwartz, who discovered the artifacts, added, "This new discovery shows that people were experimenting with new communication technologies much earlier and in a different location than we had imagined before now."

Schwartz plans to present his findings on Nov. 21 at the American Society of Overseas Research's Annual Meeting.

Schwartz, an expert in Near Eastern archaeology, has studied urban development in Syria and the rise of medium-sized cities in the region. In collaboration with researchers from the University of Amsterdam, he co-directed a 16-year-long excavation at Tell Umm-el Marra, a prominent urban center in western Syria during the Early Bronze Age.

At the site, the team uncovered tombs containing six skeletons, gold and silver jewelry, cookware, a spearhead, and intact pottery. Among the discoveries were four lightly baked clay cylinders, perforated and featuring what appears to be alphabetic writing.

"The cylinders were perforated, so I'm imagining a string tethering them to another object to act as a label. Maybe they detail the contents of a vessel, or maybe where the vessel came from, or who it belonged to," Schwartz explained. "Without a means to translate the writing, we can only speculate."

Carbon-14 dating confirmed the cylinders' antiquity, solidifying their date to around 2400 BCE.

"Previously, scholars thought the alphabet was invented in or around Egypt sometime after 1900 BCE," Schwartz said. "But our artifacts are older and from a different area on the map, suggesting the alphabet may have an entirely different origin story than we thought."