The oldest alphabetic writing ever identified discovered in Syria: why it is important

A group of archaeologists from the Johns Hopkins University made a discovery that could rewrite the story of the origins of alphabetic writing. During an excavation at Tell Umm-el Marraan ancient Syrian city, gods have been found clay cylinders with alphabetic engravings dating back, apparently, to 2400 BC These finds they would precede so about 500 years the oldest evidence of alphabetic writing (I recommend, “alphabetic”, not of writing in an absolute sense) known to date, namely those ofProto-Sinaitic alphabet. The discovery at the moment was only announcedawaiting publication of the associated research.

The discovery of clay cylinders in Syria: the alphabetic writing of 2400 BC

Among the artifacts found at the Syrian site by archaeologists from Johns Hopkins University, there is a tomb which contained six skeletons, gold and silver jewelry, ceramic pottery and also four clay cylinders. These cylinders have engravings that appear to be alphabetical forms radically different from the hieroglyphic or cuneiform writing systems in use in 3rd millennium BC The cylinders are drilledwhich led scholars to speculate that they might be tied with strings to act as labelsperhaps to identify the contents or owner of the vessels with which they were associated. THE texts are yet to be deciphered (assuming it is possible), but the context of the findings and the analyzes al carbon-14 confirm a dating of the context around 2400 BC

Why the discovery of the first alphabetic writing is important

Unlike complex systems like i hieroglyphs or the cuneiform writingthe invention of alphabets in antiquity has simplified the writing process by attributing a sound to certain easy-to-use symbols. The oldest alphabetic system known until the discovery of the Syrian cylinders was the Proto-Sinaitic one, which originated in Egypt between 1900 and 1800 BC However, the discovery at Tell Umm-el Marra suggests that the use of an alphabetic script may have occurred much earlierand in a region different than imagined so far. The new finds point to an alternative origin in Syriaolder than half a millennium.