Get the latest tech news

Evidence of oldest known alphabetic writing unearthed in ancient Syrian city


Findings suggest alphabetic writing may be some 500 years older than other discoveries

/Published Nov 21, 2024 What appears to be evidence of some of the oldest alphabetic writing in human history is etched onto finger-length, clay cylinders excavated from a tomb in Syria by a team of Johns Hopkins University researchers. Alphabetic writing changed the way people lived, how they thought, how they communicated," said Glenn Schwartz, a professor of archaeology at Johns Hopkins University who discovered the clay cylinders. With colleagues from the University of Amsterdam, he co-directed a 16-year-long archaeological dig at Tell Umm-el Marra, one of the first medium-size urban centers that popped up in western Syria.

Get the Android app

Or read this on Hacker News

Read more on:

Photo of evidence

evidence

Photo of ancient Syrian city

ancient Syrian city

Photo of Syrian

Syrian

Related news:

News photo

The New York Times says OpenAI deleted evidence in its copyright lawsuit

News photo

New York Times lawyers claim OpenAI accidentally deleted evidence in copyright case

News photo

Fair coins tend to land on the side they started (2023)