4.1. The beginning of writing and the first alphabets
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While continuous writing conveying a message started in Syria, Sumer or Highland Iran ca. 3500 BC, single symbols, glyphs, marks representing names, places, tracks, gods, etc. are much older. It all possibly started in Australia, ca. 40-50,000 years ago with paintings, rock carvings, chanting and symbols, representing maps, rituals and divination. Apart from Australia, the 4 earliest major river valley civilisations, represent the earliest symbols and writing from 4th millennium BC onwards, as mentioned in the introduction.
Some examples of each of these are listed, supplied with the earliest examples from Europe and the Americas. Since numbers and counting developed before writing, from ca. 8000 BC on, Collection 9 should be consulted as well.
The alphabet was invented in Israel/Palestine/Lebanon about 1700 years after the first continuous writing, and it took another 1000 years before it reached Europe's outskirts. Examples of Proto-Sinaitic/Proto-Canaanite and Ugaritic alphabetic writing and the earliest known Greek alphabet are listed below.
- MS 5086 Australia, 20000-3000 BC
- MS 5073 Australia, 20000-3000 BC
- MS 5087/17 Australia, 20000-3000 BC
- MS 4610 Australia, before 500
- MS 4628 Australia, before 1800
- MS 2968
Australia, ca. 10000 BC-1900 AD
See also MS 4467, Australia, before 1800 - See also MS 4629, Australia, before 1800
- MS 2963 Sumer, ca. 3300-3200 BC
- MS 3008 Sumer, ca. 3200 BC
- MS 4551 Sumer, 32nd c. BC
- MS 2726 Sumer, 32nd c. BC
- MS 3024/2 China, ca. 2200-1800 BC
- MS
2103/1 China, 14th-12th c. BC
See also MS 2103/2, China, 14th-12th c. BC
- MS 2961 Ecuador, 3500-1500 BC
- MS 5180 Israel/Palestine, 18th - 17th c. BC
- MS 1955/6 Ugarit, 13th c. BC
- See also MS 715 Israel/Lebanon, 11th c.
- See also MS 5235 Lebanon, ca. 539-532 BC
- MS 108 Greece, ca. 800 BC
CYLCON (YURDA), A TALLY WITH MARKS POSSIBLY RECORDING THE NUMBER OF YOUNG MEN TO PASS THE INITIATION RITUALS TO MANHOOD OF THE "BORA", FURTHER POSSIBLY REPRESENTING THE POINTING OF THE "DEATH-POINTER-BONE", MAGIC CAPABLE OF CAUSING DEATH TO ANYONE DIVULGING THE TRIBE'S SECRET RITUALS
MS on weathered white desert sandstone with lichen growth, High Delalan, Western New South Wales, Australia, ca. 20000-3000 BC, 1 cylindro-conical and cornute form cylcon with concave base, 22x8x8 cm, incised with 11 parallel longitudinal lines running from apex to base.
Provenance: 1. Found High Delalan, New South Wales, Australia (1961); 2. Shearing contractor Peter Manoel, High Delalan, New South Wales, Australia (1961-1973); 3. H. Gallasch Museum, Australia (1973-); 4. Sam Fogg Rare Books Ltd., London.
Commentary: Cylcons are earlier than churingas. There is no certain ways to date individual cylcons. The oldest cylcon/message stone found in a dateable archaeological context is about 20,000 years old. The simple line motifs of the oldest cylcons represent the earliest art of the Aborigines, from a very early period of occupation. In Australian nomenclature this is the colonizing period, or early Stone Age, ca. 50,000/40,000-3,000 BC. With the earliest rock-carvings and -paintings, the cylcons represent the oldest form of communication and art; and they represent the oldest religion still observed. Only 2 Aborigines have been able to communicate their name of the cylcons: Yurda, and Wommagnaragnara (Heart of the snake), respectively. Other uses as tallies are possible, such as counting of dead people, warriors, emus, measures of nardo seeds, or mapping purposes counting day-marches in various directions. Later the use could also change to other magic rituals, some involving the chipping off smaller flakes, and the practical use for pounding and crushing. Much more research is needed before the cylcons' real age and significance can be properly understood and appreciated. The term cylcon is derived from the title of R. Ethridge's publication: The Cylindro-conical and Stone Implements of Western New South Wales and their significance. Ethnological Series No. 2, Memoirs of the Geological Survey of New South Wales, 1916:1-41.
Exhibited: The Norwegian Institute of Palaeography and Historical Philology (PHI), Oslo, 13.10.2003-06.2005.
CYLCON (YURDA), A TALLY WITH MARKS POSSIBLY RECORDING THE NUMBER OF YOUNG MEN TO PASS THE INITIATION RITUALS TO MANHOOD OF THE "BORA", FURTHER POSSIBLY REPRESENTING THE POINTING OF THE "DEATH-POINTER-BONE", MAGIC CAPABLE OF CAUSING DEATH TO ANYONE DIVULGING THE TRIBE'S SECRET RITUALS
MS on yellow soft sandstone, Western New South Wales, Australia, ca. 20000-3000 BC, 1 oval-conical cylcon with slanting flat base, 24x10x8 cm, 6 series of 42+37+32+27+27+26 short parallel transverse incisions, 1 large arrow pointing towards apex, 4 arrows pointing towards base.
Provenance: 1. Shearing contractor Peter Manoel, High Delalan, New South Wales, Australia (-1973); 2. H. Gallasch Museum, Australia, Cy 5 (1973-); 3. Sam Fogg Rare Books Ltd., London.
Commentary: Cylcons are earlier than churingas. There is no certain ways to date individual cylcons. The oldest cylcon/message stone found in a dateable archaeological context is about 20,000 years old. The simple line motifs of the oldest cylcons represent the earliest art of the Aborigines, from a very early period of occupation. In Australian nomenclature this is the colonizing period, or early Stone Age, ca. 50,000/40,000-3,000 BC. With the earliest rock-carvings and -paintings, the cylcons represent the oldest form of communication and art; and they represent the oldest religion still observed. Only 2 Aborigines have been able to communicate their name of the cylcons: Yurda, and Wommagnaragnara (Heart of the snake), respectively. Other uses as tallies are possible, such as counting of dead people, warriors, emus, measures of nardo seeds, or mapping purposes counting day-marches in various directions. Later the use could also change to other magic rituals, some involving the chipping off smaller flakes, and the practical use for pounding and crushing. Much more research is needed before the cylcons' real age and significance can be properly understood and appreciated. The term cylcon is derived from the title of R. Ethridge's publication: The Cylindro-conical and Stone Implements of Western New South Wales and their significance. Ethnological Series No. 2, Memoirs of the Geological Survey of New South Wales, 1916:1-41.
Exhibited: The Norwegian Institute of Palaeography and Historical Philology (PHI), Oslo, 13.10.2003-06.2005.
CYLCON (YURDA), OF MAGICO-RELIGIOUS USE FOR YOUNG MEN TO PASS THE INITIATION RITUALS TO MANHOOD OF THE "BORA", FURTHER POSSIBLY REPRESENTING THE POINTING OF THE "DEATH-POINTER-BONE", MAGIC CAPABLE OF CAUSING DEATH TO ANYONE DIVULGING THE TRIBE'S SECRET RITUALS
MS on chalk-like stone, Urella Downs station, New South Wales, Australia, ca. 20000-3000 BC, 1 cylindrical cylcon with rounded apex and base, 24x7x7 cm, band of irregular lines running around circumference near base, longitudinal grooves up to 0,7 cm, from base to apex made prior to the circumferential lines, deliberate chipping around base, base weathered.
Provenance: 1. Found in Urella Downs Station, New South Wales, Australia, 1937; 2. H. Gallasch Museum, Australia (1973-); 3. Sam Fogg Rare Books Ltd., London.
Commentary: Cylcons are earlier than churingas. There is no certain ways to date individual cylcons. The oldest cylcon/message stone found in a dateable archaeological context is about 20,000 years old. The simple line motifs of the oldest cylcons represent the earliest art of the Aborigines, from a very early period of occupation. In Australian nomenclature this is the colonising period, or early Stone Age, ca. 50,000/40,000-3,000 BC. With the earliest rock-carvings and -paintings, the cylcons represent the oldest form of communication and art; and they represent the oldest religion still observed. Only 2 Aborigines have been able to communicate their name of the cylcons: Yurda, and Wommagnaragnara (Heart of the snake), respectively. Other uses as tallies are possible, such as counting of dead people, warriors, emus, measures of nardo seeds, or mapping purposes counting day-marches in various directions. Later the use could also change to other magic rituals, some involving the chipping off smaller flakes, and the practical use for pounding and crushing. Much more research is needed before the cylcons' real age and significance can be properly understood and appreciated. The term cylcon is derived from the title of R. Ethridge's publication: The Cylindro-conical and Stone Implements of Western New South Wales and their significance. Ethnological Series No. 2, Memoirs of the Geological Survey of New South Wales, 1916:1-41.
CHURINGA: 3 CAMPSITES, WATERHOLES OR TOTEM CENTRES (CONCENTRIC CIRCLES) WITH PEOPLE SITTING FACING THE CENTRES, GUARDS FACING OUTWARDS (U-FORMS OF 3 LINES), AS A PART OF THE ARANDA ABORIGINES' MYTHOLOGICAL LANDSCAPE
MS in Aranda on pinky weathered and worn chalk stone, Central Desert area, Australia, before 500, 1 oval churinga of 2 joining parts, 33x14x2 cm, aboriginal patterns incised with an incisor tooth of an opossum.
Provenance: 1. Sam Fogg Rare Books Ltd., London.
Commentary: There is no certain way to date the old churingas that are from the pre- contact period (before 1780). They can be as old as the Aboriginal culture, 40-50,000 years. With the earliest rockpaintings and carvings, the cylcons and churingas represent the oldest form of communication and art, still present, and they represent the oldest religion still observed. The aborigine owner's belief is that his kuruna or spirit is intimately associated with his churinga. Even today the whole of Australia is dotted over with Knanikillas, or local totem centres. Each of these has a sacred storehouse for the tribe's and individuals' churingas, guarded by the inkata. Women, and men that had not passed through the ceremonies of circumcision and subincision, were not allowed to approach the storehouse, Pertalchera. The aborigine people of the Central desert read the patterns on the churinga as representations of nature, a kind of map or site. The icons are not literally figurative. Rather they can be interpreted as a whole range of natural phenomena that are stereotyped in their typical form, so they become an artistic system. Each churinga had its own personal "name", which had to be sung whenever it was being inspected or handled. The name was one of the verses from the sacred song cycle related to the actual totem centre.
CHURINGA OF KRISTIAN PAREROULTJA OF LURITJA TRIBE, REPRESENTING POSSUM LIVING IN UNGNALTA TREE AT THE TOP OF MOUNT ZEIL (ERNILNA) ALONG RASHERO CREEK (ALTINAMA), THE TREE TURNING INTO THE CORRABOREE STONE (CHURINGA) SONG; CENTRAL SPIRAL IS MT. ZEIL, LARGE CROSS OF PARALLEL LINES IS THE UNGNALTA TREE OR TOTEM POLE, AND THE U-SHAPES REPRESENT THE CORRABOREE, DANCING GROUND
MS in Aranda on green chist stone, Mount Zeil, Central Australia, before 1800, 1 oval churinga, 27x14x2 cm, aboriginal symbols incised with an incisor tooth of an opossum, rubbed with grease and ochre during the ceremonies, the ochre still sticking in the grooves.
Provenance: 1. Kristian Pareroultja of Luritja tribe (-1949); 2. Rex E. Battarbee, Ntarea (1949-); 3. Sam Fogg Rare Books Ltd., London.
Commentary: Rex Battarbee (1893-1973), watercolorist and teacher of the Arunta School of Aboriginal painting, is a major figure in the history of Central Australia, being deeply involved in Austalian Aboriginal artistic culture and tradition. His autograph notes follow this churinga, with a drawing of it with the interpretation of its symbols. There is no certain way to date the old churingas that are from the pre-contact period (before 1780). They can be as old as the Aboriginal culture, 40-50,000 years. With the earliest rockpaintings and carvings, the cylcons and churingas represent the oldest form of communication and art, still present, and they represent the oldest religion still observed.
The aborigine owner's belief is that his kuruna or spirit is intimately associated with his churinga. Even today the whole of Australia is dotted over with Knanikillas, or local totem centres. Each of these has a sacred storehouse for the tribe's and individuals' churingas, guarded by the inkata. Women, and men that had not passed through the ceremonies of circumcision and subincision, were not allowed to approach the storehouse, Pertalchera. The aborigine people of the Central desert read the patterns on the churinga as representations of nature, a kind of map or site. The icons are not literally figurative. Rather they can be interpreted as a whole range of natural phenomena that are stereotyped in their typical form, so they become an artistic system. Each churinga had its own personal "name", which had to be sung whenever it was being inspected or handled. The name was one of the verses from the sacred song cycle related to the actual totem centre.
Exhibited: The Norwegian Institute of Palaeography and Historical Philology (PHI), Oslo, 13.10.2003-06.2005.
CHURINGA: KANGAROO TRACKS IN THE SAND MOVING AROUND CONCENTRIC CIRCLES; AN ICONOGRAPHIC EMBLEM OF THE KANGAROO TOTEM, AND THE MOVEMENT OF HIS ANCESTRAL BEING AROUND A WATERHOLE, TOTEM CENTRE OR A SPECIAL PLACE IN THE TRIBE ARANDA'S MYTHOLOGICAL LANDSCAPE
MS in Aranda on schist-like stone, Central Desert area, Australia, before 1800, 1 circular churinga, diam.30x3 cm, aboriginal patterns incised with a incisor tooth of an opossum, and rubbed with grease and red ochre during the ceremonies, the ochre still sticks in the groves.
Provenance: 1. Sam Fogg Rare Books Ltd., London.
Commentary: There is no certain way to date the old churingas that are from the pre-contact period (before 1780). They can be as old as the Aboriginal culture, 40-50,000 years. With the earliest rockpaintings and carvings, the cylcons and the churingas represent the oldest form of communication and art, still present. The aborigine owner's belief is that his kuruna or spirit is intimately associated with his churinga. Even today the whole of Australia is dotted over with Knanikillas, or local totem centres. Each of these has a sacred storehouse for the tribe's and individuals' churingas, guarded by the inkata. Women, and men that had not passed through the ceremonies of circumcision and subincision, were not allowed to approach the storehouse, Pertalchera.
See also MS 4467, Churinga, Australia, before 1800
See also MS 4629, Churinga, Australia, before 1800
ACCOUNT OF MALE AND FEMALE SLAVES
MS in Old Sumerian on clay, Sumer, ca. 3300-3200 BC, 1 nearly cubic tablet, 5,2x6,2x4,5 cm, 5 compartments in primitive pictographic script, fine cylinder seal impressions on all sides made prior to writing of 2 men walking left, carrying ostriches, a basket between them and wine amphorae above.
Context: The tablets MSS 2963, 3149-3151, 4510 and 4511, are all nearly cubic in form, MS 4511 being 4,8x4,8x4,5 cm. There is nothing similar in any public collection apart from 1 in Berlin. They possibly derive from the bulla-envelopes with counting tokens inside (cf. MSS 4631-4632, 4638, ca. 3700-3200 BC). The cubic tablets might represent the next logical step, the adding of pictographs representing the commodities involved, and adapted from the spherical shape of the bullas, to cubic shape, before being reduced to a thinner and more handy tablet. The 2 earliest cubic tablets (MSS 4510 and 3151) are ideonumerographical from Uruk V period, ca. 3400 BC, next to the protopictographical texts Uruk VI, the earliest continous writing know, predating the Tell Brak and Kish tablets (ca. 3200 BC, and the Uruk IV tablets (ca. 3200-3100 BC).
Commentary: The present tablet is the earliest written evidence of slavery, see collection 24.13.
RECEIPT OF UNAMED OBJECTS BY 5 NAMED PERSONS
MS in archaic Sumerian on clay, Sumer, ca. 3200 BC, 1 tablet, 3,9x5,5x2,0 cm, 5+1 compartments of pictographic script.
Binding: Barking, Essex, 2000, blue quarter morocco gilt folding case by Aquarius.
Context: A similar tablet from Kish in Oxford: Asmolean Museum.
Commentary: Slightly earlier than the Uruk IV tablets, these primitive Kish tablets, together with 2 tablets from Tell Brak, are considered the earliest continuous writing known. Cf. MS 2963 that might be even older.
ACCOUNT OF GRAIN PRODUCTS, BREAD, BEER, BUTTER OIL FROM ONE GOAT, AND SHEEP
MS in Old Sumerian on clay, Sumer, Uruk IV, 32nd c. BC, 1 tablet, 5,0x5,7x2,1 cm, 17+14 compartments of pictographic script.
Context: For disk type tokens, see MS 4522/2-8.
Commentary: 6 different disk type tokens, actually drawn to represent real counting tokens. This represents the second stage in the development from counting tokens to actual pictographic writing on tablets. The first stage was to depress actual tokens into the wet clay on a bulla or tablet. Apart from the sheep token (cross within the circle, group 3:51), none of these tokens have been found so far, cf. Denise Schmandt-Besserat. How writing came about, group 3 disks, listing about 80 different types.
Exhibited: The Norwegian Institute of Palaeography and Historical Philology (PHI), Oslo, 13.10.2003-06.2005.
INVENTORY OF A SMALL FAMILY CONSISTING OF ONE FEMALE SLAVE AND HER 4 CHILDREN
MS in archaic Sumerian on clay, Sumer, Uruk IV, 32nd c. BC, 1 tablet, 5,9x6,5x2,4 cm, 2 columns, 5 compartments of pictographic script, rollsealed on all 6 surfaces with a seal depicting 3 men and a boy herding goats.
Context: The same scribe and seal as on MS 2727, which is concerning 5 female slaves. Other similar tablets are MSS 4482 and 4483.
Commentary: This is the only case where 2 Uruk IV tablets are rollsealed with identical seals. Surprisingly, they were rollsealed before being inscribed, cf. the explanation given under MS 2963.
PROTOHIEROGLYPHS OF SHIP AND OAR (TRANSPORTATION)
MS in archaic Egyptian on clay, Egypt, Nagada II period, 3500-3100 BC, 1 black top jar, diam. 13-6 cm, h. 28 cm, (7x18 cm), 1 line of 2 large protohieroglyphs incised in the clay.
Context: A related example incised with an ibis: Oxford, Ashmolean Museum, Predynastic Egyptian collection, fig. 25, no. 174.
Provenance: 1. Found at Kamoula, Egypt (1897); 2. Pitt-Rivers Museum, Farnham, Surrey; 3. Private collection, Switzerland; 4. Sotheby's New York 5.6.1999:337.
Commentary: The present jar and the Ashmolean jar have, so far, the earliest "script" known in the Western world, preceding the earliest examples from Egypt and Sumer. Whether it actually is script is under discussion. It certainly is not continuos writing.
A group of pottery and ivory tags was discovered in a predynastic Royal tomb in Abydos in 1998 with similar protohieroglyphs dated to 33rd - 32nd c. BC. A pottery shed was found in 1999 in Harappa in the Indus Valley with 6 signs, dated to ca 3500 BC, but without any connection to the later Indus Valley script, see MS 2645.
Exhibited: 1. Kon-Tiki Museet, Oslo, April 2002 - Jan. 2003; 2. Tigris 25th anniversary exhibition. The Kon-Tiki Museum, Oslo, 30.1. - 15.9.2003; 3. Kon-Tiki Museet, Oslo, September 2003 -.
HOR AHA OF UPPER EGYPT, THE NAME OF ONE OF THE FIRST TWO PHARAOHS OF DYNASTY I
MS in archaic Egyptian on clay, possibly Abydos, Upper Egypt, 3007-2975 BC, 1 cylindrical jar, h. 24 cm, diam. 11 cm, 2 columns, (10x7 cm), 7 hieroglyphs, including the cartouche of Aha surmounted by a falcon denoting the royal title "Horus", and "Shema" for Upper Egypt, in a rapid flowing script in black ink.
Provenance: 1. Possibly excavated at the First Dynasty tombs in the Royal necropolis at Abydos; 2. Sotheby's New York 2.12.1988:126.
Commentary: Among the earliest examples of human script in ink extant. The oldest are probably similar cylindrical jars from Abydos, with the cartouche possibly of the predynastic King Ka, about 3100 BC. One of these is in British Museum (BM 35508). Further the recent discovery of a predynastic Royal tomb at Abydos containing inscribed pottery and ivory tags. The first 2 Pharaohs of the first dynasty, Narmer and Hor Aha, reigned both ca. 3000 BC. Beckerath, however, allocates Narmer as a pre-dynastic king, before 3000 BC.
Exhibited: 1. Conference of European National Librarians, Oslo. Sept. 1994. 2. "Preservation for access: Originals and copies". On the occasion of the 1st International Memory of the World Conference, organized by the Norwegian Commission for UNESCO and the National Library of Norway, at the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo, 3 June - 14 July 1996. 3. The Norwegian Institute of Palaeography and Historical Philology (PHI), Oslo, 13.10.2003-06.2005.
CHARACTER TIAN FOR "FIELD", A CROSS WITHIN A SQUARE, INSIDE A SWASTIKA, REPEATED 4 TIMES
MS in Chinese on red earthenware, Ganshu, China, ca. 2200-1800 BC, 1 funeral urn, h. 32 cm, diam. 26 to10 cm, wide, near spherical corpus with vertical ringlugs at the middle, tapering to a base which is a little wider than the mouth, decorations in dark brown and light violet.
Provenance: Cemetery, Ganshu, China (2200-1800 -); 2. Private collection, Ascona, Switzerland (1965-)
Commentary: From the Yangshao Neolitic period, representing the oldest Chinese pictograms/marks/characters next to the Banpo neolithic village pottery ca. 4000 BC, and about 700 years before the oracle bones (MSS 2103/1-7), which is the earliest Chinese continuos writing so far.
ORACLE BONE: CRACKING MADE ON THE RENZI (DAY 49); ON THE JIAYIN (DAY 51) A SHEEP SHOULD BE BURNED TO SACRIFICE ANCESTOR DA JIA, AND AN OX WILL BE CUT INTO PARTS. THIRD MONTH. - SHEN (DAY 53?), THERE WILL BE NO TROUBLE. ON THE WU (DAY 55?), WINTER(?), GOING OUT AND COMING IN, IT WILL RAIN
MS in Chinese on oxen scapula bone, Xiaotun, China, 14th-12th c. BC, 1 bone, 11x7 cm, (6x6 cm), 4+2 lines in Chinese book script, prepared and cracked with burned marks on reverse.
Binding: Barking, Essex, 1996, green cloth gilt folding case, by Aquarius.
Context: Around 100,000 oracle bones are known, widely scattered in museums and collections around the world. 7 of these are in The Schøyen Collection.
Provenance: 1. Royal archive of oracular records, Late Shang Dynasty of Anyang (14th-12th c. BC -); 2. Excavated in Xiaotun (ca. 1945); 3. Philosophical Research Society library, Los Angeles, 5/858 (-1995); 4. Sam Fogg Rare Books Ltd., London.
Commentary: Nearly all known Chinese oracle bones derive from
Xiaotun near the ancient capital of the Late Shang Dynasty of Anyang. The
oracular use of the bones involved the interpretation of pattern of cracks
which appeared on the bones after subjection to heat by the application of a
heated metal rod. The text records the interpretation of the oracle and the
date of its production.
The oracle bones are so far the first preserved
evidence of Chinese script in complete meaningful sentences.
See also MS 2103/2, Oracle bone, China, 14th-12th c. BC
ATAL -TARTE (ATLAS/ATLANTIS - TARTESSOS?)
MS in an unknown pre Indo-European language on stag bone, Bancal de la Coruna, Spain, ca. 4000-3800 BC, 1 bone, 2,2x7,1x1,2 cm, 1 line with 6 Ibero-Tartessian signs, paper label pasted on the back with 3 lines of cursive script: " Ostas grabades con texto? Bancal de la Coruna, Hallaisgode 1916 no 104".
Context: Similar bones are MSS 5237/1 and 5238.
Provenance: 1. Found Bancal de la Coruna, Hallaisgode, Spain, no. 104 (1916); 2. Private collection, Spain, no 104 (1916-); 3. Michel Bouvier, Paris, Cat. L'Art de l'Ècriture, 2003:4.
Commentary: Hans Jensen, in "Sign, symbol and script", pp. 37-39,
dates the signs from Dolmen d'Alvao in Portugal to about 4000 BC, being
attached to Iberian writing. Stephen Fisher in "A history of writing", pp.
22-24, mentions 210 symbols and signs engraved on objects of the Vincas
culture, that have been radio-carbon dated to about 4000 BC. According to
Michaël Guichard, in "A history of writing", 2001/2002, pp. 17-19, Vinca (not
far from modern Beograd) has given its name to the late Neolithic period of
Danubian culture (5000-3800 BC). Clay figurines have been found with marks
echoing protopictographic and Uruk IV pictographic script from Syria, Sumer or
Highland Iran. The contents of these figurines, the seals of Kotacpart, and
the clay tablet found at Gradesnica, remains a mystery due to the paucity of
material so far found. This raises the question of where the cradle of
continuous writing really was. So far there has been a contest between Egypt
and Syria/Sumer/Highland Iran, with overwhelming recent evidence for the
latter, dated to around 3500 BC.
In an article by Georgeos
Diaz-Montexano:" Atlantis in an Iberian inscription of more than 6000 years.
The oldest writing of western Europe", in: Scientific Atlantology
International Society, 2005, the text is tentatively read as ATal-TaRTe,
commented as follows: "…It is impossible to deny that these words (Atal) look
much like the root that appears in the name of Atlantis, that is an adjectival
Atlas form, whereas Tarte adjusts to the root reconstructed by the Spanish
specialists on the old name of Tartessos…". "Plato in his history of Atlantis
tells that the Atlanteans knew the writing. Strabo affirms that the
Turdetanean's towns, direct descendants of the Tartessians, conserved
historical annals and laws written in a grammar that went back to more than
6000 years before its time. Academic archaeology does not yet accept that this
has been certain, thinking that it is a mere invention of Strabo.
Nevertheless, in Iberia there have appeared many testimonies of inscriptions
recorded or painted in caves, dolmenes, and in diverse objects of bone and
ceramics which date back to more than 4000 BC, although some findings reported
by Walterman Fein, Georgeos Diaz-Montexano and Jorge Maria Ribero-Meneses show
clear evidence of the use of characters of alphabetical linear writing in
palaeolithic context."
Exhibited: The Norwegian Institute of Palaeography and Historical Philology (PHI), Oslo, 13.10.2003-06.2005.
ACCOUNT OF 3+11+5+9+7 MEASURES OF UNIDENTIFIED COMMODITIES
MS in an unknown pre Indo-European language on bone, Narbonne, France, ca. 4000-3800 BC, 1 bone, diam. 1,5x8,1 cm, 4 lines with 5 different numbers consisting of single strokes, ca. 16 pictographs and signs, paper label pasted on with 7 lines in cursive script: " Cabeza de cervico y marcas, Cueva de cruzada en Narbona Francia".
Context: Similar bones are MSS 5237/1-2.
Provenance: 1. Found Cueva de Croisade, Narbonne, France, (1910-1920); 2. Private collection, Spain, (1910/1920-); 3. Michel Bouvier, Paris, Cat. L'Art de l'Ècriture, 2003:2.
Commentary: Hans Jensen, in "Sign, symbol and script", pp. 37-39,
dates the signs from Dolmen d'Alvao in Portugal to about 4000 BC, being
attached to Iberian writing. Stephen Fisher in "A history of writing", pp.
22-24, mentions 210 symbols and signs engraved on objects of the Vincas
culture, that have been radio-carbon dated to about 4000 BC.
According to
Michaël Guichard, in "A history of writing", 2001/2002, pp. 17-19, Vinca (not
far from modern Beograd) has given its name to the late Neolithic period of
Danubian culture (5000-3800 BC). Clay figurines have been found with marks
echoing protopictographic and Uruk IV pictographic script from Syria, Sumer or
Highland Iran. The contents of these figurines, the seals of Kotacpart, and
the clay tablet found at Gradesnica, remains a mystery due to the paucity of
material so far found. This raises the question of where the cradle of
continuous writing really was. So far there has been a contest between Egypt
and Syria/Sumer/Highland Iran, with overwhelming recent evidence for the
latter, dated to around 3500 BC.
UNIDENTIFIED TEXT, POSSIBLY A TRANSACTION BETWEEN AN INDIVIDUAL AND THE "CENTRAL ADMINISTRATION", KNOSSOS
MS in Minoan on clay, Knossos, Crete, 16th c. BC, 1 black roundel, 3,0x2,7 cm, 4 characters of late Minoan I Linear A script, 2 impressions (1,6x1,0 cm) on opposite edges by an amygdaloid seal with head of papyrus plant.
Provenance: 1. Possibly the archive in the West Wing of the Knossos Palace (16th c. BC - ca. 1950); 2. Erlenmeyer Collection, Basel, CMS no. 120 (until 1981); 3. Erlenmeyer Foundation, Basel (1981-1988); 4. Christie's 5.6.1989:99.
Commentary: The famous Linear B script of the Mycenean kings, consisting of syllabic signs, ideograms and numerals, resisted decipherment for a generation. When Michael Ventris deciphered it in 1952, the achievement was called the "Everest" in classical archaeology. The language was archaic Greek. Linear A, the earliest script of Europe, has so far resisted all attempts of decipherment, partly because the language is unknown, and the material small, ca. 700 copies only, while Linear B is known in 12,000 - 13,000 examples. This roundel is the only one in private ownership. Outside the Greek museums, they are, in fact, represented in 2 Italian museums only. KN Wc 26 in Erik Hallager: The Knossos roundels, BSA 82(1987).
Exhibited: The Norwegian Institute of Palaeography and Historical Philology (PHI), Oslo, 13.10.2003-06.2005.
DIVINATORY MANUAL OR STAR CHART?
MS in Valdivian on grey limestone, Ecuador, 3500-1500 BC, 1 tablet, 24x30x3 cm, central rectangular panel surrounded by double lines, crossed by diagonal parallelograms of double lines, filled with 12+5+6 drilled holes forming 4 triangles filled with 20 drilled holes each, all within a frame of 4 rectangles within double lines filled with 11+11+12+13 drilled holes, slightly curved corners.
Context: From the Piguiga hoard. For similar examples see MS 2960
and Sotheby's New York 2.6.1999:26, and 22.11.1999:22, both dated to 2300-2000
BC.
2 more examples published by Alvaro Guillot-Munoz: Les Pierres gravées
pré-valdivia. Bruxelles, May 1997, VAL 19-20, dated to 3800-2800 BC.
Provenance: 1. Private collection, USA (-2000); 2. Bruce Ferrini, Akron, Ohio
Commentary: The Valdivian or pre-Valdivian stone plaques or star
charts are the earliest evidence of "writing" from the Americas.
The
scholars disagree on their dates and meaning. The earliest dating is
contemporary with the earliest writing of Sumer and Egypt. The latest dating
is about contemporary with the earliest writing of Europe, Indus Valley and
China.
The Valdivian culture flourished along the central coast of
Ecuador, beginning in the period 3000-2700 BC, persisting until about 1400 BC.
Its pottery is one of the oldest in the Americas. Its resemblance to the Jomon
ware from Japan has led some scholars to believe that it was introduced into
Ecuador as a result of Trans-Pacific contacts.
PROTO-CAANANITE NAME: PUHIK OR PIHAK
MS in Canaanite West Semitic on bronze, Israel/Palestine, 18th - 17th c. BC, 1 axe, 19x5 cm, (2x3 cm), 1 line with 3 letters P or G, H and K in Proto-Sinaitic/Proto-Canaanite consonantal alphabetic script.
Context: There are about 50 short inscriptions carved by miners at the turquoise mines at Serabit al-Khadim in Sinai, and less than 20 inscriptions found in Israel/Palestine (Shechem, Gezer, Lachish), all except 3 in public collections.
Provenance: 1. The Gil Chaya Collection, Jerusalem and Geneve.
Commentary: This is the earliest alphabetical writing known. There are less than 30 pictographs/letters. The invention might have come from knowledge of Egyptian hieroglyphs, which had signs for consonants, but the Egyptians never used these alphabetically. Since the language is Canaanite West Semitic and not Egyptian, the invention probably took place in Israel/Palestine/Lebanon. This might have been the only script and language available in Sinai (apart from Egyptian) when the 10 Commandments were written down 16th-13th c. BC. Phoenician alphabetical script, ca. 12th c. BC, is the direct descendant of the Proto-Sinaitic/Proto-Canaanite alphabetical script (see MS 715), which again, developed into the Greek alphabet around 800 BC (see MS 108), that was the basis of the Latin alphabet. The developments of 1. language (spoken communication), 2. writing, 3. the alphabet, and 4. printing, are among the highest achievements and milestones in the evolution of humanity.
Published: To be published by Andrè Lemaire.
Exibited: The Norwegian Institute of Palaeography and Historical Philology (PHI), Oslo, 13.10.2003-06.2005.
LAWSUIT AGAINST SHAMUMANU, OWNER AND TREASURER OF A MARZIH, A SOCIAL BANQUETING CLUB, FROM ITS MEMBERS, THAT HE SHALL REPAY 50 SHEKELS OF SILVER THAT HE HAS STOLEN. SHAMUMANU, ANGERED BY THE ACCUSATION, THREATENS TO THROW THE CLUB MEMBERS OUT OF HIS HOUSE AND RELEGATE THEM TO A STALL, TO TREAT THEM LIKE ANIMALS. WITNESSES: IHIRASHPU SON OF UDRNN AND ABDINU SON OF SIGILDA
MS in Ugaritic on clay, Ras Shamra, Ugarit, Syria, 13th c. BC, 1 tablet, 10,3x8,5x2,0 cm, single column, 10+11+3 lines in alphabetic cuneiform script.
Context: Another tablet in alphabetic Ugaritic is MS 1955/5. For a tablet in Akkadian from the same hoard, see MS 1955/1.
Provenance: 1. Excavated Ras Shamra, Syria (1957); 2. Prof. Claude Schaeffer, College de France, Zürich (1957-1970); 3. Claremont Graduate School, Institute for Antiquity and Christianity, Claremont, California, RS 1957.702 (1970-1994).
Commentary: The Ugaritic tablets represent the 2nd earliest alphabet known. It has 30 signs and a word divider.
Published: Analecta Orientalia, 48, Roma, Pontificium Institutum Biblicum, 1971: Loren R. Fisher, editor, The Claremont Ras Shamra Tablets, pp. 37-54.
Exhibited: 1. The Claremont Ras Shamra Tablets, at the Institute for Antiquity and Christianity, Claremont, California 1970-1994. 2. The Norwegian Institute of Palaeography and Historical Philology (PHI), Oslo, 13.10.2003-06.2005.
See also MS 715 Phoenician alphabetical script, Israel/Lebanon, 11th c.
See also MS 5235 Phoenician alphabetical script, Lebanon, ca. 539-532 BC
THE EARLIEST GREEK ALPHABET
MS in Greek on copper, Cyprus, ca. 800 BC, 2 tablets, 21x13 cm, single column, (19x10 cm), 20-23 lines in archaic Greek capitals with some North Semitic (Phoenician) letter forms by 2 or more scribes.
Binding: Greece, ca. 800 BC, strung together on both sides so as to fold in concertina fashion with holes in all 4 corners of both tablets.
Context: This is the oldest European alphabet, the oldest writing
tablets extant, and part of the world's oldest book in codex form. The other
old writing tablets are 2 from Nimrod, one ivory, the other walnut wood, dated
707 - 705 BC., in addition to a 8th c. BC Neo-Hittite wood tablet.
(Roberts/Skeat: The Birth of the Codex, pp. 11-12.) Apart from the present MS
the oldest Greek inscription of any length is the Dipylon oinochoe from
Athens, ca. 740 BC. The oldest short inscriptions are dated ca. mid 8th c. BC.
A third tablet originally bound with the present ones
is: "The Würzburger Alphabettafel", published by A. Henbeck: Würzburger
Jahrbücher für Altertumswissenschaft, 12, pp. 7-20, 1986 and housed at the
University of Würzburg, Martin-von-Wagner-Museum; a fourth is owner by a
private collector. The codex originally consisted of at least 5 tablets.
Provenance: 1. School archive, Cyprus (ca. 800 - ca. 2nd c. BC); 2. Excavated in Fayum, Egypt; 3. Professor Aziz Suryal Atiyah, Utah, U.S.A. (-ca. 1960); 4. H.P. Kraus Cat. 165(1983):25.
Commentary: The alphabet on the plaques is now called the Fayum alphabet. The earliest Greek MS extant. An ABECEDARY contemporary with Homer, an amazing preservation of students' learning of the Greek alphabet at the very inception of its use. The Alphabet is repeated over and over, and contains the North Semitic (Phoenician) number of letters (22), ayin/aleph to taw/tau in Phoenician and Greek order, written in continuous retrograde lines. It represents the earliest and most complete link between Greek letter forms and the North Semitic parent forms. Writing tablets were familiar to Homer. It was on a folded tablet Proitos scratched the "deadly marks" that were intended to send Bellerophon to his death. The Iliad VI:168-179.
Published: Papyrologica Florentina, vol. XXXV. Rosario Pintaudi: Papyri Graecae Schøyen. Firenze, Edizioni Gonnelli, 2005 (Manuscripts in The Schøyen Collection V: Greek papyri, vol. I), pp. 149-160, by R.D. Woodward, D.A. Scott, P.K. McCarter, B. Zuckerman, M. Lundberg.
Exhibited: 1. Conference of European National Librarians, Oslo. Sept. 1994. 2. "Preservation for access: Originals and copies". On the occasion of the 1st International Memory of the World Conference, organized by the Norwegian Commission for UNESCO and the National Library of Norway, at the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo, 3 June - 14 July 1996. 3. The Norwegian Institute of Palaeography and Historical Philology (PHI), Oslo, 13.10.2003-06.2005.