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Archaeologists from John Hopkins University have recently discovered what may be the world’s oldest alphabet in Syria, offering new insights into the origins of written language. 

Discovered at the Tell Umm-el Marra, these ancient inscriptions date back to the Early Bronze age (2400 BCE). This is important because it shows a shift from older, complicated writing systems to a simpler, phonetic alphabet. A simpler alphabet could make reading and writing more accessible to non-royal civilians. This discovery could potentially change our understanding of how written language evolved over time in the ancient world.

Alphabets break words into individual vowels and consonants. Generally made up of 20 to 40 letters, these alphabetic systems are much simpler and easier to learn compared to earlier writing systems, such as Egyptian hieroglyphs. Older systems tend to have hundreds of symbols that mostly represent whole words or syllables instead of individual sounds. 

Scientists used to believe that the first alphabet was created by people who spoke a Semitic language on the Sinai Peninsula, in current day Egypt, around 1900 B.C.E. This alphabet, called Proto-Sinaitic, was based on hieroglyphic symbols. However, these recent findings suggest that people in other parts of the Near East might have been experimenting with these letter-like symbols much earlier.

The alphabetic letters visually appear as geometric shapes, lines and circles. They are inscribed on clay cylinders, and were discovered in one of the best preserved tombs in Syria. The tomb consisted of six skeletons, gold and silver jewellery, kitchen utensils, spearheads, and intact pottery vessels. It is believed that this tomb could have belonged to a wealthy and powerful family in the city. 

“The cylinders had a hole in them, 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. Without a means to translate the writing, we can only speculate,” says Glenn Schwartz, a researcher at the John Hopkins University. This discovery changes the entire story of how the alphabet was introduced. 

In Newsweek, Schwartz says that “several prominent scholars” have also agreed that the characters are part of an alphabet. However, this conclusion is not universally accepted. Some researchers still hope to prove that symbols weren’t from another kind of old writing system. 

“When you only have a few very short inscriptions, it can be difficult to tell how many signs the system has,” says Philippa Steele, a classicist at the University of Cambridge. She believes more evidence is required to confirm that the words inscribed on the cylinders were actually phonetic alphabets.

Opinions on this topic are mixed. Some believe that the clay cylinders definitely have letters of the alphabet inscribed on them, while others believe that there needs to be more evidence to prove that these words are part of an alphabetic system. Researchers continue their research and hope to gain certainty in the near future.

Shreyaa Ramaswami is an outstanding participant in Double Helix’s Young STEM Journalism Bootcamp. This year, Double Helix partnered with Letterly to launch the inaugural 4-week program, inviting students aged 8 to 18 to write science news articles on the topics that matter to them! This article went through multiple rounds of editing with 1-to-1 feedback from Letterly’s highly qualified and passionate writing coaches. Double Helix editors provided a final edit for accuracy and style.