Ancient Syrian seals may challenge timeline of alphabetic writing

The Times of Israel reveals in its article a groundbreaking discovery by veteran archaeologist, who has proposed that four ancient clay cylinders unearthed in Syria may contain the earliest known examples of alphabetic writing. 

In late November, Glenn Schwartz, a seasoned archaeologist from Johns Hopkins University, made a bold assertion during a conference in Boston: Four small clay cylinder seals, unearthed two decades ago from an intact Bronze Age tomb in Syria, were inscribed with what he claimed to be the earliest known examples of alphabetic writing—though it remains undeciphered.

Schwartz's presentation, delivered on November 21 at a meeting of the American Society of Overseas Research, sparked significant academic interest and received widespread media coverage globally. Schwartz had previously proposed his alphabet theory in 2021 through an Italian journal, but it did not attract much attention at the time.

If his claim is confirmed, it would push the origins of an alphabetic writing system back by approximately 500 years, to around 2300 BCE. Until now, scholars have agreed that a writing system based on symbols representing spoken sounds first emerged around 1800-1900 BCE in Egypt and the Sinai, from where it spread.

Many experts have expressed cautious support for Schwartz’s theory. Although Schwartz declined an interview with The Times of Israel and refrained from commenting further, a former student weighed in.

“The writing on these cylinder seals seems to me to be alphabetic writing, and I don’t really have any doubt about that,” stated Prof. Christopher Rollston, chair of the Department of Biblical and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at George Washington University, in an email exchange.

The cylinders are "stunning written artifacts, and they are indeed particularly important," Rollston remarked.

Before Schwartz's discovery, "we had no alphabetic writing from the 3rd millennium BCE," Rollston explained. "So, if these inscribed cylinder seals from Umm el-Marra do indeed date as early as Dr. Glenn Schwartz contends, then these would be the world’s earliest alphabetic inscriptions."

The clay cylinders were discovered in 2004 at Umm el-Marra, an ancient site located in Syria, east of Aleppo, as part of a joint archaeological expedition between Johns Hopkins University and the University of Amsterdam.

In the early Bronze Age, Umm el-Marra was an emerging urban center, considered one of the oldest cities in the ancient Levant. Some believe it may be the city of Tuba, mentioned in ancient Egyptian records. The site is a tel, a mound formed by successive layers of human habitation over time.

Archaeologists have uncovered many significant finds at Umm el-Marra, including a ritual burial site with over two dozen equids, offering valuable insight into the use of horses and donkeys in the region during that period.

The cylinders, thought to be approximately 4,400 years old, were part of an extraordinary discovery of undisturbed, elite tombs within a larger mortuary complex.

By Naila Huseynova