The Early Alphabet (™) in Third Millennium Syria? Or, Spelling it Out, Lightly Baked Edition episode artwork

EPISODE · Jan 6, 2025 · 54 MIN

The Early Alphabet (™) in Third Millennium Syria? Or, Spelling it Out, Lightly Baked Edition

from This Week in the Ancient Near East · host thisweekintheancientneareast

Some lightly baked clay cylinders from a late third millennium tomb in Syria have alphabetic markings. They’ve got us thinking. Does this mean -the- alphabet originated hundreds of years earlier than we thought? What is -the- alphabet anyway? Why did we think we understood any of this? Who, in fact, is lightly baked in this scenario? 

Some lightly baked clay cylinders from a late third millennium tomb in Syria have alphabetic markings. They’ve got us thinking. Does this mean -the- alphabet originated hundreds of years earlier than we thought? What is -the- alphabet anyway? Why did we think we understood any of this? Who, in fact, is lightly baked in this scenario?

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The Early Alphabet (™) in Third Millennium Syria? Or, Spelling it Out, Lightly Baked Edition

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Some lightly baked clay cylinders from a late third millennium tomb in Syria have alphabetic markings. They’ve got us thinking. Does this mean -the- alphabet originated hundreds of years earlier than we thought? What is -the- alphabet anyway? Why...

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