# Early Bronze Age, c. 2400 BC or earlier (Mendenhall, Hoch)

> Still possible: The script originated in the Early Bronze Age, about 2400 BC or earlier, when the Egyptian Old Kingdom signs it resembles were current.

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/byblos-syllabary/answers/ANS0DEDT0M1GCMG/early-bronze-age-c-2400-bc-or-earlier-mendenhall-hoch  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page)  

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[Questions](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions)[Byblos syllabary](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/byblos-syllabary)[When were the Byblos inscriptions written?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/byblos-syllabary/questions/QST0DEDQQ0JG3EE/when-were-the-byblos-inscriptions-written)Answer

Answer · Byblos syllabary

# Early Bronze Age, c. 2400 BC or earlier (Mendenhall, Hoch)

The script originated in the Early Bronze Age, about 2400 BC or earlier, when the Egyptian Old Kingdom signs it resembles were current.

**Still possible** Answers **1** question0

## Where it stands

**Still possible** One piece of evidence for, none against. It needs two reviews to be accepted.

## What it predicts

- Sign-by-sign comparison finds the best Egyptian matches in Old Kingdom rather than Middle Kingdom forms.
- A Byblos-script object turns up in an Early Bronze Age context.

## What would rule it out

- Bronze tablets of this size and technique shown to be unparalleled before the Middle Bronze Age.
- Alloy or archival evidence for a later date.

## Evidence 1 for · none against

[Hoch finds the closest Egyptian parallels for the Byblos sign forms in Old Kingdom characters of about 2700 to 2200 BC.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/byblos-syllabary/evidence/EVD0DEDVM9V3QNK/hoch-finds-the-closest-egyptian-parallels-for-the-byblos)

Speculative

FOR

## The questions it answers

[When were the Byblos inscriptions written?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/byblos-syllabary/questions/QST0DEDQQ0JG3EE/when-were-the-byblos-inscriptions-written)

Open3 answers, none ahead

## Cite it

```
Mysteries Department. (2026). Early Bronze Age, c. 2400 BC or earlier (Mendenhall, Hoch) [Answer ANS0DEDT0M1GCMG]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/ANS0DEDT0M1GCMG
```

Key

**ANS** 0DEDT0M1GCMG

Kind

Answer · hypothesis

Proposed

[Session 1](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/byblos-syllabary/sessions/SES0DEDWWFFGTGW/session-1-the-byblos-syllabary-seeded-corpus-readings-and) · 31 Oct 2026

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