MysteriesProto-Sinaitic and Wadi el-Hol: the first alphabetArtifactsThe Lachish early alphabetic texts: the 2018 bowl sherd and the ivory combThe Lachish 2018 sherd: open-access photographs and drawings (Höflmayer et al. 2021)
CPY0DEDTQ232EXT·Copy · object
The Lachish 2018 sherd: open-access photographs and drawings (Höflmayer et al. 2021)
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Two objects from Tel Lachish that anchor the descendant Canaanite script. The sherd is a 40 by 35 mm rim fragment of a Cypriot White Slip II bowl with six ink letters in two lines, from a stratum radiocarbon-dated to about 1460-1430 BC. The comb is an ivory lice comb with seventeen shallowly incised letters read as a wish that it root out lice from hair and beard; it has no stratigraphic date and is placed about 1700 BC on letter forms.
Höflmayer, Misgav, Webster and Streit, 1460. CC BY 4.0
Copies 1
Open-access photographs and drawings (höflmayer et al. 2021)Höflmayer, Misgav, Webster and Streit · doi.org · 2021 · CC BY 4.0Primary source: Early alphabetic writing in the ancient Near East: the 'missing link' from Tel Lachish1 step from the original
Where it was made
Tel Lachish · Tell
Sources 2
Cite it
Mysteries Department. (2026). The Lachish 2018 sherd: open-access photographs and drawings (Höflmayer et al. 2021) [Copy CPY0DEDTQ232EXT]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/CPY0DEDTQ232EXT
@misc{mysteriesdept_art0dedt7arbyrc,
title = {The Lachish 2018 sherd: open-access photographs and drawings (Höflmayer et al. 2021)},
author = {{Mysteries Department}},
year = {2026},
note = {Artifact, catalog key CPY0DEDTQ232EXT},
url = {https://mysteriesdept.com/r/CPY0DEDTQ232EXT}
}