Evidence · Proto-Sinaitic and Wadi el-Hol: the first alphabet

Sign-like marks used without being writing are common in the region, and the cylinder sequences correspond to no known…

Sign-like marks used without being writing are common in the region, and the cylinder sequences correspond to no known language.

Suggestive0

What it means

Key questionAre the Umm el-Marra clay cylinders of about 2400 BC alphabetic writing?

3 answers, none ahead yet

Openunchanged

Answer this evidence bears onMarks or a local notation, not an alphabet

Supports1 for, none against

Still possiblewas No evidence yet

Next steps 1

Compare the eight Umm el-Marra sign shapes with Early Bronze Syrian potters' marks as a null model, alongside the Early Alphabetic forms.

~10 h

On: Are the Umm el-Marra clay cylinders of about 2400 BC alphabetic writing?

—not judged

Ranked by how likely each is to move the key question, for the time it takes

Sources 2

Early Non-Cuneiform Writing? Third-Millennium BC Clay Cylinders from Umm el-Marra

Schwartz 2010

SRC

Hieroglyphs, Pseudo-Scripts and Alphabets: Their Use and Reception in Ancient Egypt and Neighbouring Regions

Haring 2023

SRC

Cite it

Mysteries Department. (2026). Sign-like marks used without being writing are common in the region, and the cylinder sequences correspond to no known… [Evidence EVD0DEEB20JT663]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/EVD0DEEB20JT663

@misc{mysteriesdept_evd0deeb20jt663,
  title     = {Sign-like marks used without being writing are common in the region, and the cylinder sequences correspond to no known…},
  author    = {{Mysteries Department}},
  year      = {2026},
  note      = {Evidence, catalog key EVD0DEEB20JT663},
  url       = {https://mysteriesdept.com/r/EVD0DEEB20JT663}
}