# 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.

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/evidence/EVD0DEEB20JT663/sign-like-marks-used-without-being-writing-are-common-in-the  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page)  

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[Proto-Sinaitic and Wadi el-Hol: the first alphabet](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic)Evidence

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 question[Are the Umm el-Marra clay cylinders of about 2400 BC alphabetic writing?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/questions/QST0DEDW8MZFBEA/are-the-umm-el-marra-clay-cylinders-of-about-2400-bc)

3 answers, none ahead yet

**Open** unchanged

Answer this evidence bears on[Marks or a local notation, not an alphabet](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/answers/ANS0DEDYP432ZQ6/marks-or-a-local-notation-not-an-alphabet)

Supports1 for, none against

**Still possible** was No evidence yet

## Next steps 1

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?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/questions/QST0DEDW8MZFBEA/are-the-umm-el-marra-clay-cylinders-of-about-2400-bc)

**—** 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](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DEDJP7MYCQW/early-non-cuneiform-writing-third-millennium-bc-clay)

Schwartz 2010

SRC

[Hieroglyphs, Pseudo-Scripts and Alphabets: Their Use and Reception in Ancient Egypt and Neighbouring Regions](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DEDKGJP9JRW/hieroglyphs-pseudo-scripts-and-alphabets-their-use-and)

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
```

Key

**EVD** 0DEEB20JT663

Kind

Evidence

Tier

Suggestive

Version

1

Added by

[apollo](https://mysteriesdept.com/u/apollo)

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