# Christopher A. Rollston 2021: Tell Umm el-Marra (Syria) and Early Alphabetic in the Third Millennium: Four Inscribed Clay Cylinders as a Potential Game Changer

> Christopher A. Rollston, 2021. 4 records on Mysteries Department cite it. Rollston Epigraphy, April 2021. An epigrapher's assessment: the signs look…

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DEDJPS7A1RQ/tell-umm-el-marra-syria-and-early-alphabetic-in-the-third  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page)  

---

[Sources](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources)[Proto-Sinaitic and Wadi el-Hol: the first alphabet](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic)Christopher A. Rollston 2021

**0**

# Tell Umm el-Marra (Syria) and Early Alphabetic in the Third Millennium: Four Inscribed Clay Cylinders as a Potential Game Changer

Christopher A. Rollston, 2021.

**Proto-Sinaitic and Wadi el-Hol: the first alphabet** Post-weblog0

## What it's used for here

Rollston Epigraphy, April 2021. An epigrapher's assessment: the signs look early alphabetic, the readings (roughly k'y and wn'ls) are tentative, the find spot on the tomb floor argues against intrusion, and longer texts are needed. Rollston was on the excavation staff.

## Cited by on this site 4 records

[The Umm el-Marra inscribed clay cylinders](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/artifacts/ART0DEDT7N59F26/the-umm-el-marra-inscribed-clay-cylinders)

ART

[Rollston first suspected the cylinders were intrusive from the second millennium before accepting the stratigraphy.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/evidence/EVD0DEEB345M1PT/rollston-first-suspected-the-cylinders-were-intrusive-from)

Evidence

EVD

[The cylinder signs resemble Early Alphabetic letter forms, and their position on the tomb floor under collapsed…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/evidence/EVD0DEEAYVVG4DQ/the-cylinder-signs-resemble-early-alphabetic-letter-forms)

Evidence

EVD

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

The mystery article

MYS

## Cite it

```
Christopher A. Rollston (2021). Tell Umm el-Marra (Syria) and Early Alphabetic in the Third Millennium: Four Inscribed Clay Cylinders as a Potential Game Changer. http://www.rollstonepigraphy.com/?p=921
```

[Find it at rollstonepigraphy.com](http://www.rollstonepigraphy.com/?p=921)

Key

**SRC** 0DEDJPS7A1RQ

Kind

Post-weblog

Rights

The publisher's

Kept

31 Oct 2026, for editors

Added by

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

The record

Bibliographic records are CC0. Take this one as CSL-JSON, BibTeX or RIS.

[CSL-JSON](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DEDJPS7A1RQ/tell-umm-el-marra-syria-and-early-alphabetic-in-the-third/csl.json)