Ancient Canaanite

For a long time, the Canaanite script was known only by fragmentary inscriptions, but in August 1976, during excavations at Izbet-Tsart , a ostracone with an inscription of 5 lines was found containing a full or close to full repertoire of signs ^{[1] [2]} . Some researchers believe that the text is in the Philistine language , with the exception of the last line containing a complete list of letters in alphabetical order ^[3] .

The signs of the ancient Canaanite script have no convincing decryption. Probably, the ancient Canaanite writing was one of the experiments on creating alphabetical writing. According to Maurice Dunant , a simple but not decipherable Palestinian writing system shows that during the first two-thirds of the second millennium, this country was the center of experiments . There is a likelihood that this writing will be associated with Egyptian , Cretan or Protosinai writing on the one hand and with the Phoenician alphabet on the other.

There is a theory according to which the ancient Khanatean letter is an "intermediate link" between the Sinai script and the alphabet, this theory is a kind of addition to the theory of Alan Gardiner about the emergence of the alphabet from the Sinai script. The “missing link” theory has been supported by a number of scholars, including William Albright and Moses Gaster . According to this theory, the signs of the ancient Canaanite script are identified with either the Sinai or the Northern Semitic characters, but there is no evidence of the identity of these scripts. In addition, the proposed identifications and readings of signs often do not coincide. Also, many generally accepted readings can be explained only by resorting to the theory of the “missing link”. Three of these factors cast doubt on the validity of this theory.

Known for the early 1950s.

1. A shard from Geser , found in 1929, a stone plate from Scheme found in 1937, and an inscription on a dagger from Lakhish , found in 1934 , however, the inscription was discovered and published only in 1937 . The inscriptions of this group date back to the 16th century BC. e.
2. A shard from Tel el-Hesi , discovered in 1891 and found in 1932, is a pot from Tel el-Ajul . Also to this or to the third group can be attributed an oracle from Beit Shemesh , found in 1930 . Inscriptions from this group date back to the 14th century BC. e.
3. A few inscriptions from Lakhish: an inscription on a jug found in 1934 , an inscription on a bowl opened a year later , an inscription on the lid of a censer, found in 1936, and a "Bowl from Lakhish No. 2", found in 1934. These inscriptions date back to the second half of the 13th century BC. e. . This group also includes the golden ring from Megiddo , which the archaeologist P. L. O. Guy, who found it, dates from 1300-1200. BC e. The third group may also include signs on the stones of the foundation of the Jerusalem Temple .

• Monuments of Ancient Canaanite
•  

  The first 2 groups of monuments

•  

  The third group of monuments

Later Discoveries

In 1964, the Dutch archaeologist H.J. Franken discovered Russian during the excavations of Deir Alla several plates. Since the signs were outwardly different from the Phoenician ones and belonged to an earlier period, and Philistine pottery was discovered with them, he mistakenly defined writing as a kind of Minoan ^[4] . Later, several mutually exclusive attempts were made to interpret the inscriptions in Semitic languages ^{[5] [6] [7]} .

In 1977 in Izbet-Tsart a shard was found containing not only several lines of text in proto-Canaan script, but also a complete alphabetical repertoire of characters in the same order as the Phoenician alphabet ^[8] .

• Phoenician letter

• Gelb, I. Experience in the study of writing. The basics of grammar. M. Rainbow, 1982.
• Deeringer, David . Alphabet. - M .: Publishing House of Foreign Literature, 1963.
• PLO Guy. Megiddo Tombs. - Chicago, 1938.
• Friedrich, I. History of writing. M. Science, 1979.