This faint inscription, written in the early language of the ancient Canaanites, represents the earliest known instance of a complete sentence written using a phonetic alphabet, researchers say.
The Canaanites were a cultural group that traded widely across the Mediterranean. Few of their written records have survived, so most of what researchers know about them come from other documents, such as the Old Testament.
The comb was the unearthed in 2016 among the ruins of the ancient city of Lachish in present-day Israel. Years later, when the comb was sent to a lab to search for traces of lice, someone noticed faint symbols etched on the side. A closer look revealed that spelled out the sentence, “May this tusk root out the lice of the hair and the beard,” Garfinkel and colleagues report November 9 in theThe discovery may offer a glimpse into the life of one of Lachish’s wealthy denizens. The fact that the sentence refers to a beard suggests it belonged to an elite man, Garfinkel says, since elephant ivory was an expensive good that had to be imported from Egypt.
The plea against lice is “so human,” says Garfinkel, who notes that other writings from the time tend to center around royal accomplishments or religion. It also appears that the comb was able to fulfill its purpose, at least somewhat. Between the teeth, the researchers found the ancient remains of a louse.
Singapore Latest News, Singapore Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
This little-known financial stock could benefit from Apple-PayPal partnership, Bank of America saysThe stock should benefit from PayPal's plan to add its cards to Apple Wallet next year, Bank of America says.
Read more »
Officials warn some election results may not be known right awayIt may take awhile to know who are the big winners of some key midterm races.
Read more »
Scientists Discover Closest Known Black Hole to EarthEarthlings, meet your celestial neighbor: an absolutely massive black hole, which is lying dormant in a nearby binary star system.
Read more »
The Polymath Film Composer Known as “the Third Coen Brother”A Profile of Carter Burwell, the composer behind the scores for “Carol,” “Twilight,” most of the Coen brothers’ films, and, most recently, “The Banshees of Inisherin.”
Read more »
Remnants of oldest known solar system discovered just 90 light-years from EarthThe find provides further evidence that rocky planets were able to form in abundance in the distant past.
Read more »