CINXE.COM

<!doctype html> <html class="no-js" lang="en"> <head> <script> dataLayer = []; </script>  <script> (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start': new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0], j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src= 'https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f); })(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-5K9DL47'); </script>  <meta name="sentry-trace" content="a50d5b1400ec440f90e41a5e05fc1f6b-57fd2721eea34008-0" /> <meta name="baggage" content="sentry-trace_id=a50d5b1400ec440f90e41a5e05fc1f6b,sentry-sample_rate=0.01,sentry-transaction=%2F%3Ayear%2F%3Amonth%2F%3Aday%2F%3Aslug,sentry-public_key=d3381ccef82942cbb78e76484a69b204,sentry-environment=production" /> <meta charset="utf-8"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0, viewport-fit=cover"> <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge"> <meta property="og:site_name" content="The Hub" /> <meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image" /> <meta name="twitter:site:id" content="743066030" /> <meta name="referrer" content="origin"> <meta property="og:title" content="Evidence of oldest known alphabetic writing unearthed in ancient Syrian city"> <meta name="description" content="Findings suggest alphabetic writing may be some 500 years older than other discoveries" > <meta property="og:description" content="Findings suggest alphabetic writing may be some 500 years older than other discoveries" /> <meta property="og:type" content="article" /> <meta property="og:url" content="https://hub.jhu.edu/2024/11/21/ancient-alphabet-discovered-syria/" /> <meta property="article:published_time" content="2024-11-21T14:00:00-05:00" /> <meta property="article:publisher" content="https://www.facebook.com/johnshopkinsuniversity" /> <meta property="og:image" content="https://api.hub.jhu.edu/factory/sites/default/files/styles/soft_crop_1300/public/2024-11/alphabet1.jpg" /> <meta property="og:image:secure_url" content="https://api.hub.jhu.edu/factory/sites/default/files/styles/soft_crop_1300/public/2024-11/alphabet1.jpg" /> <meta property="og:image:alt" content="Alphabetic text on a beadlike stone form" /> <meta property="article:tag" content="archaeology" /> <meta property="article:tag" content="syria" /> <meta property="article:tag" content="writing" /> <meta name="content_type" content="article" /> <title>Evidence of oldest known alphabetic writing unearthed in ancient Syrian city | Hub</title> <link rel="canonical" href="https://hub.jhu.edu/2024/11/21/ancient-alphabet-discovered-syria/" /> <link rel="apple-touch-icon" sizes="57x57" href="https://hub.jhu.edu/assets/themes/wphub/src/assets/images/icons/apple-touch-icon-57x57.png"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon" sizes="60x60" href="https://hub.jhu.edu/assets/themes/wphub/src/assets/images/icons/apple-touch-icon-60x60.png"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon" sizes="72x72" href="https://hub.jhu.edu/assets/themes/wphub/src/assets/images/icons/apple-touch-icon-72x72.png"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon" sizes="76x76" href="https://hub.jhu.edu/assets/themes/wphub/src/assets/images/icons/apple-touch-icon-76x76.png"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon" sizes="114x114" href="https://hub.jhu.edu/assets/themes/wphub/src/assets/images/icons/apple-touch-icon-114x114.png"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon" sizes="120x120" href="https://hub.jhu.edu/assets/themes/wphub/src/assets/images/icons/apple-touch-icon-120x120.png"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon" sizes="144x144" href="https://hub.jhu.edu/assets/themes/wphub/src/assets/images/icons/apple-touch-icon-144x144.png"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon" sizes="152x152" href="https://hub.jhu.edu/assets/themes/wphub/src/assets/images/icons/apple-touch-icon-152x152.png"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon" sizes="180x180" href="https://hub.jhu.edu/assets/themes/wphub/src/assets/images/icons/apple-touch-icon-180x180.png"> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="https://hub.jhu.edu/assets/themes/wphub/src/assets/images/icons/favicon-32x32.png" sizes="32x32"> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="https://hub.jhu.edu/assets/themes/wphub/src/assets/images/icons/favicon-194x194.png" sizes="194x194"> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="https://hub.jhu.edu/assets/themes/wphub/src/assets/images/icons/favicon-96x96.png" sizes="96x96"> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="https://hub.jhu.edu/assets/themes/wphub/src/assets/images/icons/android-chrome-192x192.png" sizes="192x192"> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="https://hub.jhu.edu/assets/themes/wphub/src/assets/images/icons/favicon-16x16.png" sizes="16x16"> <link rel="manifest" href="https://hub.jhu.edu/assets/themes/wphub/src/assets/images/icons/manifest.json"> <link rel="mask-icon" href="https://hub.jhu.edu/assets/themes/wphub/src/assets/images/icons/safari-pinned-tab.svg" color="#418fde"> <meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-title" content="HUB"> <meta name="application-name" content="HUB"> <meta name="msapplication-TileColor" content="#2d89ef"> <meta name="msapplication-TileImage" content="https://hub.jhu.edu/assets/themes/wphub/src/assets/images/icons/mstile-144x144.png"> <meta name="theme-color" content="#ffffff"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="Hub" href="https://hub.jhu.edu/feed/" /> <script type="text/javascript" id="jhu-nonces"> /* <![CDATA[ */ var jhu_nonces = {"announcement_listings":"cff8042561","create_conversion":"271a03d3d6","event_listings":"4c55425782","facebook_shares":"a8212c043b","email_friend":"02a8edb706","google_search":"99fe88aee0","site_alert":"315c149172","rave_alert":"97ab9956b5"}; var jhu_nonces_timestamp = "2025-02-17 05:09:57"; /* ]]> */ </script><meta name='robots' content='max-image-preview:large' /> <link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//www.google.com' /> <link rel='stylesheet' id='wp-block-library-css' href='https://hub.jhu.edu/wp/wp-includes/css/dist/block-library/style.min.css?ver=6.6.2' type='text/css' media='all' /> <style id='safe-svg-svg-icon-style-inline-css' type='text/css'> .safe-svg-cover{text-align:center}.safe-svg-cover .safe-svg-inside{display:inline-block;max-width:100%}.safe-svg-cover svg{height:100%;max-height:100%;max-width:100%;width:100%} </style> <style id='classic-theme-styles-inline-css' type='text/css'> /*! This file is auto-generated */ .wp-block-button__link{color:#fff;background-color:#32373c;border-radius:9999px;box-shadow:none;text-decoration:none;padding:calc(.667em + 2px) calc(1.333em + 2px);font-size:1.125em}.wp-block-file__button{background:#32373c;color:#fff;text-decoration:none} </style> <link rel='stylesheet' id='jhu-base-css' href='https://hub.jhu.edu/assets/themes/wphub/assets/css/base.css?ver=bb34c8750afda69d29da' type='text/css' media='all' /> <link rel='stylesheet' id='jhu-modules-css' href='https://hub.jhu.edu/assets/themes/wphub/assets/css/modules.css?ver=5362fd9e5ecc402897d8' type='text/css' media='all' /> <link rel='stylesheet' id='jhu-print-css' href='https://hub.jhu.edu/assets/themes/wphub/assets/css/print.css?ver=114431535a1ba12e505c' type='text/css' media='print' /> <link rel='stylesheet' id='jhu-hub-css' href='https://hub.jhu.edu/assets/themes/wphub/assets/css/hub.css?ver=38e06ba8ff1c11833023' type='text/css' media='all' /> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://hub.jhu.edu/wp/wp-includes/js/dist/vendor/wp-polyfill.min.js?ver=3.15.0" id="wp-polyfill-js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" id="jhu-logger-js-extra"> /* <![CDATA[ */ var jhu_logger_data = {"dsn":"https:\/\/d3381ccef82942cbb78e76484a69b204@o106740.ingest.sentry.io\/4504554993680384","trace":"1","sample_rate":"0.01","transaction_name":"\/:year\/:month\/:day\/:slug"}; /* ]]> */ </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://hub.jhu.edu/assets/themes/shared/assets/js/logger.js?ver=4d30fb524601e9630d0b" id="jhu-logger-js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://hub.jhu.edu/assets/themes/shared/assets/js/rave.js?ver=55f50a251fb3efebe7fb" id="jhu-rave-js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://hub.jhu.edu/assets/themes/shared/assets/js/site-alert.js?ver=1471a85ac3384b228702" id="jhu-site-alert-js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://hub.jhu.edu/assets/themes/shared/assets/js/modernizr.js?ver=291b8c292d0735d630d5" id="jhu-modernizr-js"></script> <link rel="https://api.w.org/" href="https://hub.jhu.edu/wp-json/" /> </head> <body class="layout-hub">  <noscript><iframe src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5K9DL47" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript>  <div class="jhu-top-nav main-nav nav section" role="navigation"> <div class="shadow-container"> <a class="skip-to-main" href="#main">Skip to main content</a> <div class="center force"> <ul class="tier-1 force"><li class="hamburger-menu" aria-hidden="true"><a class="openMenu" href="#footer-nav" title="Menu" role="button"><i class="fa fa-bars" aria-hidden="true"></i><span class="text"> Menu</span></a></li><li id="menu-item-10368" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-home menu-item-has-children menu-item-10368 active-section" aria-haspopup="true"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/">Hub</a><button class="toggle-section" tabindex="-1"><i class="fa fa-plus-square-o" aria-hidden="true"></i><span class="visuallyhidden">Open Hub</span></button> <ul class="sub-menu tier-2 force"> <li id="menu-item-10369" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-10369"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/about/">About the Hub</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10370" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-10370"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/announcements/">Announcements</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10371" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-10371"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/media/">For Media</a></li> <li id="menu-item-16882" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-16882"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/experts/">Faculty Experts Guide</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10372" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-10372"><a href="http://eepurl.com/pa10H">Subscribe to the newsletter</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10402" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom_header menu-item-object-custom_header menu-item-10402"><h6><span>Explore by Topic</span></h6></li> <li id="menu-item-6762" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-6762"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/arts-culture/">Arts+Culture</a></li> <li id="menu-item-6763" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-6763"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/athletics/">Athletics</a></li> <li id="menu-item-6764" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-6764"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/health/">Health</a></li> <li id="menu-item-6765" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-6765"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/politics-society/">Politics+Society</a></li> <li id="menu-item-6766" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-6766"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/science-technology/">Science+Technology</a></li> <li id="menu-item-6767" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-6767"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/student-life/">Student Life</a></li> <li id="menu-item-6768" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-6768"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/university-news/">University News</a></li> <li id="menu-item-6769" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-6769"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/voices-opinion/">Voices+Opinion</a></li> </ul> </li> <li id="menu-item-6761" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-6761"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/events/">Events</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10373" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-has-children menu-item-10373" aria-haspopup="true"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/at-work/">At Work</a><button class="toggle-section" tabindex="-1"><i class="fa fa-plus-square-o" aria-hidden="true"></i><span class="visuallyhidden">Open At Work</span></button> <ul class="sub-menu tier-2 force"> <li id="menu-item-10375" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-10375"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/at-work/about/">About Hub at Work</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10377" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-10377"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/gazette/archive/">Gazette Archive</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10400" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom_header menu-item-object-custom_header menu-item-10400"><h6><span>Explore by Topic</span></h6></li> <li id="menu-item-10378" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-10378"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/at-work/news-info/">News+Info</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10379" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-10379"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/at-work/benefits-perks/">Benefits+Perks</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10380" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-10380"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/at-work/health-well-being/">Health+Well-Being</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10381" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-10381"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/at-work/tools-tech/">Tools+Tech</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10382" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-10382"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/at-work/happenings/">Happenings</a></li> </ul> </li> <li id="menu-item-10374" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-has-children menu-item-10374" aria-haspopup="true"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/magazine/">Johns Hopkins Magazine</a><button class="toggle-section" tabindex="-1"><i class="fa fa-plus-square-o" aria-hidden="true"></i><span class="visuallyhidden">Open Johns Hopkins Magazine</span></button> <ul class="sub-menu tier-2 force"> <li id="menu-item-23848" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-issue menu-item-23848"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/magazine/2024/winter/">Current issue</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10383" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-10383"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/magazine/about/">About the Magazine</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10384" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-10384"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/magazine/past-issues/">Past Issues</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10385" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-10385"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/magazine/contact/">Contact</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10386" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-10386"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/magazine/giving/">Support Johns Hopkins Magazine</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10387" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-10387"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/magazine/subscribe/">Subscribe to the Magazine</a></li> </ul> </li> <li id="menu-item-10397" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-10397"><a href="https://www.jhu.edu">jhu.edu</a></li> <li class="search-menu"><a class="openSearch" href="/search/" role="button" aria-label="Press button to enter keywords"><i class="fa fa-fw fa-search" aria-hidden="true"></i><span class="text">Search</span></a></li></ul> </div> </div> </div> <div class="banner-notifications">  <div class="rave-alert-container"></div> <div class="site-alert-container"></div> </div> <div class="main-content-container"> <div class="header row" role="banner"> <div class="center force"> <div class="masthead column force"> <a href="/" class="hubmark column"> <img class="svg" src="https://hub.jhu.edu/assets/themes/wphub/src/assets/images/hubmark-full.svg" alt="Hub" /> <img class="svg-fallback" src="https://hub.jhu.edu/assets/themes/wphub/src/assets/images/hubmark-full-on-bg-gray.gif" alt="Hub" /> </a> <a href="https://www.jhu.edu" class="header-logo column" title="Johns Hopkins University"> <img class="svg" src="https://hub.jhu.edu/assets/themes/wphub/src/assets/images/logos/university-logo-small-horizontal-black-no-clear-space.svg" alt="Johns Hopkins University" /> <img class="svg-fallback" src="https://hub.jhu.edu/assets/themes/wphub/src/assets/images/logos/university-logo-small-horizontal-black-no-clear-space-on-bg-gray.gif" alt="Johns Hopkins University" /> </a> </div> </div> </div> <div id="main" role="main"> <div class="article feature impact-image-landscape has-sidebar has-social main-content" role="article" data-convert="1" data-id="58125" data-type="article" data-url="https://hub.jhu.edu/2024/11/21/ancient-alphabet-discovered-syria/" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/NewsArticle" > <span itemprop="publisher copyrightHolder" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/EducationalOrganization"> <span itemprop="logo" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/ImageObject"> <meta itemprop="url" content="https://hub.jhu.edu/assets/themes/wphub/src/assets/images/logos/university-logo-small-horizontal-blue-no-clear-space.png" /> </span> <meta itemprop="name" content="Johns Hopkins University" /> </span> <span itemprop="image" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/ImageObject"> <meta itemprop="url" content="https://api.hub.jhu.edu/factory/sites/default/files/styles/hub_thumbnail/public/2024-11/alphabet1.jpg" /> <meta itemprop="about" content="Alphabetic text on a beadlike stone form" /> </span> <meta itemprop="abstract" content="Findings suggest alphabetic writing may be some 500 years older than other discoveries" /> <div class="hero-container row"> <div class="center force"> <div class="hero column force"> <div class="image column force image-landscape"><div class="image-container"><img src="https://api.hub.jhu.edu/factory/sites/default/files/styles/landscape/public/2024-11/alphabet1.jpg" alt="Alphabetic text on a beadlike stone form" class="column" sizes="(min-width: 1680px) 1440px, (min-width: 1280px) 1194px, (min-width: 1024px) 1062px, (min-width: 863px) 850px, (min-width: 768px) 863px, (min-width: 640px) 768px, (min-width: 412px) 640px, (min-width: 375px) 412px, 375px" srcset="https://api.hub.jhu.edu/factory/sites/default/files/styles/hub_medium/public/2024-11/alphabet1.jpg 420w, https://api.hub.jhu.edu/factory/sites/default/files/styles/soft_crop_630/public/2024-11/alphabet1.jpg 630w, https://api.hub.jhu.edu/factory/sites/default/files/styles/full_width/public/2024-11/alphabet1.jpg 825w, https://api.hub.jhu.edu/factory/sites/default/files/styles/soft_crop_1030/public/2024-11/alphabet1.jpg 1030w, https://api.hub.jhu.edu/factory/sites/default/files/styles/hub_large/public/2024-11/alphabet1.jpg 1194w, https://api.hub.jhu.edu/factory/sites/default/files/styles/soft_crop_1300/public/2024-11/alphabet1.jpg 1300w, https://api.hub.jhu.edu/factory/sites/default/files/styles/hub_xlarge/public/2024-11/alphabet1.jpg 1440w, https://api.hub.jhu.edu/factory/sites/default/files/styles/soft_crop_1600/public/2024-11/alphabet1.jpg 1600w, https://api.hub.jhu.edu/factory/sites/default/files/styles/soft_crop_1800/public/2024-11/alphabet1.jpg 1800w, https://api.hub.jhu.edu/factory/sites/default/files/styles/soft_crop_2000/public/2024-11/alphabet1.jpg 2000w, https://api.hub.jhu.edu/factory/sites/default/files/styles/soft_crop_2400/public/2024-11/alphabet1.jpg 2400w, https://api.hub.jhu.edu/factory/sites/default/files/styles/soft_crop_2880/public/2024-11/alphabet1.jpg 2880w"/></div></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="page-title-container row"> <div class="center force"> <div class="kicker-position-reference"> <div class="kicker"><span class="highlight">Archaeology</span></div> </div> <h1 class="headline"><span class="highlight"><span itemprop="headline"> Evidence of oldest known alphabetic writing unearthed in ancient Syrian city </span></span></h1> <h2 class="subheadline">Archaeological findings suggest alphabetic writing may be some 500 years older than other discoveries </h2> </div> </div> <div class="row"> <div class="center force"> <div itemprop="articleBody" class="body-copy column force"> <div class="byline"> <p> <span class="visuallyhidden">By</span> <span class="author" itemprop="author">Hannah Robbins</span> </p> <span class="sep" aria-hidden="true">/</span> <span class="visuallyhidden">Published</span> <meta itemprop="datePublished dateCreated" content="2024-11-21" /> <span class="publish-date convert-pubdate" data-timestamp="1732215600"> Nov 21, 2024 </span> </div> <div class="media-inquiries-container closed"> <button class="button x-small gtm-media-inquiries"> <i class="fa fa-angle-down" aria-hidden="true"></i> Media Inquiries </button> <div class="media-inquiries force"> <dl aria-label="Primary contact" class="column"> <dt class="visuallyhidden">Name</dt><dd class="name">Hannah Robbins</dd> <dt class="visuallyhidden">Email</dt><dd><i class="fa fa-fw fa-envelope-o" aria-hidden="true"></i><a href="mailto:hlrobbins@jhu.edu">hlrobbins@jhu.edu</a></dd> <dt class="visuallyhidden">Cell phone</dt><dd><i class="fa fa-fw fa-mobile" aria-hidden="true"></i>667-232-9047</dd> </dl> </div> </div> <p>What appears to be evidence of some of the oldest alphabetic writing in human history is etched onto finger-length, clay cylinders excavated from a tomb in Syria by a team of Johns Hopkins University researchers.</p> <p>The writing, which is dated to around 2400 BCE, precedes other known alphabetic scripts by roughly 500 years, upending what archaeologists know about where alphabets came from, how they are shared across societies, and what that could mean for early urban civilizations, according to the researchers.</p> <p>"Alphabets revolutionized writing by making it accessible to people beyond royalty and the socially elite. Alphabetic writing changed the way people lived, how they thought, how they communicated," said <a href="https://neareast.jhu.edu/directory/glenn-m-schwartz/">Glenn Schwartz</a>, a professor of archaeology at Johns Hopkins University who discovered the clay cylinders. "And this new discovery shows that people were experimenting with new communication technologies much earlier and in a different location than we had imagined before now."</p> <div class="image inline align-left size-medium image-landscape column enlarge" data-id="44755"><div class="image-container"><img src="https://api.hub.jhu.edu/factory/sites/default/files/styles/hub_medium/public/2024-11/alphabet2.jpg" alt="Alphabetic text on a beadlike stone form" srcset="https://api.hub.jhu.edu/factory/sites/default/files/styles/hub_medium/public/2024-11/alphabet2.jpg 420w, https://api.hub.jhu.edu/factory/sites/default/files/styles/soft_crop_630/public/2024-11/alphabet2.jpg 630w, https://api.hub.jhu.edu/factory/sites/default/files/styles/full_width/public/2024-11/alphabet2.jpg 825w, https://api.hub.jhu.edu/factory/sites/default/files/styles/soft_crop_1030/public/2024-11/alphabet2.jpg 1030w, https://api.hub.jhu.edu/factory/sites/default/files/styles/hub_large/public/2024-11/alphabet2.jpg 1194w, https://api.hub.jhu.edu/factory/sites/default/files/styles/soft_crop_1300/public/2024-11/alphabet2.jpg 1300w, https://api.hub.jhu.edu/factory/sites/default/files/styles/hub_xlarge/public/2024-11/alphabet2.jpg 1440w, https://api.hub.jhu.edu/factory/sites/default/files/styles/soft_crop_1600/public/2024-11/alphabet2.jpg 1600w, https://api.hub.jhu.edu/factory/sites/default/files/styles/soft_crop_1800/public/2024-11/alphabet2.jpg 1800w, https://api.hub.jhu.edu/factory/sites/default/files/styles/soft_crop_2000/public/2024-11/alphabet2.jpg 2000w, https://api.hub.jhu.edu/factory/sites/default/files/styles/soft_crop_2400/public/2024-11/alphabet2.jpg 2400w, https://api.hub.jhu.edu/factory/sites/default/files/styles/soft_crop_2880/public/2024-11/alphabet2.jpg 2880w" sizes="(min-width: 1680px) 579px, (min-width: 1280px) 456px, (min-width: 1024px) 406px, (min-width: 863px) 325px, (min-width: 768px) 347px, (min-width: 640px) 309px, (min-width: 412px) 258px, (min-width: 375px) 307px, 279px" /></div></div> <p>Schwartz will share details of his discovery on Thursday, Nov. 21, at the <a href="https://www.asor.org/am/">American Society of Overseas Research's Annual Meeting</a>.</p> <p>A Near Eastern archaeologist, Schwartz studies how early urban areas developed throughout Syria and how smaller cities emerged in the region. With colleagues from the University of Amsterdam, he co-directed a 16-year-long archaeological dig at Tell Umm-el Marra, one of the first medium-size urban centers that popped up in western Syria.</p> <p>At Umm-el Marra, the archaeologists uncovered tombs dating back to the Early Bronze Age. One of the best-preserved tombs contained six skeletons, gold and silver jewelry, cookware, a spearhead, and intact pottery vessels. Next to the pottery, the researchers found four lightly baked clay cylinders with what seems to be alphabetic writing on them.</p> <p>"The cylinders were perforated, so I'm imagining a string tethering them to another object to act as a label. Maybe they detail the contents of a vessel, or maybe where the vessel came from, or who it belonged to," Schwartz said. "Without a means to translate the writing, we can only speculate."</p> <p>Using carbon-14 dating techniques, researchers confirmed the ages of the tombs, the artifacts, and the writing.</p> <p>"Previously, scholars thought the alphabet was invented in or around Egypt sometime after 1900 BCE," Schwartz said. "But our artifacts are older and from a different area on the map, suggesting the alphabet may have an entirely different origin story than we thought."</p> <div class="taxonomy"> <p>Posted in <a href='/science-technology/'>Science+Technology</a></p> <p>Tagged <a href='/tags/archaeology/articles/'>archaeology</a>, <a href='/tags/syria/articles/'>syria</a>, <a href='/tags/writing/articles/'>writing</a></p> </div> </div> <div role="complementary" aria-label="Sidebar" class="minimal sidebar fixable column"> <div class="social section force" data-view="social"> <div class="share-icon twitter"> <a href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fhub.jhu.edu%2F2024%2F11%2F21%2Fancient-alphabet-discovered-syria%2F&text=Evidence%20of%20oldest%20known%20alphabetic%20writing%20unearthed%20in%20ancient%20Syrian%20city&via=HubJHU&related=JohnsHopkins" target="_blank" class="gtm-social-share" data-type="Twitter"> <i class="fa-brands fa-fw fa-x-twitter"></i> <span class="visuallyhidden">Share on X</span> </a> </div> <div class="share-icon facebook"> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fhub.jhu.edu%2F2024%2F11%2F21%2Fancient-alphabet-discovered-syria%2F&display=page" target="_blank" class="force gtm-social-share" data-type="Facebook"> <i class="fa fa-fw fa-facebook"></i> <span class="visuallyhidden">Share on Facebook</span> </a> </div> <div class="share-icon pinterest"> <a href="https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fhub.jhu.edu%2F2024%2F11%2F21%2Fancient-alphabet-discovered-syria%2F&description=Findings%20suggest%20alphabetic%20writing%20may%20be%20some%20500%20years%20older%20than%20other%20discoveries&media=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.hub.jhu.edu%2Ffactory%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2Fstyles%2Fhub_large%2Fpublic%2F2024-11%2Falphabet1.jpg" target="_blank" class="gtm-social-share" data-type="Pinterest"> <i class="fa fa-fw fa-pinterest-p"></i> <span class="visuallyhidden">Pin it on Pinterest</span> </a> </div> <div class="share-icon email" data-id="58125"> <button> <i class="fa fa-fw fa-envelope"></i> <span class="visuallyhidden">Email</span> </button> </div> <div class="share-icon more"> <button> <i class="fa fa-fw fa-plus"></i> <span class="visuallyhidden">More social media options</span> </button> <div class="more-container hidden"> <div class="share-icon linkedin"> <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?url=https%3A%2F%2Fhub.jhu.edu%2F2024%2F11%2F21%2Fancient-alphabet-discovered-syria%2F&title=Evidence%20of%20oldest%20known%20alphabetic%20writing%20unearthed%20in%20ancient%20Syrian%20city&summary=Findings%20suggest%20alphabetic%20writing%20may%20be%20some%20500%20years%20older%20than%20other%20discoveries&source=The%20Hub&mini=true" target="_blank" class="gtm-social-share" data-type="LinkedIn"> <i class="fa fa-fw fa-linkedin"></i> <span class="visuallyhidden">Share on LinkedIn</span> </a> </div> <div class="share-icon reddit"> <a href="http://www.reddit.com/submit?url=https%3A%2F%2Fhub.jhu.edu%2F2024%2F11%2F21%2Fancient-alphabet-discovered-syria%2F&title=Evidence%20of%20oldest%20known%20alphabetic%20writing%20unearthed%20in%20ancient%20Syrian%20city" target="_blank" class="gtm-social-share" data-type="Reddit"> <i class="fa fa-fw fa-reddit-alien"></i> <span class="visuallyhidden">Share on Reddit</span> </a> </div> <div class="share-icon tumblr"> <a href="https://www.tumblr.com/widgets/share/tool?canonicalUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fhub.jhu.edu%2F2024%2F11%2F21%2Fancient-alphabet-discovered-syria%2F" target="_blank" class="gtm-social-share" data-type="Tumblr"> <i class="fa fa-fw fa-tumblr"></i> <span class="visuallyhidden">Share on Tumblr</span> </a> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div role="complementary" aria-label="Sidebar" class="full sidebar fixable column"> <div class="social section force" data-view="social"> <div class="share-icon twitter"> <a href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fhub.jhu.edu%2F2024%2F11%2F21%2Fancient-alphabet-discovered-syria%2F&text=Evidence%20of%20oldest%20known%20alphabetic%20writing%20unearthed%20in%20ancient%20Syrian%20city&via=HubJHU&related=JohnsHopkins" target="_blank" class="gtm-social-share" data-type="Twitter"> <i class="fa-brands fa-fw fa-x-twitter"></i> <span class="visuallyhidden">Share on X</span> </a> </div> <div class="share-icon facebook"> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fhub.jhu.edu%2F2024%2F11%2F21%2Fancient-alphabet-discovered-syria%2F&display=page" target="_blank" class="force gtm-social-share" data-type="Facebook"> <i class="fa fa-fw fa-facebook"></i> <span class="visuallyhidden">Share on Facebook</span> </a> </div> <div class="share-icon pinterest"> <a href="https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fhub.jhu.edu%2F2024%2F11%2F21%2Fancient-alphabet-discovered-syria%2F&description=Findings%20suggest%20alphabetic%20writing%20may%20be%20some%20500%20years%20older%20than%20other%20discoveries&media=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.hub.jhu.edu%2Ffactory%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2Fstyles%2Fhub_large%2Fpublic%2F2024-11%2Falphabet1.jpg" target="_blank" class="gtm-social-share" data-type="Pinterest"> <i class="fa fa-fw fa-pinterest-p"></i> <span class="visuallyhidden">Pin it on Pinterest</span> </a> </div> <div class="share-icon email" data-id="58125"> <button> <i class="fa fa-fw fa-envelope"></i> <span class="visuallyhidden">Email</span> </button> </div> <div class="share-icon more"> <button> <i class="fa fa-fw fa-plus"></i> <span class="visuallyhidden">More social media options</span> </button> <div class="more-container hidden"> <div class="share-icon linkedin"> <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?url=https%3A%2F%2Fhub.jhu.edu%2F2024%2F11%2F21%2Fancient-alphabet-discovered-syria%2F&title=Evidence%20of%20oldest%20known%20alphabetic%20writing%20unearthed%20in%20ancient%20Syrian%20city&summary=Findings%20suggest%20alphabetic%20writing%20may%20be%20some%20500%20years%20older%20than%20other%20discoveries&source=The%20Hub&mini=true" target="_blank" class="gtm-social-share" data-type="LinkedIn"> <i class="fa fa-fw fa-linkedin"></i> <span class="visuallyhidden">Share on LinkedIn</span> </a> </div> <div class="share-icon reddit"> <a href="http://www.reddit.com/submit?url=https%3A%2F%2Fhub.jhu.edu%2F2024%2F11%2F21%2Fancient-alphabet-discovered-syria%2F&title=Evidence%20of%20oldest%20known%20alphabetic%20writing%20unearthed%20in%20ancient%20Syrian%20city" target="_blank" class="gtm-social-share" data-type="Reddit"> <i class="fa fa-fw fa-reddit-alien"></i> <span class="visuallyhidden">Share on Reddit</span> </a> </div> <div class="share-icon tumblr"> <a href="https://www.tumblr.com/widgets/share/tool?canonicalUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fhub.jhu.edu%2F2024%2F11%2F21%2Fancient-alphabet-discovered-syria%2F" target="_blank" class="gtm-social-share" data-type="Tumblr"> <i class="fa fa-fw fa-tumblr"></i> <span class="visuallyhidden">Share on Tumblr</span> </a> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="related-content section" data-view="related" role="complementary" aria-label="Related Content"> <h6>Related Content</h6> <div class="row"> <div class="article teaser column force has-image" > <div class="thumbnail"> <a class="force" href="https://hub.jhu.edu/2021/07/13/alphabetic-writing-500-years-earlier-glenn-schwartz/" data-label="Alphabetic writing may have begun 500 years earlier than believed"> <div class="image column force image-landscape"><div class="image-container"><img src="https://api.hub.jhu.edu/factory/sites/default/files/styles/hub_thumbnail/public/cylinder%200-3b.jpg" alt="Alphabetic text inscribed on a beadlike form" class="column" sizes="(min-width: 1680px) 210px, (min-width: 1280px) 210px, (min-width: 1024px) 187px, (min-width: 863px) 150px, (min-width: 768px) 126px, (min-width: 640px) 112px, (min-width: 412px) 94px, (min-width: 375px) 96px, 87px" srcset="https://api.hub.jhu.edu/factory/sites/default/files/styles/hard_crop_landscape_240/public/cylinder%200-3b.jpg 240w, https://api.hub.jhu.edu/factory/sites/default/files/styles/hub_thumbnail/public/cylinder%200-3b.jpg 360w, https://api.hub.jhu.edu/factory/sites/default/files/styles/hard_crop_landscape_540/public/cylinder%200-3b.jpg 540w, https://api.hub.jhu.edu/factory/sites/default/files/styles/hard_crop_landscape_720/public/cylinder%200-3b.jpg 720w, https://api.hub.jhu.edu/factory/sites/default/files/styles/landscape/public/cylinder%200-3b.jpg 900w, https://api.hub.jhu.edu/factory/sites/default/files/styles/hard_crop_landscape_1005/public/cylinder%200-3b.jpg 1005w, https://api.hub.jhu.edu/factory/sites/default/files/styles/hard_crop_landscape_1230/public/cylinder%200-3b.jpg 1230w, https://api.hub.jhu.edu/factory/sites/default/files/styles/hard_crop_landscape_1380/public/cylinder%200-3b.jpg 1380w"/></div></div> </a> </div> <div class="text"> <div class="accent-element"> <div class="kicker">Archaeology</div> <h5><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/2021/07/13/alphabetic-writing-500-years-earlier-glenn-schwartz/" data-label="Alphabetic writing may have begun 500 years earlier than believed"> Dead letters </a></h5> <span class="visuallyhidden">Published</span> <span class="publish-date convert-pubdate" data-timestamp="1626199200"> July 13, 2021 </span> <div class="summary">Alphabetic writing may have begun 500 years earlier than believed </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div role="complementary" aria-label="You might also like..." class="see-more row"> <div class="center force"> <div class="bbload force also-like column force content-collection" data-per_page="4" data-type="related" data-endpoint="articles" data-excluded_ids="58125"><script type="application/json">{"imageSizes":[456,333,296,237,347,309,258,342,311],"tags":[{"_links":{"self":{"href":"\/tags\/89"}},"id":89,"name":"archaeology","slug":"archaeology","type":"tag","weight":0,"_embedded":{"image_thumbnail":null},"url":{"articles":"https:\/\/hub.jhu.edu\/tags\/archaeology\/articles\/","events":"https:\/\/hub.jhu.edu\/tags\/archaeology\/events\/"}},{"_links":{"self":{"href":"\/tags\/316"}},"id":316,"name":"syria","slug":"syria","type":"tag","weight":0,"_embedded":{"image_thumbnail":null},"url":{"articles":"https:\/\/hub.jhu.edu\/tags\/syria\/articles\/","events":"https:\/\/hub.jhu.edu\/tags\/syria\/events\/"}},{"_links":{"self":{"href":"\/tags\/1330"}},"id":1330,"name":"writing","slug":"writing","type":"tag","weight":0,"_embedded":{"image_thumbnail":null},"url":{"articles":"https:\/\/hub.jhu.edu\/tags\/writing\/articles\/","events":"https:\/\/hub.jhu.edu\/tags\/writing\/events\/"}}],"topics":[{"_links":{"self":{"href":"\/topics\/33"}},"id":33,"name":"Science+Technology","slug":"science-technology","type":"topic","weight":5,"_embedded":{"image_thumbnail":null},"parent":null,"url":{"articles":"https:\/\/hub.jhu.edu\/science-technology\/"}}],"related_content":[{"_links":{"self":{"href":"\/articles\/44436"},"related_content":[{"href":"\/articles\/43928","_embedded":[]},{"href":"\/articles\/29995","_embedded":[]}]},"id":44436,"type":"article","publish_date":1626199200,"slug":"alphabetic-writing-500-years-earlier-glenn-schwartz","short_url":"https:\/\/hub.jhu.edu\/2021\/07\/13\/alphabetic-writing-500-years-earlier-glenn-schwartz\/","format":"Impact Image Emphasis","headline":"Alphabetic writing may have begun 500 years earlier than believed","alt_headline":"Dead letters","social_headline":null,"subheadline":"Inside one archaeologist's mission to rewrite the history of writing","teaser_kicker":"Archaeology","article_kicker":"Dead letters","body":"<p>In 2010, archaeologist <a href=\"https:\/\/neareast.jhu.edu\/directory\/glenn-m-schwartz\/\">Glenn Schwartz<\/a> quietly suggested that the history of writing needs, well, rewriting. More than a decade later, he still thinks he's on to something. If he's right, the world's first fully developed alphabetic writing arrived on the scene some 500 years earlier than what archaeologists have long believed.<\/p>\n\n<p>The generally accepted origin story of the alphabet as we know it holds that in 1800 BCE, Semitic speakers in Egypt, aware of the Egyptian writing system's mix of characters that stood for words and symbols that stood for sounds, wanted a system of their own and borrowed the Egyptians' alphabetic portion. Semitic languages are the predecessors of most of today's Middle Eastern languages.<\/p>\n\n<p>However, during a 2004 dig at the ancient city of Umm el-Marra, located in today's northwestern Syria, Schwartz and his team unearthed four small clay objects that appeared to contain—after much close inspection—alphabetic writing. One reason for such scrutiny was that the objects were found in one of the site's Early Bronze Age layers, dating to 2300 BCE—500 years before such writing was known.<\/p>\n\n<div class=\"image inline align-center size-large image-landscape column has-caption\" data-id=\"33459\"><div class=\"image-container\"><img\n src=\"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/full_width\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg\"\n alt=\"Alphabetic text inscribed on a beadlike form\"\n srcset=\"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hub_medium\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg 420w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_630\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg 630w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/full_width\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg 825w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_1030\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg 1030w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hub_large\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg 1194w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_1300\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg 1300w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hub_xlarge\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg 1440w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_1600\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_1800\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg 1800w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_2000\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg 2000w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_2400\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg 2400w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_2880\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg 2880w\"\n sizes=\"(min-width: 1680px) 948px, (min-width: 1280px) 702px, (min-width: 1024px) 624px, (min-width: 863px) 500px, (min-width: 768px) 567px, (min-width: 640px) 506px, (min-width: 412px) 422px, (min-width: 375px) 307px, 279px\"\n \/><\/div><div class=\"caption\"><p><span class=\"visuallyhidden\">Image caption:<\/span> Clay objects roughly the size of fingers were discovered during a dig at the ancient city of Umm el-Marra. The engraved symbols may be part of the earliest known alphabet.<\/p><p class=\"credit\">Image <span class=\"visuallyhidden\">credit<\/span>: Courtesy of Glenn Schwartz<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<p>Writing is not Schwartz's area of specialization—he focuses on the development of complex civilization, or urban societies, through analysis of their physical remains. But writing is one component of those developments, so he included an illustration of the objects and the writing in a 2006 preliminary report about the excavation. At the site, his team had discovered large tombs belonging to members of the area's ruling families, which made them significant, as well as separate tombs for the mules of the day—before the domestication of the horse—marking the first time these high-ranking animals had been identified archaeologically.<\/p>\n\n<p>\"The earlier systems of writing were extremely difficult to learn,\" says Schwartz, the Whiting Professor of Archaeology in the <a href=\"https:\/\/neareast.jhu.edu\/\">Department of Near Eastern Studies<\/a>. \"There were thousands of symbols used in very complicated ways, which meant that only a very small group of people could ever learn how to write or read. With the invention of the alphabet, it meant that a much larger number of people could, in theory, learn how to read and write. And so it ultimately led to the democratization of writing. And of course it is the system that all Western European writing systems used because Greeks, who borrowed the Semitic alphabetic system, then used it to write their own language.\"<\/p>\n\n<p>When philologists—scholars who do specialize in writing and language—didn't jump on the find, Schwartz continued with his main research. But he also continued to wonder about the writing, and he asked <a href=\"https:\/\/neareast.jhu.edu\/directory\/alice-mandell\/\">Alice Mandell<\/a>, an assistant professor in the same department and the William Foxwell Albright Chair in Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies, who studies early Semitic writing, for her opinion. Mandell confirmed the markings could indeed be writing, and helped Schwartz prepare a paper for a 2019 conference on early writing. In January, Schwartz's conference paper appeared in the Italian journal <em>Pasiphae<\/em>, but again made few waves.<\/p>\n\n<div class=\"image inline align-center size-large image-landscape column\" data-id=\"33457\"><div class=\"image-container\"><img\n src=\"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/full_width\/public\/cylinder%200-3a_brightened.jpg\"\n alt=\"Two people in an archaeological dig site\"\n srcset=\"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hub_medium\/public\/cylinder%200-3a_brightened.jpg 420w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_630\/public\/cylinder%200-3a_brightened.jpg 630w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/full_width\/public\/cylinder%200-3a_brightened.jpg 825w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_1030\/public\/cylinder%200-3a_brightened.jpg 1030w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hub_large\/public\/cylinder%200-3a_brightened.jpg 1194w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_1300\/public\/cylinder%200-3a_brightened.jpg 1300w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hub_xlarge\/public\/cylinder%200-3a_brightened.jpg 1440w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_1600\/public\/cylinder%200-3a_brightened.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_1800\/public\/cylinder%200-3a_brightened.jpg 1800w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_2000\/public\/cylinder%200-3a_brightened.jpg 2000w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_2400\/public\/cylinder%200-3a_brightened.jpg 2400w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_2880\/public\/cylinder%200-3a_brightened.jpg 2880w\"\n sizes=\"(min-width: 1680px) 948px, (min-width: 1280px) 702px, (min-width: 1024px) 624px, (min-width: 863px) 500px, (min-width: 768px) 567px, (min-width: 640px) 506px, (min-width: 412px) 422px, (min-width: 375px) 307px, 279px\"\n \/><\/div><div class=\"caption\"><p class=\"credit\">Image <span class=\"visuallyhidden\">credit<\/span>: Courtesy of Glenn Schwartz<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n<p>Still hoping to expose his finds to a wider audience, Schwartz got in touch with former graduate student Christopher Rollston, MA '96, PhD '99, now professor of northwest Semitic languages and literatures at George Washington University, and asked if he would include a brief mention of the objects and their markings on his blog, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rollstonepigraphy.com\/\">Rollston Epigraphy: Ancient Inscriptions from the Levantine World<\/a>. Instead, Rollston posted a detailed discussion, concluding that the inscriptions <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rollstonepigraphy.com\/?p=921\">appear to be \"game changers.\"<\/a><\/p>\n\n<p>\"The importance of these cylinders is adding new information and a major change in our understanding of how the alphabet was invented. When it was invented, where it was invented, and why it was invented,\" Schwartz says. What are these objects, and what does the writing say? For an archaeologist, such information takes a back seat to the possible impact of the shifted timeframe. But Schwartz does have a few theories. The objects, which he describes as cylinders, are clay tubes about the size and shape of a little finger—like elongated beads. Because of their shape, and because they were found near pottery vessels inside the tomb, he suspects they might have served as tags that could be strung on the vessels to identify something about them, whether their contents, their owner, or their origin or destination. If that is the case, he speculates that the writing could denote names, or descriptions of property.<\/p>\n\n<p>Schwartz suspects the reaction has been muted because the whole concept of earlier examples of Semitic writing stands in such contrast to accepted theory. \"It seems like such an outlier,\" he says. \"All the other evidence favors Semitic speakers in Egypt in the Middle Bronze Age. So to have Syria and the Early Bronze Age, it's just so wacky that they can't believe it.\"<\/p>\n\n<p>Schwartz himself was highly skeptical at first, questioning whether the writing was truly alphabetic. But it is clearly not cuneiform, the known writing of the period. And while it bears some resemblance to Egyptian hieroglyphs, he says it bears far more resemblance to alphabetic Semitic. He also considered whether the objects could have appeared in the tomb from a later time period, but everything else there is easily dateable to the Early Bronze Age, he says. While it's certainly not a definitive case for a rewriting of the history, Schwartz think it's one worth serious investigation.<\/p>\n\n<p>And if it's true, it tells us that the time, place, and purpose of the earliest version of our alphabet are not what we thought. \"If these are alphabetic inscriptions, maybe they were used for all sorts of things,\" Schwartz says. \"But in the only examples that we have, they're not used to write letters, they're not used to write religious texts, they're not inscriptions about the great deeds of kings, as far as we know. It seemed to be used for a much more everyday purpose, an administrative purpose, identifying the nature of goods.\"<\/p>\n","excerpt":"Alphabetic writing may have begun 500 years earlier than believed","long_excerpt":"Alphabetic writing may have begun 500 years earlier than believed, and according to Glenn Schwartz, the archaeologist who made the discovery, this theory could rewrite the history of, well, writing.","author":"Rachel Wallach","source":null,"publication":null,"publication_content":null,"at_work_article":false,"video":[],"video_legacy":[],"media_inquiries":null,"_embedded":{"campaigns":null,"departments":null,"divisions":[{"_links":{"self":{"href":"\/divisions\/426"}},"id":426,"name":"School of Arts and Sciences","slug":"school-arts-and-sciences","type":"division","weight":0,"_embedded":{"image_thumbnail":null},"url":{"articles":"https:\/\/hub.jhu.edu\/divisions\/school-arts-and-sciences\/articles\/","events":"https:\/\/hub.jhu.edu\/divisions\/school-arts-and-sciences\/events\/"}}],"issues":null,"linked_assets":null,"people":null,"tags":[{"_links":{"self":{"href":"\/tags\/89"}},"id":89,"name":"archaeology","slug":"archaeology","type":"tag","weight":0,"_embedded":{"image_thumbnail":null},"url":{"articles":"https:\/\/hub.jhu.edu\/tags\/archaeology\/articles\/","events":"https:\/\/hub.jhu.edu\/tags\/archaeology\/events\/"}},{"_links":{"self":{"href":"\/tags\/4518"}},"id":4518,"name":"near eastern studies","slug":"near-eastern-studies","type":"tag","weight":0,"_embedded":{"image_thumbnail":null},"url":{"articles":"https:\/\/hub.jhu.edu\/tags\/near-eastern-studies\/articles\/","events":"https:\/\/hub.jhu.edu\/tags\/near-eastern-studies\/events\/"}}],"topics":[{"_links":{"self":{"href":"\/topics\/32"}},"id":32,"name":"Arts+Culture","slug":"arts-culture","type":"topic","weight":7,"_embedded":{"image_thumbnail":null},"parent":null,"url":{"articles":"https:\/\/hub.jhu.edu\/arts-culture\/"}}],"image_impact":[{"_links":{"self":{"href":"\/files\/33458"}},"id":33458,"name":"tomb 4 bs gs.jpg","type":"image","filemime":"image\/jpeg","title":"Alphabetic text inscribed on a beadlike form","alt_text":"Alphabetic text inscribed on a beadlike form","caption":null,"credit":"Matt Johnson","width":1200,"height":1792,"orientation":"portrait","animated":false,"sizes":{"original":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg","hard_crop_landscape_240":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hard_crop_landscape_240\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg","hard_crop_landscape_540":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hard_crop_landscape_540\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg","hard_crop_landscape_720":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hard_crop_landscape_720\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg","landscape":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/landscape\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg","hard_crop_landscape_1005":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hard_crop_landscape_1005\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg","hard_crop_landscape_1230":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hard_crop_landscape_1230\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg","hard_crop_landscape_1380":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hard_crop_landscape_1380\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg","hard_crop_portrait_240":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hard_crop_portrait_240\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg","thumbnail_portrait":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hub_thumbnail_portrait\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg","medium":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hub_medium\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg","soft_crop_630":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_630\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg","full_width":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/full_width\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg","soft_crop_1030":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_1030\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg","large":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hub_large\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg","soft_crop_1300":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_1300\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg","xlarge":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hub_xlarge\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg","soft_crop_1600":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_1600\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg","soft_crop_1800":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_1800\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg","soft_crop_2000":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_2000\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg","soft_crop_2400":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_2400\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg","soft_crop_2880":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_2880\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg","square":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/square\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg","square_thumbnail":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/square_thumbnail\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg","thumbnail":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hub_thumbnail\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg","promo":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/promo\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg"},"srcsets":{"cropped-landscape":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hard_crop_landscape_240\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg 240w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hub_thumbnail\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg 360w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hard_crop_landscape_540\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg 540w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hard_crop_landscape_720\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg 720w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/landscape\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg 900w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hard_crop_landscape_1005\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg 1005w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hard_crop_landscape_1230\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg 1230w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hard_crop_landscape_1380\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg 1380w","cropped-portrait":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hard_crop_portrait_240\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg 240w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hub_thumbnail_portrait\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg 360w","scaled":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hub_medium\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg 420w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_630\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg 630w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/full_width\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg 825w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_1030\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg 1030w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hub_large\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg 1194w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_1300\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg 1300w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hub_xlarge\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg 1440w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_1600\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_1800\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg 1800w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_2000\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg 2000w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_2400\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg 2400w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_2880\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg 2880w","square":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/square\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg 100w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/square_thumbnail\/public\/tomb%204%20bs%20gs.jpg 480w"},"_embedded":[]}],"image_inline":null,"image_thumbnail":[{"_links":{"self":{"href":"\/files\/33459"}},"id":33459,"name":"cylinder 0-3b.jpg","type":"image","filemime":"image\/jpeg","title":"Alphabetic text inscribed on a beadlike form","alt_text":"Alphabetic text inscribed on a beadlike form","caption":null,"credit":"Courtesy of Glenn Schwartz","width":686,"height":560,"orientation":"landscape","animated":false,"sizes":{"original":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg","hard_crop_landscape_240":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hard_crop_landscape_240\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg","hard_crop_landscape_540":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hard_crop_landscape_540\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg","hard_crop_landscape_720":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hard_crop_landscape_720\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg","landscape":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/landscape\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg","hard_crop_landscape_1005":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hard_crop_landscape_1005\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg","hard_crop_landscape_1230":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hard_crop_landscape_1230\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg","hard_crop_landscape_1380":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hard_crop_landscape_1380\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg","hard_crop_portrait_240":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hard_crop_portrait_240\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg","thumbnail_portrait":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hub_thumbnail_portrait\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg","medium":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hub_medium\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg","soft_crop_630":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_630\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg","full_width":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/full_width\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg","soft_crop_1030":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_1030\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg","large":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hub_large\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg","soft_crop_1300":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_1300\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg","xlarge":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hub_xlarge\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg","soft_crop_1600":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_1600\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg","soft_crop_1800":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_1800\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg","soft_crop_2000":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_2000\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg","soft_crop_2400":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_2400\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg","soft_crop_2880":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_2880\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg","square":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/square\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg","square_thumbnail":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/square_thumbnail\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg","thumbnail":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hub_thumbnail\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg","promo":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/promo\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg"},"srcsets":{"cropped-landscape":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hard_crop_landscape_240\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg 240w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hub_thumbnail\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg 360w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hard_crop_landscape_540\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg 540w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hard_crop_landscape_720\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg 720w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/landscape\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg 900w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hard_crop_landscape_1005\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg 1005w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hard_crop_landscape_1230\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg 1230w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hard_crop_landscape_1380\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg 1380w","cropped-portrait":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hard_crop_portrait_240\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg 240w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hub_thumbnail_portrait\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg 360w","scaled":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hub_medium\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg 420w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_630\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg 630w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/full_width\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg 825w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_1030\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg 1030w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hub_large\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg 1194w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_1300\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg 1300w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/hub_xlarge\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg 1440w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_1600\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_1800\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg 1800w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_2000\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg 2000w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_2400\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg 2400w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/soft_crop_2880\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg 2880w","square":"https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/square\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg 100w, https:\/\/api.hub.jhu.edu\/factory\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/square_thumbnail\/public\/cylinder%200-3b.jpg 480w"},"_embedded":[]}],"social_thumbnail":null,"file_assets":null},"url":"https:\/\/hub.jhu.edu\/2021\/07\/13\/alphabetic-writing-500-years-earlier-glenn-schwartz\/","meta":[],"permalink":"https:\/\/hub.jhu.edu\/2021\/07\/13\/alphabetic-writing-500-years-earlier-glenn-schwartz\/","breadcrumbs":[]}]}</script><h6>You might also like</h6></div> <div class="bbload force trending column force content-collection" data-per_page="8" data-type="default" data-endpoint="articles" data-excluded_ids="58125" data-order_by="score"><script type="application/json">{"imageSizes":[106,106,94,75,126,112,94,96,87]}</script><h6>Trending</h6></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="global-footer" role="contentinfo"> <div class="center force"> <a id="footer-nav"></a> <div class="footer-nav nav row" role="region" aria-label="Footer menu"> <div class="column footer-network"> <h6>News Network</h6> <ul class="tier-1 force"><li id="menu-item-10403" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-home menu-item-10403"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/">The Hub</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10404" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-10404"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/at-work/">At Work</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10405" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-10405"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/magazine/">Johns Hopkins Magazine</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10407" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-10407"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/search/">Search</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="column footer-explore"> <h6>Explore by Topic</h6> <ul class="tier-1 force"><li id="menu-item-10408" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-10408"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/health/">Health</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10409" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-10409"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/science-technology/">Science+Technology</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10410" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-10410"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/arts-culture/">Arts+Culture</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10411" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-10411"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/politics-society/">Politics+Society</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10412" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-10412"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/university-news/">University News</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10413" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-10413"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/student-life/">Student Life</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10414" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-10414"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/athletics/">Athletics</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10415" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-10415"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/voices-opinion/">Voices+Opinion</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="column footer-resources"> <h6>Resources</h6> <ul class="tier-1 force"><li id="menu-item-10416" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-10416"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/about/">About the Hub</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10417" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-10417"><a href="http://eepurl.com/pa10H">Get Email Updates</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10418" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-10418"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/events/">Events</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10419" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-10419"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/vip/submit-announcement/">Submit an Announcement</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10420" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-10420"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/vip/submit-event/">Submit an Event</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10422" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-10422"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/media/">For Media</a></li> <li id="menu-item-16883" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-16883"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/experts/">Faculty Experts Guide</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10424" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-10424"><a href="https://www.jhu.edu/privacystatement">Privacy Statement</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10425" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-10425"><a href="http://accessibility.jhu.edu/">Accessibility</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10426" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-10426"><a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/about/">Contact Us</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="column footer-discover"> <h6>Discover JHU</h6> <ul class="tier-1 force"><li id="menu-item-10427" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-10427"><a href="https://www.jhu.edu">jhu.edu</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10428" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-10428"><a href="https://www.jhu.edu/about/">About the University</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10429" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-10429"><a href="https://www.jhu.edu/schools/">Schools & Divisions</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10430" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-10430"><a href="https://www.jhu.edu/academics/">Academic Programs</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10431" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-10431"><a href="https://www.jhu.edu/admissions/">Admissions</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10432" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-10432"><a href="https://www.jhu.edu/admissions/visit/">Plan a Visit</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10433" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-10433"><a href="https://hr.jhu.edu/jobs-jhu/">Employment</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10434" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-10434"><a href="https://my.jh.edu/portal/web/jhupub">my.JohnsHopkins.edu</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div class="identification row"> <a class="footer-logo column" href="https://www.jhu.edu"> <img class="horizontal-logo svg center" src="https://hub.jhu.edu/assets/themes/wphub/src/assets/images/logos/university-logo-small-horizontal-white-no-clear-space.svg" alt="Johns Hopkins University" /> <img class="horizontal-logo svg-fallback center" src="https://hub.jhu.edu/assets/themes/wphub/src/assets/images/logos/university-logo-small-horizontal-white-no-clear-space-on-288-blue.gif" alt="Johns Hopkins University" /> <img class="vertical-logo svg center" src="https://hub.jhu.edu/assets/themes/wphub/src/assets/images/logos/university-logo-small-vertical-white-no-clear-space.svg" alt="Johns Hopkins University" /> <img class="vertical-logo svg-fallback center" src="https://hub.jhu.edu/assets/themes/wphub/src/assets/images/logos/university-logo-small-vertical-white-no-clear-space-on-288-blue.gif" alt="Johns Hopkins University" /> </a> <ul class="contact column"> <li class="university-name">© 2025 <a href="https://www.jhu.edu">Johns Hopkins University</a>. All rights reserved.</li> <li class="office-name"><a href="http://universitycommunications.jhu.edu/">University Communications</a></li> <li class="address">3910 Keswick Rd., Suite N2600, Baltimore, MD</li> <li><div class="social-links"> <a class="twitter fa-stack" href="http://www.twitter.com/JohnsHopkins"> <i class="fa-solid fa-stack-1x fa-square" aria-hidden="true"></i> <i class="fa-brands fa-stack-1x fa-square-x-twitter" aria-hidden="true"></i> <span class="visuallyhidden">X</span> </a> <a class="facebook fa-stack" href="http://www.facebook.com/johnshopkinsuniversity"> <i class="fa-solid fa-stack-1x fa-square" aria-hidden="true"></i> <i class="fa-brands fa-stack-1x fa-facebook-square" aria-hidden="true"></i> <span class="visuallyhidden">Facebook</span> </a> <a class="linkedin fa-stack" href="https://www.linkedin.com/edu/the-johns-hopkins-university-18560"> <i class="fa-solid fa-stack-1x fa-square" aria-hidden="true"></i> <i class="fa-brands fa-stack-1x fa-linkedin-in" aria-hidden="true"></i> <span class="visuallyhidden">LinkedIn</span> </a> <a class="youtube fa-stack" href="http://www.youtube.com/johnshopkins"> <i class="fa-solid fa-stack-1x fa-square" aria-hidden="true"></i> <i class="fa-brands fa-stack-1x fa-youtube-square" aria-hidden="true"></i> <span class="visuallyhidden">YouTube</span> </a> <a class="instagram fa-stack" href="http://instagram.com/johnshopkinsu"> <i class="fa-solid fa-stack-1x fa-square" aria-hidden="true"></i> <i class="fa-brands fa-stack-1x fa-instagram-square" aria-hidden="true"></i> <span class="visuallyhidden">Instagram</span> </a> </div> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> <div id="layout-debugger"> <div id="column-master-super-awesome-grid"> <div class="center force">   <div class="row force"> <div class="column eleven"></div> <div class="column one"></div> </div> <div class="row force"> <div class="column ten"></div> <div class="column two"></div> </div> <div class="row force"> <div class="column nine"></div> <div class="column three"></div> </div> <div class="row force"> <div class="column eight"></div> <div class="column four"></div> </div> <div class="row force"> <div class="column seven"></div> <div class="column five"></div> </div> <div class="row force"> <div class="column six"></div> <div class="column six"></div> </div>  <div class="row force"> <div class="column four"></div> <div class="column four"></div> <div class="column four"></div> </div> <div class="row force"> <div class="column three"></div> <div class="column three"></div> <div class="column three"></div> <div class="column three"></div> </div> <div class="row force"> <div class="column two"></div> <div class="column two"></div> <div class="column two"></div> <div class="column two"></div> <div class="column two"></div> <div class="column two"></div> </div> <div class="row force"> <div class="column one"></div> <div class="column one"></div> <div class="column one"></div> <div class="column one"></div> <div class="column one"></div> <div class="column one"></div> <div class="column one"></div> <div class="column one"></div> <div class="column one"></div> <div class="column one"></div> <div class="column one"></div> <div class="column one"></div> </div> </div> </div> <div id="width-breakpoint-totally-tubular-stripes"> <div class="stripe hand"></div> <div class="stripe lap"></div> <div class="stripe desk"></div> <div class="stripe wall"></div> <div class="stripe jumbotron"></div> </div> <div id="height-breakpoint-totally-tubular-stripes"> <div class="stripe hand"></div> <div class="stripe lap"></div> <div class="stripe desk"></div> <div class="stripe wall"></div> <div class="stripe jumbotron"></div> </div> <div id="breakpoint-checker"></div> </div> <div id="breakpoint"> <div class="width"> <div class="hand"></div> <div class="lap"></div> <div class="desk"></div> <div class="wall"></div> <div class="jumbotron"></div> </div> <div class="height"> <div class="hand"></div> <div class="lap"></div> <div class="desk"></div> <div class="wall"></div> <div class="jumbotron"></div> </div> </div> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://hub.jhu.edu/wp/wp-includes/js/underscore.min.js?ver=1.13.4" id="underscore-js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://hub.jhu.edu/wp/wp-includes/js/jquery/jquery.min.js?ver=3.7.1" id="jquery-core-js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://hub.jhu.edu/wp/wp-includes/js/jquery/jquery-migrate.min.js?ver=3.4.1" id="jquery-migrate-js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://hub.jhu.edu/wp/wp-includes/js/backbone.min.js?ver=1.5.0" id="backbone-js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://hub.jhu.edu/wp/wp-includes/js/dist/vendor/lodash.min.js?ver=4.17.21" id="lodash-js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" id="lodash-js-after"> /* <![CDATA[ */ window.lodash = _.noConflict(); /* ]]> */ </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://hub.jhu.edu/assets/themes/wphub/assets/js/vent.js?ver=a41c71dee6c1cbfb8e8f" id="jhu-vent-js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://hub.jhu.edu/wp/wp-includes/js/dist/vendor/moment.min.js?ver=2.29.4" id="moment-js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" id="moment-js-after"> /* <![CDATA[ */ moment.updateLocale( 'en_US', {"months":["January","February","March","April","May","June","July","August","September","October","November","December"],"monthsShort":["Jan","Feb","Mar","Apr","May","Jun","Jul","Aug","Sep","Oct","Nov","Dec"],"weekdays":["Sunday","Monday","Tuesday","Wednesday","Thursday","Friday","Saturday"],"weekdaysShort":["Sun","Mon","Tue","Wed","Thu","Fri","Sat"],"week":{"dow":1},"longDateFormat":{"LT":"g:i a","LTS":null,"L":null,"LL":"F j, Y","LLL":"F j, Y g:i a","LLLL":null}} ); /* ]]> */ </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://hub.jhu.edu/assets/themes/wphub/assets/js/global.js?ver=7428063f81c8dfae0e6b" id="jhu-global-js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" id="gforms_recaptcha_recaptcha-js-extra"> /* <![CDATA[ */ var gforms_recaptcha_recaptcha_strings = {"site_key":"6LclNtkZAAAAANENXb4rH5E6uT1RlbUCAFvjxJYj","ajaxurl":"https:\/\/hub.jhu.edu\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php","nonce":"54e6057f56"}; /* ]]> */ </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://www.google.com/recaptcha/api.js?render=6LclNtkZAAAAANENXb4rH5E6uT1RlbUCAFvjxJYj&ver=1.2.2" id="gforms_recaptcha_recaptcha-js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" id="gforms_recaptcha_recaptcha-js-after"> /* <![CDATA[ */ (function($){grecaptcha.ready(function(){$('.grecaptcha-badge').css('visibility','hidden');});})(jQuery); /* ]]> */ </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://hub.jhu.edu/assets/themes/wphub/assets/js/page.js?ver=7b49bcad8f10acf84b99" id="jhu-page-js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://hub.jhu.edu/assets/themes/wphub/assets/js/article.js?ver=907c66ba1b17761d19a0" id="jhu-article-js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> /*<![CDATA[*/ (function() { var sz = document.createElement('script'); sz.type = 'text/javascript'; sz.async = true; sz.src = '//siteimproveanalytics.com/js/siteanalyze_6185845.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(sz, s); })(); /*]]>*/ </script> </body> </html>