Alphabets Might Be 500 Years Older Than We Thought
Archaeologist Glenn Schwartz unearthed four ancient clay fragments in northern Syria bearing inscriptions that may be the earliest known alphabetic writings.
by Isa Farfan 
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“Writing often appears when a complex, urban society develops, which was certainly the case in the third millennium northern Levant,” Schwartz said in his remarks. “If the Umm el-Marra cylinders are tags or labels, this would be consistent with the association of writing with increasing administrative needs.”
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