Archaeologists unearth oldest alphabet from ancient tomb

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The oldest known alphabetic writing has been found etched onto finger-length clay cylinders unearthed from a tomb in Syria. “Alphabetic writing changed the way people lived, how they thought, how they communicated,” archaeologist Glenn Schwartz, who was behind the clay cylinder’s discovery, said. Symbols on finger-sized clay objects discovered during dig at ancient city of Umm el-Marra could be earliest known alphabet This form of writing may have revolutionised language by making it accessible to people beyond royalty and the social elite, scientists said. Experts finally crack mystery of skeleton made of bones from multiple people Amid these artefacts, researchers found four lightly baked clay cylinders with what appeared to be alphabetic writing etched onto them.