Experts decipher ancient language sentence from 3,700-year-ago in ‘landmark’ discovery

The object was first excavated back in 2017 at Tel Lachish, an archaeological site in Israel, by a research team from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU) and the US-basd Southern Adventist University. 

But due to the shallow engravings on the ivory comb, the discrete sentence was not actually spotted until 2022 during post-processing.

The true meaning of the sentence is, according to experts: “May this tusk root out the lice of the hair and the beard”. 

Professor Yosef Garfinkel from HU said: “This is the first sentence ever found in the Canaanite language in Israel. There are Canaanites in Ugarit in Syria, but they write in a different script, not the alphabet that is used today.

“The Canaanite cities are mentioned in Egyptian documents, the Amarna letters that were written in Akkadian, and in the Hebrew Bible. The comb inscription is direct evidence for the use of the alphabet in daily activities some 3,700 years ago. This is a landmark in the history of the human ability to write.”

Article source: https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1694364/archaeology-israel-canaanite-tel-lachish-ancient-language