The oldest written Canaanite sentence has been discovered at Lachish. The inscription, carved into an ivory comb, dates to around 1700 BCE, only a century after most scholars believe the alphabet was invented. Written in an archaic Proto-Canaanite script, the inscription sheds light on the early development of the alphabet and the daily life of Canaanites. Although several Proto-Canaanite inscriptions have been found, with some even older than the Lachish comb, this is the oldest alphabetic inscription that contains a full sentence. It reads, “May this [ivory] tusk root out the lice of the hair and the beard,” a […]
