First Canaanite Sentence Found Written on Ancient Ivory Comb in Israel; What Does the 3,700-year-old Inscription Mean?

An ivory comb from 1700 BCE that was inscribed with a plea to rid oneself of lice has been discovered by the Hebrew University. The inscription reads: "May this [ivory] tusk root out the lice of the hair and the beard." The alphabet used to inscribe the comb was developed around 1800 BCE and was utilized by the Canaanites. After some years, many other languages spread or evolved throughout the world.

Previously, there have been very few Canaanite inscriptions located in the Land of Israel, with only a few isolated phrases having been discovered. However, the recent discovery of an entire sentence in Canaanite on the ivory comb, dated back to 1700 BCE, is significant because it includes a spell against lice. This discovery provides new insights into the culture and language of the Canaanites and adds to our understanding of everyday life in ancient times.

The small ivory comb with an inscription in Canaanite dating back to around 1700 BCE was discovered at Tel Lachish in Israel by a team from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Southern Adventist University.

Reading the Inscription

The research team that discovered and studied the small ivory comb with the inscription in Canaanite was led by Professors Yosef Garfinkel, Michael Hasel, and Martin Klingbeil. The inscription on the comb was decoded by Dr. Daniel Vainstub, a Semitic epigraphist from Ben Gurion University. The ivory was tested by Professors Rivka Rabinovich and Yuval Goren and was found to have come from an elephant tusk. The team's analyses were reported in the Jerusalem Journal of Archaeology.

The letters of the inscription on the small ivory comb, which measures about 3.5 by 2.5 cm and has teeth on both sides, were engraved in a very shallow manner. The comb was excavated in 2017, but the letters were not noticed until post-processing in 2022 by Dr. Madeleine Mumcuoglu. It was polished and preserved by research-fellow Miriam Lavi. The central part of the comb is somewhat eroded, possibly due to the pressure of fingers holding it while using it to care for hair or remove lice, and the teeth on the comb are broken. The side with six thick teeth was used to untangle knots in the hair while the side with 14 fine teeth was used to remove lice and their eggs, similar to modern two-sided lice combs.

There are 17 Canaanite letters on the small ivory comb, which are archaic in form and come from the first stage of the invention of the alphabet script. These letters form seven words in Canaanite that read: "May this tusk root out the lice of the hair and the beard." This is the first sentence ever found in the Canaanite language in Israel.

Ancient Combs of Past Civilizations

There are Canaanites in Ugarit in Syria, but they wrote in a different script, not the alphabet that is used today. The Canaanite metropolises are cited in Egyptian documents, the Amarna missives reported in Akkadian, and including Hebrew Bible. The inscription on the comb is direct evidence of the use of the alphabet in daily activities about 3700 years ago, and it is a significant development in the history of the human ability to write, according to Professor Yosef Garfinkel.

In ancient times, combs were made from wood, bone, or ivory. Ivory was a very expensive material and was likely imported as a luxury object. Since there were no elephants in Canaan during that time, the small ivory comb found in Israel likely came from nearby Egypt. The fact that the comb is made of such a valuable material suggests that lice affected people of all social statuses.

The research team analyzed the comb under a microscope for the presence of lice and took photographs of both sides. Remains of head lice, which are about 0.5-0.6 mm in size, were found on the second tooth. The climatic conditions in Lachish did not allow for the preservation of whole head lice, but only the outer chitin membrane of the nymph stage head louse was found.

Comb's Unique Features

The small inscription on the comb from Lachish has many unique features that provide important insights into the culture of Canaan in the Bronze Age. It is the first time that a complete sentence written in the dialect spoken by the Canaanite inhabitants of Lachish has been discovered, which allows for a comprehensive comparison with other sources of this language. The inscription also provides information about previously poorly understood aspects of everyday life in ancient times, such as haircare and dealing with lice.

This is the first discovery in the region of an inscription that refers to the purpose of the object on which it was written, rather than dedicatory or ownership inscriptions. The engraver's skill in successfully executing such small letters (1-3 mm wide) is also notable and should be considered when summarizing and drawing conclusions about literacy in Canaan in the Bronze Age.

Lachish was a significant Canaanite city-state in the second millennium BCE and an influential city in the Biblical Kingdom of Judah. Many Canaanite inscriptions have been found in Lachish, making it the site with the most discoveries of this kind in Israel. The city was known for its use and preservation of the alphabet for about 600 years, from 1800-1150 BCE, and the site of Tel Lachish is protected by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority.

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