3,700-year-old lice comb found with oldest alphabet’s first full sentence, experts say
No one wants head lice — not today and not 3,700 years ago, archaeologists in Israel discovered after deciphering a comb with the oldest alphabet’s first complete sentence.
A team of researchers, led by professor Yosef Garfinkel from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, unearthed an ivory comb from an archaeological site at Tel Lachish during summer 2016, but the significance of their find remained unknown until now, according to a study published in the Jerusalem Journal of Archaeology.
The tiny comb is only about 1.5 inches wide and 1 inch tall, researchers said. The teeth on the top have broken off, but some remain on the bottom, photos show. Preserved remains of lice were found on the comb’s teeth, indicating its purpose, the study said.
Analyzing the comb’s material revealed it was made of expensive elephant ivory, likely imported from Egypt, professor Rivka Rabinovich from the Hebrew University and professor Yuval Goren from Ben Gurion University said in a Nov. 9 news release from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
On the comb’s rough surface, 17 tiny letters were engraved, experts said. These letters came from the earliest-known alphabet created by Canaanites around 1800 B.C., the release said. This Canaanite alphabet later became Greek and Latin, eventually forming the alphabets of many modern languages.
Long before any of this happened, someone used the recently invented Canaanite alphabet to carve a plea on this tiny comb. Inferring a few worn-away letters, researchers deciphered and translated the inscription which reads:
“May this tusk root out the lice of the hai[r and the] beard.”
This 3,700-year-old wishful plea is the first complete sentence found written in the earliest-known Canaanite alphabet, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem said in the release.
From the comb and its inscription, researchers learned more about an early alphabet and the reality of dealing with hair care and head lice in ancient times, the study concluded.
Tel Lachish is about 35 miles southwest of Jerusalem.
Google Translate was used to translate the news release from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
This story was originally published November 9, 2022 at 1:39 PM with the headline "3,700-year-old lice comb found with oldest alphabet’s first full sentence, experts say."
