DISCOVERY OF UNKNOWN SCRIPT SIGNS IN GEORGIA: THE BASHPLEMI LAKE TABLET

[Saturday]

In 2021 a basalt tablet bearing an inscription in unknown script was
discovered nearby Bashplemi Lake (Dmanisi municipality, Georgia). This booksized
tablet bears 60 signs, 39 of them are different. The archaeological context
of the finding may be dated back to the Late Bronze/Early Iron Ages. The basalt
seems to be of local origin, the signs have some similarities with over 20 ancient
scripts from the Near East and Mediterranean.

1. Signs on the basalt tablet show similarities with several
ancient scripts,

The territory adjacent to the lake seems to be quite rich
from the viewpoint of archaeology. Drone photographs and
a survey of the area evidence the fact. Fragments of pottery,
a stone mortar and pieces of obsidian (artifacts) found in the
surface layer, at first glance, bring us closer to the Bronze
Age.

Generally, the Bashplemi inscription does not repeat
any script known to us; however, most of the symbols used
therein resemble ones found in the scripts of the Middle
East, as well as those of geographically remote countries such
as India, Egypt and West Iberia. The shape of certain signs is
reminiscent of the Proto-Kartvelian script24 that, according
to V. Licheli, appeared in the late fourth millennium BC on
Colchian and Iberian territories25. Similarity with the seals
of the Bronze and Early Iron Ages found in Georgia is also
worth mentioning.

Some similarities with Phoenician, Aramaic and Greek
alphabets are not surprising as their role in the region
and their relations to local scripts are well-known28. Other
matches may be coincidental and require further research.

Full Study

Interesting. As always with the Caucasus, the more we know, the more confusing it gets.

The problem is farmers and not archaeologists found it.

 

[ZZZZ1111]

Indeed very mysterious