What is the country most in the world news these days? SYRIA! The National Geographic Magazine of July, 1933, in its article, Secrets From Syrian Hills: Explorations Reveal World's Earliest Known Alphabet, Deciphered From Schoolboy Slates and Dictionaries of 3,000 Years Ago, Claude F.A. Schaeffer, may help us understand some of Syria's ancient culture and glories.
Surely we will agree with the author, Mr. Schaeffer, "Of all man's inventions, none has served him better than his alphabet." Before there was an alphabet, there were hieroglyphics, or picture-writing. Only a few writers, "scribes," could communicate in this way, usually in the service of kings. After the alphabet came into use, "writing and reading became so easy and simple. . . that the public no longer had to depend upon priests and other professional scribes," (p. 97).
Prior to Mr. Schaeffer's explorations in Syria, it was assumed that the Phoenicians, on the easternmost Mediterranean shores, first used an alphabet. "Such was the situation when, in May of 1929, excavating at the ruined city of Ras Shamra, in northern Syria, I dug up some written slates of clay on which was used a new form of cuneiform alphabet never before encountered. . . a simple way to write with only 28 letters. . . from the 14th or 15th century B.C.," (p. 97).
Mr. Schaeffer and the expedition unearthed a temple and burial tombs that were rich with ancient artifacts and skeletons. When assembled and studied, the vessels and objects of bronze, marble, stone, and gems gave a picture of the ancient civilization. There were many ties with the country of Egypt, "Ras Shamra, one of the most important kingdoms under the Egyptian protectorate,"
"The royal sanctuaries were built like palaces for the living, with large rooms, halls, wells for water, and altars for honoring the memory of the royal dead," (photo caption, p. 111). Photos of the excavation resembled those in the popular "Indiana Jones" movies, with randomly scattered holes over a large field and dozens of Arab workers wielding pickaxes. "Painstaking care was necessary, as any careless blow of a pick might otherwise injure a priceless object. Excavating the royal tombs, which were arranged in three stories, revealed many altars, idols, and ornaments of gold," (photo caption, p. 115).
Mr. Schaeffer, the expedition leader, decided to return to the site where the clay slates were found. They dug and found an entire building which was a school for scribes. Everyone was elated and dug even more feverishly, under the scorching Middle Eastern sun, finding a library, over 3,300 years old! In the school, "One of the teachers was named Rabana. . . He had carefully compiled a slate dictionary, in the margin of which he wrote his name as author. We also found practice lessons of the students," (p. 117).
Due to finding the school and library, Mr. Schaeffer realized they had found the fabled city of Ugarit. "There can scarcely be any doubt that the city which we have uncovered on the hill of Ras Shamra is the famous Ugarit, the bulwark of Egyptian power and influence in northern Syria. . . Within the walls of Ugarit no less than eight languages were spoken or understood. . . in the temple library and in the school for scribes we have found actual documents in the eight different languages which the priests taught their pupils," (p. 121).
"Ugarit's polyglot speech was a result of its geographic location, at the crossing of the trade routes from Phoenicia, Mesopotamia, and Asia Minor," (p. 123).
No fewer than 50 gods and 25 goddesses were worshiped there. Of particular interest to me was the young god, Baal, mentioned as one of the false gods worshiped by the Israelites in the Christian Bible's Old Testament. What exciting work this archeology proves to be!
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