AMME seminars comprise of two papers followed by a shared round of questions and discussion on the session specific theme. The theme of May is ‘Deciphering Lost Languages’ – please find the speakers and their topics below.
Prof. Jacob Dahl
‘Early Writing in Iran: adoption, adaption, and rejection’
In this talk I will discuss first how administrators in early Iran adopted the proto-cuneiform writing system, invented in Southern Iraq in the middle of the 4th millennium, to control the flow of goods in and out of local administrative centres, before addressing the causes for the divergence of the two writing systems. At the end of the talk I will discuss the curious fact that writing was rejected in Iran for a period of almost 800 years following the end of the use of proto-Elamite around 3000 or 2900 BC.
Prof. Ramaz Shengalia
‘Ways and Prospects for Deciphering the Bashflame Tablet’
A stone tablet engraved with unknown signs was discovered in 2021 on the shore of the artificial lake of Bashplemi, Dmanisi Municipality, Georgia. The greyish tablet measures 24.1 cm x 20.1 cm x 0.8 – 1.8 cm. We employ comparative analysis to study the characters on the tablet, which are in fact part of a script, distributed over 7 registers. It consists of 60 signs, 39 of which occur only once, to be read either left-to-right or vice versa. Many of the symbols likely represent numerals, which makes it possible that the text describes conquest and loot, a construction project and/or dedication to a deity. In general, the Bashplemi inscription does not repeat any script known to us but most of the symbols used in it are similar to ones found in the alphabets of the Middle East, as well as those of geographically remote countries like India, Egypt and West Iberia. The shape of certain characters reminds of “Proto-Kartvelian script” that probably appeared in the late 4th century BC, on Colchis and Iberian (Caucas) territories. Similarity with the seals of the Bronze and Early Iron Ages found in Georgia is also worth mentioning, and the indirect evidence suggests the tablet should be dated to this time. Archaeological data may enable a more precise dating. Drone research revealed that the ca 4-square-kilometer area is divided into geometrical shapes contoured with white stones. These shapes could supposedly be burial mounds, remains of houses, defense structures and places of worship. One shape resembles those of Didnauri Settlement discovered in Shiraki (South-East Georgia), dated back by the 14th – 12th centuries BC. Optical and electronic microscopy of the tablet revealed it to be local vesicular basalt, identical to that of Lake Bashplemi. For this reason, we hypothesize that the inscription represents a language used by the aboriginal population of pre-Christian Georgia.
Time: Tuesday 6 May at 16:30-18:15 EEST (UTC+3h).
Live venue: Faculty hall of Theology, Fabianinkatu 33, room 4038
Zoom room: https://helsinki.zoom.us/j/67889792118 (Meeting ID: 678 8979 2118).
The spring programme: https://www.helsinki.fi/en/researchgroups/ancient-near-eastern-empires/news/amme-program-announcement-spring-2025-0