Unraveling Ancient Script Discovery at Bashplemi Lake

Discover the mystery of a recently unearthed stone tablet in Georgia, inscribed with an unknown script. This rare artifact sheds light on Georgia's ancient written systems.

In a groundbreaking find, archaeologists have excavated a stone tablet featuring inscriptions in an unrecognized script.

This significant artifact was retrieved from the vicinity of Bashplemi Lake in Georgia, known to be a hotbed for historical discoveries.

The stone tablet is of particular note due to its dimensions, resembling that of a modern letter-sized paper, and showcasing an intricate array of 60 enigmatic symbols arranged over seven lines. The artisans’ skillful engravings suggest the use of sophisticated implements during the time of its creation.

The Enigma of the Inscription

Reported in the Journal of Ancient History and Archaeology, this distinctive piece poses challenging questions about the inception of Georgia’s written system. The researchers who studied the tablet remarked, “Possessing 60 distinct glyphs, of which 39 vary from one another, this tablet challenges us to rethink the beginnings of the Georgian script and its possible proto-Georgian roots.” Despite the certainty of the basalt stone’s regional provenance, the significant barrier remains to decipher the mysterious script, necessitating further efforts for interpretation.

When measured against more than 20 different languages, observations have drawn parallels with various script systems spanning the Middle East to the Brahmani and Semitic languages and even as far as North Iberia. The study suggests, “A large portion of the symbolic representations bear a resemblance to those encountered in Middle Eastern scripts and also to those associated with more distant realms such as India, Egypt, and West Iberia.” There are allusions as well to initial Caucasian writing systems, opening the door to the potential identification of a lost language or script.

Researchers are captivated by the symbols on the tablet, which may include numerals and punctuation marks. They delve into the probability of its relation to the Proto-Kartvelian language, which is known to have thrived in Georgia and Iberia around the fourth millennium B.C. Although the precise nature of the tablet’s content, possibly chronicling historic battles, major structural undertakings, or ritualistic tributes, remains speculative without a solid translation.

This finding enriches the already enigmatic history of the Bashplemi Lake region. The fine detail evident on the surface of the tablet suggests that the ancient engraver likely wielded a conical drill to carve the outlines and a smooth, rounded tool to finish the glyphs. This discovery not only raises new queries regarding the diffusion of linguistic and writing systems but also potentially revolutionizes our grasp of history.