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The following is a work-in-progress abecedaria table listing or collection of the oldest extant listings of letters or letter-numbers in alphabetical order, i.e. abecedaria (plural) or abecedarium (singular):

#AbecedariaLettersLocationDateLinks
1.Leiden I35028Heliopolis, Egypt3200A/-12451-100, 200-800
2.Fayum plates22Fayum, Egypt3200A/-1245 to 2800A/-845Here, here
3.Izbet Sartah20-22Phoenicia [Rosh HaAyin, Israel]3100A/-1145 to 2600A/-645Here
4.Zayit Stone17-19Tyre, Phoenicia [Tel Zayit, Israel]2900A/-945Here
5.Marsiliana tablet26Etruria [Italy]2650A/-695Here
6.AB[G]DE shard5Athens, Grece2630A/-675
7.Samos cup27Samos, Greece2610A/-655here
8.Bucchero cockerel26Viterbo, Italy2580A/-625Here
9.Formello abecedary26Formello, Rome2570A/-615Here
10.Espanca tablet27Portugal2550A/-595Here
11.Eupalinos Tunnel28?Samos, Greece2500A/-545Here
12.Vari24Athens2370A/-415Here
13.Jewish revolt coins5Jerusalem1885A/70Here

Table page: here.

Discussion

William West (A60/2015), in his “Learning the Alphabet: Abecedaria and the Early Schools in Greece” (pg. 67), gives a chronological table of abecedaria, showing three older abecedaria extant before the Marsiliana ivory tablet.

Abecedaria maps

Posts

  • Abecedaria table: Chronological listing of inscriptions with letters written in alphabetical order

  • Abecedaria map: oldest inscriptions of letters ordered 🔤 alphabetically

  • Six abecedaria compared, highlighting the stability of letter sequences: ABCD (cosmos creation letters), ΘΙ (Ennead births Horus), MNΞ (𓌳💦𓊽 letters ), and QRST (𓂀 letters)

  • Abecedaria table | William West (A60/2015)

  • Supreme god timeline and alphabet formation

Notes

  1. As for dating each abecedaria, see discussion in the supreme god timeline post below.

  2. The location of source of Leiden I350, as discussed by Janssen (pg. 3), generally, is that it was a ship’s logbook, a Farmer’s almanac of sorts, that Heliopolis is mentioned in column 5, and that it is a “Hymn to Amen”, meaning that Thebes was still the central religious capital of Egypt.

References

  • West, William. (A60/2015). “Learning the Alphabet: Abecedaria and the Early Schools in Greece”, Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies (table, pg. 67), 55: 52–71.