18 July 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Archaeologists discover rare Caanite inscription on ancient ivory comb

Israeli archaeologists discovered a rare inscription on an ivory comb that sheds new light on the Canaanite language’s use some 3,700 years ago, marking what is likely the oldest-known full sentence in the Canaanite alphabetical script.

The ivory comb was unearthed at Tel Lachish in Israel back in 2017 by a team from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU) and Southern Adventist University in the United States.

However, it was only late last year when a professor at Israel’s Hebrew University noticed the tiny words inscribed on it. Details of the find were published Wednesday in an article in the Jerusalem Journal of Archaeology.

The text was deciphered by Semitic epigraphist Dr. Daniel Vainstub at Ben Gurion University (BGU).

The comb measures roughly 3.5 by 2.5 cm and has six thick teeth on the side that was used to untangle knots in the hair, while the other side with 14 fine teeth, was used to remove lice and their eggs, much like the current-day two-sided lice combs.

The inscription encourages people to comb their hair and beards to rid themselves of lice. The sentence contains 17 letters that read: “May this tusk root out the lice of the hair and the beard.”

An aerial picture shows the Tel Lachish archeological site, a key Canaanite city about 40 kilometers (25 miles) southwest of Jerusalem, Israel. Photo: IAA
An aerial picture shows the Tel Lachish archeological site, a key Canaanite city about 40 kilometers (25 miles) southwest of Jerusalem, Israel. Photo: IAA

The discovery, according to experts, sheds new light on some of humanity’s earliest uses of the Canaanite alphabet, which was invented around 1800 B.C. and served as the foundation for all subsequent alphabetic systems such as Hebrew, Arabic, Greek, Latin, and Cyrillic.

The mundane topic indicates that people had trouble with lice in everyday life during the time – and archaeologists say they have even found microscopic evidence of head lice on the comb.

The comb inscription is direct evidence of the use of the alphabet in daily activities some 3700 years ago. This is a landmark in the history of the human ability to write,” said Professor Yosef Garfinkel.

The find also opens up room for debate about the ancient era, Garfinkel added. The fact that the sentence was found on an ivory comb in the ancient city’s palace and temple district, coupled with the mentioning of the beard, could indicate that only wealthy men were able to read and write.

Besides, Ivory was a very expensive material and likely an imported luxury object. As there were no elephants in Canaan during that time period, the comb likely came from nearby Egypt.

The Canaanites lived in the regions bordering the eastern Mediterranean and spoke a prehistoric Semitic language related to modern Hebrew, Arabic, and Aramaic. They are believed to have developed the first known alphabetic system of writing.

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Cover Photo: IAA

Related Articles

Possible Location of Medieval Knight Zbylut’s Manor Identified Alongside Discovery of Unknown Burial Crypts

26 April 2025

26 April 2025

In a remarkable archaeological find, researchers have uncovered previously unknown burial crypts within the Gothic Church of St. James the...

Al-Aqiser Church, Disappears in the Depths of The Iraqi Desert

10 May 2021

10 May 2021

In a country that has been devastated by successive conflicts and economic crises, Al-Aqiser, like the numerous Christian, Islamic and...

Medieval double grave discovered with majestic objects inside the circular ditch

22 August 2022

22 August 2022

An early medieval double grave was discovered in Kirchheim am Neckar Friedrichstrasse, southern Germany, during excavations supervised by the State...

Archaeologists discover 1200-year-old Wari temple complex in Peru

24 February 2023

24 February 2023

Archaeologists from the University of Illinois Chicago have uncovered a temple complex constructed by the Wari Empire 1,200 years ago...

Unsolvable Megalithic Mystery of ancient Greek “Dragon Houses”

8 January 2025

8 January 2025

The Dragon Houses of Euboea, which probably dates to the Preclassical period of ancient Greece, are one of the historical...

3,000-year-old Drill Bit Workshop Unearthed in Vietnam’s

13 May 2021

13 May 2021

According to the provincial museum, an ancient drill bit workshop dating back more than 3,000 years has been discovered at...

Female pharaoh’s temple reveals teamwork of Egypt’s ‘ancient masters’

18 November 2021

18 November 2021

Despite the widely acknowledged monumentality and durability of ancient Egyptian sculpture, carved reliefs, and paintings the makers of these works...

Ancient Roman city of Pompeii, archaeologists have unearthed a fresco depicting the Greek mythological siblings Phrixus and Helle

2 March 2024

2 March 2024

Archaeologists excavating a house adjacent to the House of Leda in Insula 6, Regio V, in the ancient Roman city...

Ancient Roman Chalice Contained Pig Fat Discovered in a 6th-century Anglo-Saxon Tomb in England

11 December 2024

11 December 2024

During excavations in Scremby, Lincolnshire in 2018, archaeologists uncovered an enameled copper alloy chalice in a 6th-century AD female grave....

Scientists recreate Stone Age cave lighting

17 June 2021

17 June 2021

For early hunter-gatherer societies that were lucky enough to live near caves, these natural underground homes provided ideal protection from...

Egypt unearths 2,300-year-old remains of Greco-Roman town in Alexandria

28 August 2021

28 August 2021

An Egyptian archeological team discovered the ruins of a Greco-Roman residential and commercial town in the north coast city of...

An important Gallo-Roman worship complex was discovered near Rennes, France

13 June 2022

13 June 2022

An essential Gallo-Roman worship complex was unearthed by Inrap  (National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research) archaeologists at Chapelle-des-Fougeretz (Ille-et-Vilaine), near...

New research determines portable toilets of the ancient Roman world

11 February 2022

11 February 2022

New research published today reveals how archeologists can determine when a pot was used by Romans as a portable toilet,...

A 2,000-year-old whistle was found in a child’s grave in the ruins of Assos, Turkey

18 October 2022

18 October 2022

A terracotta whistle believed to be 2,000 years old from the Roman era and placed as a gift in a...

Dutch Shrimp Fishermen caught a centuries-old carved wooden statue off the coast of Texel

17 August 2022

17 August 2022

A carved wooden statue in exceptional condition has been attached to fishing nets off the coast of Texel, one of...