Many thanks to Dimitris, who recorded himself reciting the first 5 stanzas of "The Iliad" in #Ancient #Greek! Very grateful to him for putting him voice behind the writing script. Listen here and learn more about Archaic Greek scripts: tinyurl.com/yxxddcnh #writingscripts #language

New #commission #art joins the #gallery of #matuww! Many thanks to Daria for depicting #Ukrainians, who are #Cyrillic script users! Learn more about the Cyrillic #alphabet here: tinyurl.com/3p92wvs3 Check out Daria here: tinyurl.com/4jkaua3h

Did Viking Age rune-carvers have distinct 'handwriting'? #NationalHandwritingDay ✍️ Experienced rune-carvers had their own styles and techniques, allowing researchers to pinpoint runestones to the specific carvers who made them using 3D-scanning. 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy... 🏺 #Archaeology

#OnThisDay - 19 January - in 30 BC the Caesarion Stela was written. The inscription details a contract agreement between linen manufacturers and a guild of embalmers, concerning the cult of the Apis Bull. #Egypt #History 🏺 Image: British Museum (EA1325). Link - britishmuseum.org/collection/o...

#OnThisDay - 19 January - in AD 379 Theodosius was elevated to the rank of 'Augustus' with the approval of Gratian, taking responsibility for the Eastern Empire. #AncientHistory 🏺 Image: RIC IX Constantinople 71A; Münzkabinett Berlin (18268558). Link - numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric....

Stone artefact from pre-Islamic Tell Abraq (United Arab Emirates) with an Aramaic inscription #EpigraphyTuesday Aramaic was spoken in the Characene Kingdom (modern Iraq), indicating commercial connections across the Gulf. 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy... 🏺 #Archaeology

#Umbrian is an #Etruscan derived #alphabet used in central #Italy, in 4-1 c. BCE. This was used to write the #extinct Umbrian #language, which is #Italic and part of the #Sabellic subfamily. Full page: tinyurl.com/2hnscu63 #writingscripts #linguistics #history #map #matuww

One favourite among runologists is this inscription with ciphered runes mentioning a carver “most rune-skilled west of the sea” kulturarvsdata.se/uu/srdb/9cfa...

Oh! There's a bilinear half-uncial-shaped g in the Book of Durrow! (TCD, MS 57, fol. 86r)

Initial 'Q'(uid) at the beginning of Psalm 51: 'Quid gloriaris in malitia qui potens es in iniquitate?' BL Add MS 36929; The 'Psalter of Cormac'; 1275-1325 CE; Ireland; f.60r

For all the newcomers interested in book and manuscript history here is a handy starter pack go.bsky.app/AN9pLVo

When I started BretPal (almost two years ago 😪), I had one very clear research goal: to establish parameters for Breton Caroline minuscule (Bern, Burgerbibliothek, Cod. 85)

#Oscan is an #Etruscan derived #alphabet used in Southern #Italy, in 4-1 c. BCE. This was used to write the #extinct Oscan #language, which is #Italic and part of the #Sabellic subfamily. Full page: tinyurl.com/ye267ua8 #writingscripts #linguistics #history #map #matuww

#Camunian is an #Etruscan derived #alphabet used in the Central #Alps, modern day #Italy, in 5 . BCE - 50 CE. This was used to write the #extinct Camunic #language, which is either #Tyrsenian or #Celtic. Full page: tinyurl.com/mvvrkrn9 #writingscripts #linguistics #history #map #matuww

#Rhaetic is an #Etruscan derived #alphabet used in the Eastern #Alps in 5-1 c. BCE. This was used to write the #extinct Rhaetic #language, which is #Tyrsenian and is related to Etruscan. Full page: tinyurl.com/2dx2sph5 #writingscripts #linguistics #history #map #matuww

South #Picene is an #Etruscan derived #alphabet used in east central #Italy, in 6-3 c. BCE. This was used to write the #extinct South Picene #language, which is #Italic and part of the #Sabellic subfamily. Full page: tinyurl.com/bdund5zx #writingscripts #linguistics #history #map #matuww

#Venetic is an #Etruscan derived #alphabet used in North-eastern #Italy, in 6-1 c. BCE. This was used to write the #extinct Venetic #language, which is likely either #Italic or #Celtic. Full page: tinyurl.com/mpz5td2v #writingscripts #linguistics #history #map #matuww

#Lepontic is an #Etruscan derived #alphabet used in the Southern #Alps, modern day #Switzerland and #Italy, in 6-1 c. BCE. This was used to write the #extinct Lepontic #language, which is continental #Celtic. Full page: tinyurl.com/mu3cz7va #writingscripts #linguistics #history #map #matuww

#Faliscan is an #Etruscan derived #alphabet used in central #Italy in 7-2 c. BCE. This was used to write the #extinct Faliscan #language, which is closely related to #Latin. Full page: tinyurl.com/2yerpar5 #writingscripts #linguistics #history #map #matuww

#Etruscan was written in central #Italy in 8 - 1 c BCE. The #alphabet was adopted from the #Euboean variant of Archaic #Greek, which was used by Greeks in #Cumae Etruscan developed into multiple Old Italic scripts. Full page: tinyurl.com/4j38tsve #writingscripts #linguistics #history #map #matuww

Not #matuww related but something I did for fun when I was a #medical #student: Made handouts to teach how to take a #history from a patient in Middle #Ancient #Egyptian for my med school's #language and #culture soc Likely not 100% correct but that's the best I could do from J P Allen's textbook!

The Divine Egypt exhibition at the Met in NYC is filled with a beautiful mix of social zooarchaeological wonders. Dozens of different animal deities giving up just a little of their meaning. This is a falcon-headed Horus sharing a throne with King Haremhab from about 1300 BCE. 🏺

Labour strikes aren’t new! The first recorded strike in history took place in Egypt some 3,200 years ago! The ‘Strike Papyrus’ records that tomb workers of King Ramesses III downed tools over pay and conditions circa 1157 BC! Museo Egizio, Turin 📷 by me #Archaeology

Imagine reading text with no spaces, no punctuation, and all caps!  That was ancient Greek scriptio continua (‘continuous script’). Words weren’t visually separated because reading was mostly aloud. Spaces appeared by the 8th–9th century. #linguistics #greek #reading

Another sneak peek of what's next on #matuww! Old #Italic #writing scripts. We're going to cover #Etruscan and scripts derived from it. There's a lot to go through and eventually #Latin - which we are all so familiar with. Stay tuned. #maps #history #linguistics

A new update on the #Greek script page: We decided to support Juan-José Marcos, who we relied on his work on the #evolution of the Greek script, by registering and including his Greek #Paleography #fonts on the page! Learn more here: tinyurl.com/3rp2r49p #writingscripts #language #educational

#Carian #alphabets were written in #Anatolia and #Egypt in 7 - 3 c. BCE. These were also derived from Archaic #Greek. Carian is notable to have symbols that do not quite correlate with its Greek counterparts. Full page: tinyurl.com/4cbmywwv #writingscripts #linguistics #history #map #matuww

Many thanks to my friend Evdoxia, who recorded herself reciting the first two stanzas of "Hymn to Liberty" in #Greek! Very grateful to her for putting her voice behind the writing script. Listen here and learn more about the Greek script: tinyurl.com/3rp2r49p #writingscripts #language

#Help needed! #Greek and #Russian speakers - if you would like to contribute a #voice sample to the project, please PM! #languages #matuww

#Messapic was used in the Salentine Peninsula #Italy in the 6 - 2 c. BCE to write the Messapic #language, possibly related to #Albanian. This #alphabet was also derived from western Archaic #Greek alphabets. Full page: tinyurl.com/u8ymzzkb #writingscripts #linguistics #history #map #matuww

#Lydian was used in western #Anatolia in the 8 - 2 c. BCE to write the Lycian #language. This #alphabet was also derived from Archaic #Greek, from the western epichoric group. Full page: tinyurl.com/umr94pb5 #writingscripts #linguistics #history #map #matuww

#Lycian was used in southern #Anatolia in the 5 c. BCE - 14 c. CE to write the Lycian #language. This #alphabet was derived from Archaic #Greek, more specifically the western #Doric variety. Full page: tinyurl.com/mr2srb92 #writingscripts #linguistics #history #map #matuww

The #Iberians adopted the #Ionian variant of the #Greek #alphabet to write their #language. Thus the #Greco-Iberian #script is not immediately directly related to other #Paleohispanic scripts. Full page: tinyurl.com/53ccxxkw #writingscripts #linguistics #history #map #matuww

Love a bit of graffiti, this one from Pompeii from a fairly bored client archaeology.org/news/2025/09... 🏺🧪 #archaeology #pompeii

Here's a sneak peek of what's next on #matuww! #Greek derived #writingscripts Comparisons are technically on the main page but individual pages will come soon and any previously incorrect information will be updated. Stay tuned. #history #linguistics

Here's a shoutout to a very helpful resource to building #matuww: #Mnamon - a collection of academic articles on #writing system used in the #Mediterranean It is extremely visually orientated and concise - a good place to start for sure. Link: tinyurl.com/4vd8dc2m #history #linguistics

1/3 A follow-up to investigating the graphical origins of #Armenian, #Georgian, and #Caucasian #Albanian #alphabets - It seems that the numerical values of letters (based on position in alphabet) correspond to #Greek. #matuww #linguistics

New #commission #art joins the #gallery of #matuww! Many thanks to Claud for depicting the southern #Slavs in the #Balkans who are still using #Cyrillc script today! Learn more about the Cyrillic #alphabet here: tinyurl.com/3p92wvs3 Check out Claud here: tinyurl.com/26kk7y5u

No posts lately because I'm trying to understand the graphical origins of #Armenian and #Georgian #alphabets. It's not very conclusive and everyone seems to be disagreeing with each other :') Snapshots of papers related. If anyone is knowledgeable in this area please DM! #matuww #linguistics

D(ecimus) STATOR PRINCIPIT-I ET FELICI LIB(erto) FORTUNATUS EXSACTOR: "To the Mane Gods. To the freedmen Decimus Stator, Principi et Félix, the tax collector Fortunato (dedicates)". Found inside the Santiago Church in the Old Town of #Coruña. 📸: Mine #AncientBlueSky🏺 #Archaeology #EpigraphyTuesday

New #commission #art joins the #gallery of #matuww! Many thanks to Claud for depicting the #medieval #Bulgarians who used the Early #Cyrillc script and they still do now! Learn more about the Cyrillic #alphabet here: tinyurl.com/3p92wvs3 #Bulgaria Check out Claud here: tinyurl.com/26kk7y5u

ミイラ作りで臓器を納める「カノプス壺」🏺 蓋の形ごとに守る臓器が決まっている。 小さい頃、祖父と初めて行ったエジプト展で衝撃を受けた一品。見るたびに肝がキュッとしまって、当時の記憶が蘇る🫀 #豊田市博物館 ブルックリン博物館所蔵 特別展 古代エジプト #GENと博物館 #GENとエジプト

New #commission #art joins the gallery of #matuww! Many thanks to Claud for depicting the #Manchurians who used the #Manchu script! Learn more about the Manchu #alphabet here: matuww.github.io/script_info/...

Shared more by a friend - Old #Arabic #carvings in the wild. (Not to be confused with Ancient North or South Arabian) Also at #Hegra or #Madain #Saleh, #Saudi #Arabia. Thanks again James! #writingscripts #epigraphy #archaeology #matuww

The #Molodtsov #alphabet is derived from #Cyrillic to write #Komi and was used briefly in 1918-1931 CE. It is eponymous of Molodtsov Sandrö Vas'ö, aka Vasily Aleksandrovich Molodtsov, a Komi linguist and teacher. Full page: tinyurl.com/57hp8kp5 #writingscripts #linguistics #history #map #matuww

If you like what we do here on #matuww, please consider supporting us on #ko-fi! It helps fund #art #commissions for #portraits to put #faces behind those behind the pen/stylus/brush/hammer and chisel/keyboard while supporting #independent #artists! Link: ko-fi.com/matuww

Shared by a friend - Classical #Nabataean #carvings in the wild. More specifically, #Hegra or #Madain #Saleh, #Saudi #Arabia. Thanks James! #writingscripts #epigraphy #archaeology #matuww

Likely #OnThisDay - 23 August - in 30 BC Octavian ordered the death of Caesarion, son of Cleopatra VII and Julius Caesar: "a Caesar too many was no good thing" (Plutarch, Ant. 81.2). #AncientHistory 🏺 Image: Caesarion Stela. British Museum (EA1325). Link - britishmuseum.org/collection/o...

#StandingStoneSunday Memorial for Trenacatus This grave marker from Llanwenog, west Wales, has inscriptions in Latin, translated as Trenacatus lies here, son of Maglagnus, and in Ogam, TRENACCATLO 475-525 CE. 📸 Own. St. Fagans National Museum #Archaeology #History #Wales

An exceptional Byzantine mosaic made of marble & glass tesserae showing Ktisis who personifies the act of generous donation, c. 500. 👁️ Read/watch Byzantium: Beyond The Cliché, here: ideasroadshow.substack.com/p/byzantium-... #mosaicmonday 🗃️ #arthistory #medievalsky #skystorians 🏺 #archaeology