10 · EPIGRAPHY · OPEN READING AND ATTRIBUTION

Writing with gaps

The script of the Fezzan and its unanswered questions

Many inscriptions remain without a secure reading; their resemblance to other scripts does not resolve who made them or when.

Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.

Specific historical recreation of Libyco-Berber signs that do not yet complete a voice, Fezzan and central Sahara, Diverse chronologies — **DECLARED VISUAL RECONSTRUCTION · AI-GENERATED IMAGE · TRACEKEEPERS**
Generated reconstruction · Declared visual hypothesis
Declared visual reconstruction; not a photograph of the original nor documentary evidence.

History and context

Libyco-Berber inscriptions appear in the Sahara and the Fezzan with diverse repertoires and chronologies.

Some may be associated with Garamantian contexts; others lack excavation or secure reading. The museum shows sign, proposal and gap separately.

The so-called Libyco-Berber inscriptions form graphic families of broad chronology. Their historical relation to Tifinagh does not turn every ancient sequence into legible modern text.

Without excavated provenance, an inscription loses date and association. The museum shows the signs without inventing a translation or a Garamantian signature.

Evidence and interpretation

Existence of inscriptions and historical relation of the system are documented. Transcription, language and Garamantian attribution can be debated.

Catalogue facts

Narrative date: Diverse chronologies
Location: Fezzan and central Sahara
Material: Incision on rock or object
Context: Incomplete epigraphy
Curatorial reading: The documented fact and its interpretation appear separately in the evidence block.
Graphic family: Libyco-Berber, with regional variants
Status: Unequal reading and dating
Documentary coverage: 2 museum, heritage, primary corpus or research sources for this stop.

A SHARED TOPIC, DIFFERENT MOMENTS

Objects connected through time

Follow a topic across the collections. A shared tag is a way to compare objects, not proof that one culture influenced another.

The order uses the midpoint of each approximate date range; ranges can overlap. Spacing does not represent elapsed time. Swipe, scroll or use the arrows. With the sequence focused, use ← / →, Home or End.

THE CURRENT OBJECT

Its date is not sufficiently established to place it on the timeline. We keep it here, separate from the dated objects.

You are viewing

Diverse chronologies

Writing with gaps

Garamantes

Diverse chronologies without interval for a specific piece.

Current record

Stone19 dated objects

1 / 19In the centre: Swanscombe handaxe

Also connected, without a comparable date (9)

These objects are not placed after the others: an unknown date does not mean a more recent object.

A White Wall on the DanubeCeltic worlds · 6th century BCE
CemeteryIndus civilisation · ca. 2600–1900 BCE
Engraved stonePrehistory · Before ≈39,000 cal BP
Four gardens and waterAchaemenid Persia · 6th century BCE
Kumbi SalehMande Worlds · medieval occupation; prominent phases between the 11th and 13th centuries
Soma stonesVedic and later Indian worlds · Rigvedic strata; later ritual tradition
The quarry remained visibleGojoseon and early Korea · Mainly 6th–5th centuries BCE
The Thracian HorsemanThracians · Roman era · diffusion especially in the 2nd–3rd centuries CE
Tichitt wallsMande Worlds · II–I millennia BCE

You can scroll the first group without JavaScript. The other topics are also available below.

Inscriptions

Current object, without a comparable date: Writing with gaps.

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

Cyrus speaks as king of Babylon · After the conquest of Babylon in 539 BCE · Achaemenid Persia
Oracle bones · from ca. 1200 BCE · Ancient China

Writing

Current object, without a comparable date: Writing with gaps.

Naqada labels · ca. 3300–3100 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Ivory tablets · c. 3100–2900 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Jemdet Nasr · c. 3100–2900 BCE · Sumer
Account of malt and barley · c. 3100–2900 BCE · Sumer
Before the Hittites · c. 19th century BCE · Hittites
Plimpton 322 · Paleo-Babylonian period · around 1800 BCE · Sumer
Sumerian King List · Towards 1800 BCE · Sumer
Stele of Hammurabi · Towards 1750 BCE · Sumer
Love song to Shu-Sin · Paleo-Babylonian copy, around 1900–1600 BCE according to CDLI · Sumer
Si.427 tablet · Towards 1900–1600 BCE · paleobabylonian; uncertain chronological attribution in CDLI · Sumer
Phaistos Disc · ≈1700–1650 BCE · Greek worlds
Sumerian Flood of Nippur · Towards 1650 BCE · Sumer
Linear A · c. 1700–1500 BCE · Greek worlds
Boğazköy Archive · Above all 17th–13th centuries BCE · Hittites
Linear B · c. 1375 BCE · Greek worlds
Alaksandu of Wilusa · c. 1300 BCE · Hittites
Treaty with Egypt · c. 1259 BCE, year 21 of Ramesses II · Hittites
The voice of Ahiram · c. 11th–10th century BCE · Phoenicians
Flood Tablet · 7th century BCE · Sumer
Babylonian map of the world · Towards 700–500 BCE · Sumer
Uni was also Astarte · Towards 510 BCE · Etruscans and Rome
Rations for women and children · Towards 509–493 BCE · Achaemenid Persia
Ezerovo Ring · 5th century BCE · chronology discussed in the bibliography · Thracians
The archer in gold · Type introduced from the late 6th century; specimen from the 4th century BCE. · Achaemenid Persia
The inscription of Pistiros · 4th century BCE · Thracians
Derveni Papyrus · copy conserved towards 340–320 BCE; comments on a previous text. · Thracians
Lead tablet · 4th–3rd centuries BCE · Iberians
Hand of Irulegui · First third of the 1st century BCE · Iberians
Denarius of Carisius · ≈25–23 BCE · Iberians
Betatun altar · 1st century BCE–1st century CE · Iberians
The date of 292 · 292 CE · Maya worlds
Venus in the codex · Preserved manuscript: Postclassic, probably 13th–14th centuries; earlier knowledge · Maya worlds
Catalan Atlas · after 1375 and before November 1380 · Mande Worlds
Bamum document · 28 April 1922 · Bantu-speaking worlds
Eleven articles · Adopted April–May 2022; public portal 2025 · Batwa / Twa histories

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

49 Classical Voices · Authors and traditions between the 6th century BCE and 4th century CE · Iberians
Cyrus speaks as king of Babylon · After the conquest of Babylon in 539 BCE · Achaemenid Persia
Indian Ocean Kiswahili · from the first millennium CE; major development in medieval and modern times · Bantu-speaking worlds
Oracle bones · from ca. 1200 BCE · Ancient China
The cost of transcription · 19th century–current digital edition · San histories
Translating faith · 16th–18th centuries · Bantu-speaking worlds
Voices from outside · Fifth century BCE–Late Antiquity · Garamantes
Zalmoxis · testimony of Herodotus, 5th century BCE; no biographical date of the divinity. · Thracians

Engraving

Current object, without a comparable date: Writing with gaps.

Engraved ochre from Blombos · ≈77,000–75,000 years · Prehistory
Altamira · Assemblage ≈36,000–13,000 BP · bison ≈18,400–15,300 cal BP · Prehistory
Lascaux · ≈23,500–21,000 cal BP · debated contextual estimate · Prehistory
Rondelle de Mas-d'Azil · ≈18,000–16,000 years · Prehistory
Lamp from La Mouthe · ≈20,500–13,000 years · Magdalenian framework · Prehistory
Engraved stone from Çakmaktepe · PPNA · site proposal: ≈9600–8800 BCE, provisional · Prehistory
Twin-chambered vessel from Cova de l’Or · Early Neolithic · VI–V millennia BCE · Prehistory
Before Nubia · V–IV millennium BCE · Nubia, Kerma and Kush
Before Gojoseon · Middle Neolithic, c. 4000 BCE · Gojoseon and early Korea
Cylinder seal · c. 3500–3100 BCE · Sumer
Guadancil idol-plaque · 3750–2500 cal BCE · Iberians
Staff of Anta 4 · Late 4th–first half of the 3rd millennium BCE. · Prehistory
Linear A · c. 1700–1500 BCE · Greek worlds
The Cascajal Block · Proposed c. 1000–900 BCE · Maya worlds
Las Limas · c. 1000–600 BCE · Maya worlds
Motagua jade · c. 900–600 BCE · Maya worlds
The Tello Obelisk · c. 800–500 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Twenty-six voiceless signs · 5th–4th centuries BCE · Scythians and Saka
The Raimondi Stele · c. 400–200 BCE according to MNAAHP · Pre-Inca cultures
Dove of the Amarejo · 3rd century BCE · Iberians
Urewe vessel · regional range c. 800 BCE–650 CE · Bantu-speaking worlds
Lukasa · 19th–20th centuries · Bantu-speaking worlds

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

A closer look

About 1 min to read · 1 section. Further reading and sources · free access. Editorial review recorded: September 5, 2026.

Three groups of signs with porous boundaries

The traditional classification distinguishes a western Libyco-Berber alphabet, an eastern one, and a Saharan or ancient Tifinagh group. Chaker warns that their distributions overlap and that intermediate varieties may have existed. The division is a study tool, not a map of three perfectly separate communities. For this piece, comparing the form and combination of the signs with these families can help formulate an attribution. The analysis must retain the variants, because reducing them to a modern standardised alphabet would precisely eliminate the historical information that allows the study of changes and contacts.

Research · Salem Chaker, Centre de Recherche Berbère · L'écriture libyco-berbèreAccess recorded: September 5, 2026.

Sources and references

Expand this information and consult its sources

Did you enjoy this exhibit?

Your opinion helps us improve the museum. You can change it whenever you like.

Loading your rating…

Writing with gaps

History and context

Evidence and interpretation

Catalogue facts

Objects connected through time

Writing with gaps

Swanscombe handaxe

Engraved ochre from Blombos

Before the San

Before the name San

Engraved stone from Çakmaktepe

Grinding stone from Çakmaktepe

Warka Mask

Cylinder seal

Uruk Vase

Narmer Palette

Worshiper of Tell Asmar

Statue of Ebih-Il

Weights

Lamassu of Khorsabad

Ashurbanipal Hunt

Heads on the wall

Sarcophagus of Eshmunazar

The statue was the urn

The inscription of Pistiros

A closer look

Three groups of signs with porous boundaries

Sources and references

Did you enjoy this exhibit?