Cypriot syllabary
Silabario chipriota
- Date
- c. 1050 BCE · confidence low
- Place
- Palaepaphos, Paphos, Cyprus
- Credited to
- Greek-speaking inhabitants of Cyprus
- Field
- Knowledge & symbols
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A syllabic script of about 55 signs, derived from the Bronze Age Cypro-Minoan, used to write Cypriot Greek and the Eteocypriot language until the 3rd century BC. It is one of the oldest and most durable syllabaries.
The syllabary is not well known and its derivation from the still undeciphered Cypro-Minoan script is hypothetical. The obol of Opheltau (found at Palaepaphos, c. 1050-1000 BC) is usually considered the oldest witness of Greek written in Cypriot script.
What it led to
- preservation of Greek dialects and the Eteocypriot language into the Hellenistic period
- inscriptions such as the obol of Opheltau and those of the Cypriot kingdoms
- a link between the Cypro-Minoan system and alphabetic Greek writing on Cyprus