Researchers suggest a basalt slab's unknown symbols may be from a lost mythological system

In 2021, a group of local fishermen accidentally discovered a mysterious basalt slab embedded in the mud of Lake Bashplemi in Georgia, as reported by HeritageDaily. The slab, measuring 24.1 by 20.1 centimeters, is made from locally sourced vesicular basalt, matching the geological composition of rocks in the area.

The slab contains 60 characters carved on its surface, arranged in seven lines. However, the direction in which the inscription should be read remains uncertain, according to LIFO. The inscription features 39 unique symbols, some of which are repeated to make up the total 60 characters. Archaeologists have noted that these strange symbols are not found in any language known to science.

Researchers believe that the symbols were engraved using a conical drill to create initial notches, which were then smoothed using rounded-headed tools, HeritageDaily reported. The use of such a developed and refined technique is surprising for the time of its creation. Dating the tablet has proven problematic, but based on the area where it was found, the carvings could be from the Late Bronze Age or the Early Iron Age, around the first millennium BCE, according to Newsbomb.

Archaeologists have noted some graphic similarities between the tablet's symbols and early Georgian alphabets and other pre-Christian scripts in the region, including Georgian "Mrgvlovani," Albanian, and proto-Georgian scripts, HeritageDaily reported. Similarities have also been found with symbols on seals from the territory of pre-Christian Georgia, according to LIFO.

One of the most intriguing aspects of the Bashplemi inscription is its partial resemblance to various ancient writing systems. Researchers note that most of the symbols used resemble those found in the writings of the Middle East and geographically distant countries such as India, Egypt, and Western Iberia, Newsbomb reported. Despite these resemblances, the Bashplemi inscription does not use any recorded language, making its origin a complete mystery.

Ancient texts, such as those by Apollonius of Rhodes and other Greek authors, reference writing in the region of Colchis, part of present-day western Georgia, which may relate to a lost language mentioned in Greek mythology and the Argonautic Expedition, according to Newsbomb. In the myth of Jason and the Argonauts, the legendary captain Jason travels to the land of Colchis to find the Golden Fleece. Ancient authors referred to a "golden writing," and according to Greek sources, the Colchians knew a way of writing by the same name. In 1115 CE, the Byzantine scholar Saint Eustathius of Thessalonica wrote, "The purpose of the Argonautic expedition was to learn the method of the Golden Writing," as reported by Newsbomb.

Researchers now suggest that the Bashplemi slab could be related in some way to the Colchian Runes, a term used to describe this lost writing system, Newsbomb reported. The discovery raises the possibility that other writing systems existed in the Caucasus during the Bronze Age. However, without further archaeological excavations in the area, there is no way to know for certain what the tablet says or who its makers were.

Drone surveys in the area around Lake Bashplemi revealed sets of regular circles that could be burial mounds and geometric shapes that might be remnants of houses, defensive structures, and places of worship, suggesting significant human activity in the region, according to Newsbomb. Although the Lake Bashplemi area had not been extensively studied from an archaeological perspective, researchers found ceramic fragments, a mortar stone, and pieces of obsidian on the surface, dated to the Late Bronze or Early Iron Ages, as reported by HeritageDaily.

Researchers have suggested that the writing system may have been used to record religious offerings, construction works, or military inventories. Some frequently repeated symbols could represent military trophies, a significant construction project, or an offering to a deity, according to HeritageDaily.

The reason why more samples of possible writing systems have not been preserved could be due to the use of biodegradable materials such as wood or leather by the original inhabitants of Colchis, which have long since decomposed, Newsbomb reported.

This article was written in collaboration with generative AI company Alchemiq