A MUSEUM-THEATRE FOR SCRIPTS*
The creator and curator is Brian Edric Colless,
pictured with ancient Egyptian rulers and deities in the background,
and an early copy of the alphabet in the foreground.
A Bronze-Age tablet showing the original pictorial form of the alphabet.
In the top-left corner is a house with a courtyard; with its end-walls removed it became H.
Next to the house is the head of an ox with horns; inverted it became A (Alpha).
Further along is a door on its post: D (Delta). Then a house (door ajar?): B (Beta).
G (Gamma) was a boomerang (below the A). L was a shepherd's crook (further down).
For more enlightenment see ANCIENT SCRIPTS below, and The alphabet when young
*The word script is here used in as many meanings as it will allow.
INDEX OF COLLESSEUM PAGES
PUBLICATIONS of Brian Edric Colless (click to see the list)
SYRIAC MYSTICISM
The Wisdom of the Pearlers : Anthology of Syriac Christian Mysticism
The Hymn of the Pearl : Introduction
The Hymn of the Pearl : Interpretation
The Legacy of Syriac Christianity
ANCIENT EGYPT
The Palette of Narmer : Unification of Egypt
The Cosmology of Heliopolis : Creation by Atum
The Cosmology of Memphis : Creation by Ptah
The Cosmology of Akhetaton : Hymn to the Aton
The Cosmology of Thebes : Hymns to Amon-Rey
The Story of Sinuhe : Memoirs of an Egyptian in Canaan
The Battle of Qadesh : Ramesses II
ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA
The Epic of Atrakhasis : Flood Story
The Tablet of Destinies : New Year Ritual
The Empire of Sargon : Legend and Chronicle
The Empire of Hammurabi : Lawcode
ANCIENT LEVANT
Phoenicians in Jamaica : Inscribed Copper Cup
The Inscriptions of King Mesha` : Moab and Israel
The Prophet Elijah and the Prophets of Ba`al
ANCIENT ANATOLIA
The Hattian Empire: Hittite Documents
Hattian Myths : Hittite Mythology
ANCIENT PERSIA
Ancient Iranian Religion : Texts, Languages, Scripts
Zoroastrian Scriptures : Hymns from the Avesta
Ancient Persian Rulers : Cyrus and Darius
MYTH AND EPIC
The Divine Comedy : Introduction
The Divine Comedy : Inferno
The Divine Comedy : Purgatorio
The Divine Comedy : Paradiso
The Golden Fleece Quest : Jason and Medea
The Holy Grail Quest : Introduction
The Gold Grail : Perceval
The Stone Grail : Parzival
The Blood Grail : Perlesvaus
The Grail Secrets: Parsifal (Wagner's music-drama)
ANCIENT SCRIPTS
WEST SEMITIC
Alphabet Evolution : Pictographs to Letters
West Semitic Logo-syllabary: The Byblos Script
Megiddo Signet Ring : Decipherment verification
Deir Rifa Amulet : Syllabic inscription from Egypt
Stone Seal : Provenance unknown (Hyksos Egypt?)
Thebes Ostrakon 1 : The alphabet when young
Cuneiform Alphabet : Based on the picto-proto-alphabet
Gezer Cult-Stand Sherd : Temple offering stand
Lakhish Death Dagger : Inscribed dagger in a tomb
Beth Shemesh Ostrakon : Carousing in the wine bar
Izbet Sartah Ostrakon : An ancient abagadary (abecedary)
Izbet Sartah Ostrakon : Musings of a student scribe
CRETO-CYPRIAN
Semitic Crete : Semitic language in ancient Crete
Aegean Syllabic Scripts : Crete and beyond
Aegean Syllabic Signs : From Pictorial to Linear
Phaistos Disc Inscription: Not a forgery
Phaistos Syllabic Script : On tablets, disc, ax
Cyprus Syllabic Scripts : From Linear A to Linear C
Cyprian Shekel Weight : Enkomi clay weight
Cyprian Inscribed Seals : Twelve brief inscriptions
Cyprian Inscribed Cylinder : Enkomi cylinder
Cyprian Inscribed Balls : Enkomi clay balls
Cyprian Name List : Tablet from Ugarit