Syrians were the first to invent seals in the world
“ Seals represent the secrets of life in ancient historical eras as they are one of the most important archaeological artifacts from which the archeologist derives his information about previous eras. Syria is the homeland land of the oldest discovered seals in the world”, according to archaeologist of ancient inscriptions at the General Directorate of Antiquities and Museums ( GDAM) Dr. Mahmoud El-Sayyed.
He explained that the oldest seals were invented in Syria and then spread to the rest of the world according to the current archaeological data, adding flat seals with geometrical decorative shapes were made in Syria from green stones that were discovered for the first time in the world at the site of Ra’s Shamra “Ugarit Kingdom” in Lattakia Governorate.
Dr. Al-Sayyed indicated that the oldest seals belong to the second half of the seventh millennium BC, where they appeared in the form of a plug by 5800 BC and from that date the world colored pottery in one color brown-red on an orange background appeared for the first time in the world.
At “Abu Hurayrah” site in the Syrian Jazeera, impressions of a seal dating to the period between 6500-5500 BC were discovered. At “Tell Abu Hurayrah”, a flat seal made of pottery dating to the period between 6000-5500 BC was also discovered.
Syria, according to Dr. Al-Sayyed, possesses hundreds of unique seals which are very rare in the world and have distinct characteristics in the structure and content of writing as some of them carry writing in cuneiform script arranged in a column opposite the ornamental decorationand some have symbols of people, hands, bull heads, lions, birds, Syrian sphinxes, and others express the gods..
The historian Dr. Al-Sayyed concluded by saying that the mentioned information documents, with archaeological material evidence, Syria’s global role in the establishment of human civilization and consecrating the concept of using seals, and its benefits for humanity to this day.
Rawaa Ghanam