49. Carian

The Carian language was an Anatolian language spoken in the southwest of Anatolian (modern Turkey) up to about the 1st Century AD. It was probably a descendant of the Luwian language and was closely related to Lydian.
The Carian alphabet appears in a about 100 pieces of graffiti inscriptions left by Carian mercenaries who served in Egypt. A number of clay tablets, coins and monumental inscriptions have also been found. It was possibly derived from the Phoenician alphabet. The decipherment of the Carian alphabet was started in the 1960s by Vitaly Shevoroshkin, and was continued by Ignacio J. Adiego and Diether Schuerr in the 1990s. The pronunciation of some of the letters remains a mystery.

Notable features

• Type of writing system: alphabet
• Writing direction: left to right or right to left in horizontal lines
• Some letters have several variant forms

Carian alphabet

Links

Information about the Carian language and alphabet
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carian_language
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carian_script
Information about the Caria region and the Carian people
http://www.livius.org/cao-caz/caria/caria.html
http://www.allaboutturkey.com/karya.htm