Somali ancient writtings sumado

[Yohannes]

Lool, Somalis never had a writing script. writing systems arise where there is some sort of centralised authority for taxation and administrative purposes. Historically Somalis never had long enough periods of central authority.

Actually, Somalis have probably had more kingdoms than any other single ethnic group in the Horn region. The chap in my avatar, for example, was himself a Sultan.

A bit on the ancient script, from a German explorer:

We know from ancient authors that these districts, at present so desert, were formerly populous and civilised. I also discovered ancient ruins and rock-inscriptions both in pictures and characters. These have hitherto not been deciphered.

Hi,

I'm interested in seeing some examples if you can share any. I was under the impression Somali wasn't written until the 1972 standardization around the Latin script in use today. Do you know of where we can find this publication by the Ministry by any chance?

Thanks

[Bilis]

Hi,

I'm interested in seeing some examples if you can share any. I was under the impression Somali wasn't written until the 1972 standardization around the Latin script in use today. Do you know of where we can find this publication by the Ministry by any chance?

Thanks

This is all answered on the previous page. And you're welcome.

[GeoSeven]

^^ Dude, where can you find that book? Or any book about Ancient Somali scripts?

It's a rare book bro. But it goes on sale as a used item from time to time on Alibris, Abebooks, Amazon, etc.

I'll transcribe some excerpts and post them here later so you can get an idea of what the script is about.

Alright keep us posted

[Bilis]

Alright keep us posted

Why do I get the sense you don't believe me? Kaftan ma'aha saxiib; waa runtii! Eeg...

I've transcribed the essential parts of what the Ministry writes on the ancient Somali script below, including the exact locations in Somalia where some of the inscriptions are found:

The Writing of the Somali Language: A Great Landmark in Our Revolutionary History
By Wasaaradda Warfaafinta iyo Hanuuninta Dadweynaha

pages 1-3:

An important point which is often lost sight of is that the ancient Somalis had evolved their own script systems which existed for a considerable period in their history. Convincing historical evidence in this respect is the numerous inscriptions and rockpaintings on cave-walls, on granite rocks, old coins etc., that are found to this day in various parts of the country. Some important sites where ancient inscriptions on cave-walls exist are reported as follows:

1. Godka Xararka in Las Anod District.
2. Qubiyaaley in Las Anod District.
3. Hilayo in Las Khoray District.
4. Karin Heeggane in Las Khoray District.
5. Dhalanle in Las Khoray District.

The most noteworthy of these inscriptions are undoub- edly those found on the mysterious «Taalo Tiiriyaad». These are huge stone mounds which are dotted about in northeastern Somalia and are a veritable archaeological riddle, since it is hard to tell when and for what purpose they were constructed. Noteworthy Taalo sites are in places such as:

1. Baar Madhere in Beledweyne District.
2. Xabaalo Ambiyad in Alula District.
3. Harti Yimid in Las Anod District.

Yet, these strange edifices must have had a definite purpose. Local opinion holds that they used to serve as altars or as sorts of religious monuments in the era when nature-worship was practised in the Land; still others consider that the Taalos mark ancient graveyards in which were buried important personages — chieftains, rulers, etc. together with their personal effects. In any case, these mute sentinels could, no doubt, tell much about the country's cultural and historical past and give us a glimpse into the life-story of by-gone ages. Although it is difficult to determine what caused the ancient Somalian system of writing to disappear altogether and how long it flourished, etc., there is no doubt that the encroachment of foreign cultures had greatly contributed to its final decline and disappearance. An interesting point, however, is that this script system was apparently based on vowel sound, not a Word-Picture writing as in ancient Egypt. As generations succeeded one another and people acquired better technical and scientific knowledge there were constant reforms and improvements called forth by the new social conditions of the age. This process might have been repeated over and over again in subsequent periods in the history of the land, until the very old forms of Somalian script finally died out and were completely forgotten by later generations.

[Yohannes]

fwiw, the image by OP reminds me a lot of some ancient south Arabian scripts. These were later used to write Semitic languages in the area like Ge'ez and various ancient Arabic languages.

If you have a copy of this book, I'd really appreciate it (and I imagine others would as well) if you could upload some examples of images if they're in the book.

Thanks

[Bilis]

^Not sure about Sumado, but the earliest Semitic scripts generally do not have vowel representation. This ancient Somali script apparently does, though.

It's also interesting that the inscriptions' greatest area of concentration is in the very geographical area that Somalis have traditionally regarded as their point of dispersal.

[misterioso]

Doesn't ancient Somali writing negate the notion that Somalis are oral people who never wrote?

[GeoSeven]

Doesn't ancient Somali writing negate the notion that Somalis are oral people who never wrote?

Some deep history in the region. Maybe ancient Somalis or whoever lived in the area had a form of literature.

Alright keep us posted

Why do I get the sense you don't believe me? Kaftan ma'aha saxiib; waa runtii! Eeg...

I've transcribed the essential parts of what the Ministry writes on the ancient Somali script below, including the exact locations in Somalia where some of the inscriptions are found:

The Writing of the Somali Language: A Great Landmark in Our Revolutionary History
By Wasaaradda Warfaafinta iyo Hanuuninta Dadweynaha

pages 1-3:

An important point which is often lost sight of is that the ancient Somalis had evolved their own script systems which existed for a considerable period in their history. Convincing historical evidence in this respect is the numerous inscriptions and rockpaintings on cave-walls, on granite rocks, old coins etc., that are found to this day in various parts of the country. Some important sites where ancient inscriptions on cave-walls exist are reported as follows:

1. Godka Xararka in Las Anod District.
2. Qubiyaaley in Las Anod District.
3. Hilayo in Las Khoray District.
4. Karin Heeggane in Las Khoray District.
5. Dhalanle in Las Khoray District.

The most noteworthy of these inscriptions are undoub- edly those found on the mysterious «Taalo Tiiriyaad». These are huge stone mounds which are dotted about in northeastern Somalia and are a veritable archaeological riddle, since it is hard to tell when and for what purpose they were constructed. Noteworthy Taalo sites are in places such as:

1. Baar Madhere in Beledweyne District.
2. Xabaalo Ambiyad in Alula District.
3. Harti Yimid in Las Anod District.

Yet, these strange edifices must have had a definite purpose. Local opinion holds that they used to serve as altars or as sorts of religious monuments in the era when nature-worship was practised in the Land; still others consider that the Taalos mark ancient graveyards in which were buried important personages — chieftains, rulers, etc. together with their personal effects. In any case, these mute sentinels could, no doubt, tell much about the country's cultural and historical past and give us a glimpse into the life-story of by-gone ages. Although it is difficult to determine what caused the ancient Somalian system of writing to disappear altogether and how long it flourished, etc., there is no doubt that the encroachment of foreign cultures had greatly contributed to its final decline and disappearance. An interesting point, however, is that this script system was apparently based on vowel sound, not a Word-Picture writing as in ancient Egypt. As generations succeeded one another and people acquired better technical and scientific knowledge there were constant reforms and improvements called forth by the new social conditions of the age. This process might have been repeated over and over again in subsequent periods in the history of the land, until the very old forms of Somalian script finally died out and were completely forgotten by later generations.

Trust me, I read what you wrote word for word. I read in a few places here and there about stones with ancient inscriptions in Somalia but I could never find any solid references. I even looked for photos online but nobody seems to have posted any. I even emailed the Somali Heritage Foundation with questions for Sade Mire, the archaeologist about those ancient stone but their website somaliheritage.org is off the net for some reason. My cousin is obsessed with Somali ancient history and he got me curious about all of this lol

You would think that with all those pictures in the net about the Laas Geel paintings, someone would have taken an interest and gone in search of the supposed stones inscribed with an ancient script.

[Marques]

Thank God we adopted the latin script. Looking at the Kaddariya and Osmanya scripts they look like too much hardwork and way too indigenous. Arabic is already taught in quran schools so that's complementary. Atleast with the latin we have the advantage of excelling in European schools and pick up reading/writing very quickly.

[GeoSeven]

Im glad we use the latin script because it makes it easy for someone who wasn't schooled in Somalia to learn and read in Somalia. Imagine we used the Osmaniya today? We wouldn't even be financialy capable of mass producing keyboards for it

[Marques]

^The preservation of Somali culture and history would be further extinct if that was the case. We'd remain an oral speaking group and in todays world that means nothing.

[misterioso]

Im glad we use the latin script because it makes it easy for someone who wasn't schooled in Somalia to learn and read in Somalia. Imagine we used the Osmaniya today? We wouldn't even be financialy capable of mass producing keyboards for it

The Chinese, Koreans, Indians and others use even more complex scripts than the Osmaniya, yet, they are among the top achievers, smartest, etc. Explain.

[GeoSeven]

Those countries you mentioned have the means to sustain the use of their own scripts which were established for centuries.

Im not saying using a Somali script today would makes us stupid, im meant that we wouldn't even have the resources to nurture it and facilitate its use. You would need dedicated printing companies, keyboards, instructional content...probably a more unique and revised curriculum. Now imagine Somalia today with it's own unique non-latin script? Academia would have been in a tight situation for two decades because all those resources would be missing.

[LiquidHYDROGEN]

It definitely possible. It's just somalis can't be bothered. I don't know about you guys but I can learn a new alphabet in a few hours, less if I really apply myself. I learnt the Greek alphabet just from physics equations. What resources are you talking about? It's not like we have massive amounts of textbooks or road-signs to translate. I would much rather use my own writing system not a borrowed one.

[Bilis]

Im glad we use the latin script because it makes it easy for someone who wasn't schooled in Somalia to learn and read in Somalia. Imagine we used the Osmaniya today? We wouldn't even be financialy capable of mass producing keyboards for it

The Chinese, Koreans, Indians and others use even more complex scripts than the Osmaniya, yet, they are among the top achievers, smartest, etc. Explain.

That's an old stereotype. It's not completely inaccurate, though, because back in the day, writing was a profession entrusted to specialists called scribes. The ancient Somali writing script likely fell into disuse as these scribes embraced Islam, became wadaado, and began instead to use the Arabic script.

This is how the Somali sultanates kept records i.e. with Wadaad's writing:

The Somali nation which is a part and parcel of the Arab world, has been using the Arabic language since times immemorial. Records left by the ancient Somali Sultans were written in Arabic as the Somali had no scripts of their own other than Arabic prior to the writing of the Somali script.

Most scholars, like the one quoted above, don't know about the Somali ancient script because they haven't had the opportunity to examine the particular taalo, monuments, etc. where the ancient inscriptions are found. For the most part, they don't even know about those old structures.

Watch this sxb (ignore the Osmanya graphic, though; it's not the ancient script):