ANCR-601 Lessons

There are no more planks of wood dotting the shelves, alcoves, and displays in the Room of Runes today. Or, at least, no more than usual. Instead, there are a few slabs of stone accompanied by pottery, whole or in pieces, along with the odd fragment of papyrus.

Professor Wessex sits at the front of the room, looking for all the world like a bird of prey, or perhaps like a fierce mother lion. Apparently, she does not trust these artefacts to be left alone, even with the assurance that her quill can provide. Truly, her stare is a bit off-putting for many of the students, and conversation is a bit strained in the minutes before class begins. The witch rises from her seat to start the lesson, still looking rather on edge.

Introduction
Welcome, Sixth Years. Today we begin our twin topics for the rest of the year -- Proto-Canaanite and Phoenician. Now, any magiarchaeologist worth their salt is familiar with the most common magical scripts of the ancient world -- particularly one who frequently treads in magilinguists’ territory like myself and your previous professor. However, I will be direct. While I have not done you or your education a disservice, our discussion of futhark runes or Polynesian glyphs is not an area with which I have much first-hand experience.¹ Egyptian hieroglyphics and South American glyphs are areas of study where I have dabbled, at least, but are still not my specialization. As Professor Becker has likely mentioned during your study of Asia, my inquiries into Mediterranean scripts are what I am best known for. Namely, the two we are studying now.

Simply put, I am a leading expert in this field. We are in a unique position in this class, as you are now learning about the most cutting-edge theories on Phoenician and Proto-Canaanite from one of the sources of these theories. Should you have questions on these topics, you may ask them of me -- at reasonable times -- and I will give you the benefit of all I know. More, should one or more of you prove to be promising pupils, I am currently looking for more interns to travel with me during the summers. I do not put my research on hold simply because I am here teaching. There are still many mysteries surrounding Phoenician, Proto-Canaanite, and related scripts that will not wait to be uncovered... but I am getting ahead of myself. Today we will begin our look at the older of the two, Proto-Canaanite, and the history surrounding it.

Background and Basics
Proto-Canaanite is known by a variety of names, as is common with ancient languages and scripts. You will hear people in various circles use the terms Proto-Sinaitic, Sinaitic, old Canaanite, and even (incorrectly) Phoenician or early Phoenician interchangeably. However, there are a few specifics we should discuss. Similar to how Old Norse and Old Icelandic were two variations of the same language separated by different areas of use, the two terms “Proto-Canaanite” and “Proto-Sinaitic” are used to refer to the same written script while differentiating its geographical use.  Proto-Sinaitic is the term for the script when it was used in Egypt -- particularly in Sinai -- while Proto-Canaanite is what the script is called when it was used in Canaan, which corresponds to the modern-day Middle Eastern and Mediterranean countries of Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria as well as parts of Turkey. The script, in both areas, can be dated back to 1900 B.C.E. and survived until somewhere between 1300 and 1200 B.C.E. While this seems rather straightforward, there are still a few misconceptions to clear up.

Firstly, the non-magical academic world has not yet come to these conclusions as a whole. Many still think of Phoenician and Proto-Canaanite as sister scripts, or Proto-Canaanite and Proto-Sinaitic as separate entities. Secondly, there is also a fair amount of debate as to where and how Proto-Canaanite formed. Early non-magical researchers believed the script to be an offshoot or child script of Egyptian, whereas many present non-magical scholars insist that the script is Hebrew in origin. While there are some kernels of truth to these theories, neither is entirely accurate.²

The script did coexist for a time alongside ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, both in geographic and chronological terms. However, calling Proto-Canaanite a child script of Egyptian is a gross oversimplification. There was some influence in both directions, but Proto-Canaanite is most certainly its own entity. One clear indication of this can be found in the phonetic meanings of each script. We know that Egyptian hieroglyphics have their own phonetic meanings --  or I should certainly hope we do. Despite the obvious opportunity for phonetic borrowing, there was little to no correlation between Proto-Canaanite sounds and their Egyptian cousins, despite similarities in shape. Additionally, there are some ideographic similarities between the two scripts, but no more than you would imagine given that the two cultures were in heavy contact with each other. While the this script is quite ancient -- certainly older than Rongorongo -- its history is fairly well-documented comparatively speaking, owing to a lack of extinction events, the fact that it was written more often on pottery or stone than flammable wood, and a lack of genocide.

On the topic of Hebrew, it is certain that Proto-Canaanite bears some relation to Hebrew, but only so far as they are related to each other, not that Proto-Canaanite is simply another form of it. A glance at the glyphs shows significant differences in symbol shape. While some Muggles think that Proto-Canaanite could be a strange kind of Hebrew, the simpler truth is that Hebrew, or more accurately) ancient Hebrew, is one of many descendants of Proto-Canaanite. A few others include South Arabian and the aforementioned Phoenician, though the three child languages do not share many similarities to each other due to changes over time and influence from different cultures.

Mundane Facts
With the slightly murky origins out of the way, let us move onto the basic linguistic facts. This script is billed as the “first true alphabet,” in that it was actually used for phonetic transcriptions and its main linguistic function was phonetic. Most other scripts of this time were syllabic, logographic, or a mix of all these, like hieroglyphics. For this reason (and reasons related to Phoenician’s widespread use), Proto-Canaanite is in some way related to all modern alphabets.

Though it is an alphabet, Proto-Canaanite has a distinct lack of vowels which, fortunately, your studies of hieroglyphics have prepared you for. As with Egyptian hieroglyphics -- and many other consonantal alphabets -- when spoken, words in Proto-Canaanite were simply filled in with the correct vowel sound, though now we can only guess or use placeholders. You will also recognize certain Proto-Canaanite sounds such as the ‘glottal stop’ or ‘throaty h’ from your phonetic hieroglyphic handout last year.  If you do not, find a Fifth Year who has actually paid attention, revisit your notes, or sit in on a Fifth Year lecture; I do not have time for re-teaching.

In terms of how to read a Proto-Canaanite inscription, the script can be recorded many ways, including left to right, right to left, top to bottom, and even in regular boustrophedon. The first few directions should be standard enough after your practice of ancient hieroglyphics, but if you have not yet taken or read the extra credit assignment regarding reverse and regular boustrophedon in Lesson One of this year, I highly recommend you at least read the assignment prompt, as there is an example and description of regular boustrophedon there.

Now, onto the symbols themselves. As you can see from the chart on the board, as well as the handout you all may keep, there are 19 total glyphs, though because of Muggles’ confusion about Proto-Sinaitic vs. Proto-Canaanite vs. Early Phoenician, more are sometimes attributed. Additionally, there are many variants for both the names of the runes as well as the way to draw the symbols themselves. This is partially due to the fact that these symbols were reused by the younger Phoenician script, as well as the fact that it was used in different areas of the world, much like the various futharks. All-in-all, this chart is easy enough to dissect, so I will not be going over individual meanings, names, or sound values with you now. Should you have questions, I am open to them after class.

Instead of reviewing individual glyphs, we will look at broader trends in the script. Firstly, though it may not be obvious to those of you whose eyes are unfocused to the point of crossing, the phonetic values of each Proto-Canaanite symbol begin with the first letter of the symbol’s name.  That is, “Beth” stands for the sound “B” and “Digg” is the name of the symbol that represents the letter “D.” Another interesting point to note is that there is no standard “alphabetical order.” The order in which the glyphs are listed below is largely based on the order of the Greek alphabet, which is a derivative of this script. However, there are many other ways to group and organize the signs.

It is at this point I usually provide a list of common words used in the particular script -- places, kings, names, and the like. That will prove to be quite difficult today. Users of Proto-Canaanite and its descendant scripts were heavily influenced by various outside sources and often make references to places, peoples, rulers, pantheons, and more from those outside cultures.

Key Words
Proto-Sinaitic was especially influenced by the Egyptians, whereas Proto-Canaanite had a wider variety of influences. They also overlapped with the Hittites -- a culture discussed in your Fourth Year in Mythology -- as well as Akkadians, Assyrians, and the Mittani among others. Because of this, there is significant potential for cultural references to all of these cultures: their cities and areas of geographic importance, their rulers, their pantheons, and more.

The good news is that this means that your knowledge of Egyptian gods, goddesses, and pharaohs from the last few years will still serve you well here. However, you will likely want to brush up on your Hittite mythology notes or ask Professor Morgan’s permission to sit in on a class if you have not taken the course. I will also provide you with an abbreviated list of places, people, and gods in specific to Canaan.

Symbols for Spells
Now, each letter not only has phonetic meanings, but ideographic ones as well. It is from these ideographic meanings that the magical meanings developed, as is the case with other magical scripts. Of course, the magical meanings are more nuanced than their ideographic counterparts, as they have been used for many different purposes based on intent and the other runes used in conjunction. The list of ideographic meanings you can see on the board and your handout are only the most basic to serve as reminders and for quick reference. More detailed explanations of each glyph’s meanings and uses can be found in a separate issue of the Anthropological-based Journal of Ancient Discoveries in the library, specifically in Elazar’s Compendium of Proto-Canaanite. You will need this information to successfully complete your assignments for this class.

Some of these meanings -- particularly the more basic interpretations displayed in the handout -- have been uncovered by Muggles. However, many of the more detailed meanings used specifically in magic have completely escaped Muggle notice, largely due to the fact that we have kept all magical Proto-Canaanite artefacts hidden from them.

While it will be up to you to read the accompanying lesson supplements for more information on each symbol’s uses and meanings, I will go through a few examples of just how you can extrapolate multiple meanings from the basic one. Looking at Zayin, you will see that the standard meaning is “fence.” However, this has been used in multiple enchantments for different purposes. It has been inscribed over entryways to burial sites to form traps to keep potential grave-robbers away, as well as used in enchantments to repel various kinds of creatures. Finally, in my most recent academic foray into Proto-Canaanite, I have uncovered evidence that the glyph can, in fact, also serve to denote negation.

Therefore, Zayin does not only potentially indicate a fence (or that a fence or wall has been magically imbued), but also may imply “barrier,” “trap,” or “repel” in a Proto-Canaanite spell. Additionally, much like Isa may stand in opposition to other Germanic runes, Zayin may also indicate negation, depending largely on what it is used with. Therefore, a spell that appears to grant sight may actually obscure things, whether literally (as with blinding) or figuratively (in terms of some of the glyphs on the artefact being hidden, or other items being hidden). I hope you are beginning to see the breadth of the possibilities of just one glyph.

Closing
That is quite enough information for today. I will leave you to your reading and will remain in my office for questions should you encounter difficulties or doubts based on the lesson. You have an assortment of assignments, as usual: a quiz on basic information, a transcription assignment, a partial translation assignment, and an extra credit assignment in which you have the opportunity to compare Proto-Canaanite with the slightly related Egyptian hieroglyphics.

Please note that I say “partial translation” assignment as, truly, we have not covered enough material for you to begin decoding spells or sentences that are not phonetic. The details of how Proto-Canaanite spells are constructed is part of the next lesson’s topic. However, it is important that you begin committing the ideographic meanings to memory and begin thinking of how to extrapolate nuances from each of the basic meanings, which is what that assignment will focus on.

Until next week.

Footnotes:

1. Your former professor, Ms. Mathilda Stevens, was much more of an authority on Germanic runes. However, as she purposefully left her curriculum behind at Hogwarts to be taught in Years Two and Three, you have had the benefit of her knowledge as well.
2. We were able to beat the Muggles to a lot of these artefacts, as many prominent Muggle researchers -- Sir Alan Gardiner among them -- contributed to the theory that the script was just another form of hieroglyphics. Therefore, they did not receive a lot of attention immediately from non-magical archaeologists. The Muggles were too busy trying to figure out how it had developed phonetically from Egyptian to be properly excavating. By the time they got around to dig sites, magiarchaeologists had already removed the magical pieces and covered their tracks. While this served us well in avoiding international incidents and bolstering our knowledge of magical history and ancient magic, the incomplete puzzle left behind has caused Muggles quite a bit of confusion.

Vocabulary
Canaan - This area was also later known as “Phoenicia.” It consists of the modern-day nations of Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. Turkey, or parts of it, was also part of this kingdom.
Canaanites - This is more accurately a catch-all term for various Semitic peoples throughout history such as Akkadians, Phoenicians, Hebrews, and Arabs rather than an actual specific group or culture. Therefore references to “Canaanites” in mythology, history, and religious texts may seem to completely contradict each other as one Arabic group may have died out whereas another may have still been quite prosperous at the time.
Proto-Sinaitic - Used alongside hieroglyphics and Egyptian languages; received significant influence from Egyptian culture, as well as those with which Egyptians had contact. Used in the geographic area referred to at the time as Sinai.
Proto-Canaanite - Used alongside various Proto-Semitic languages and received significant influence from Assyrians, Hittites, and other cultures. Used in the geographic region of Canaan.
Sinai - Formerly its own nation, Sinai is now part of present-day Egypt. It is a peninsula located within the Asian continent, making it the only Asian portion of Egypt.

Original lesson written by Professor Venita Wessex
Image credits here, here, here, here