Computer Program Decodes Ancient Language

While we know a lot about Biblical Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic, there remain many languages of the time of the Patriarchs that are beyond our ability to decipher. It is not necessarily that these languages are excessively complex, but rather that we have no frame of reference to match shapes to sounds or ideas. It's like trying to read your little brother's chicken-scratch without knowing if he was leaving a note about lunch, school, or that strange smell in the basement.

But now, a simple program has done in a few hours what linguists took years to do - it has decoded Ugaritic, a language used during the Biblical times.

The MIT team was able to decode the "lost language" of Ugaritic, an ancient Semitic language used in Old Testament times, using no more computing power than that of a laptop. The program took no longer than a few hours to link most Ugaritic symbols to their Hebrew equivalents.

Ugaritic text was nothing more than a series of dots and wedge-shaped marks to linguists and scholars when it was first discovered on clay tablets in 1928, excavated from the rubble of the ancient city of Ugarit by French archaeologists. Even though the language is closely related to Hebrew, experts did not decipher it until 1932.

This raises the possibility that other Bible-era languages could also be unlocked with enhanced versions of this program. One day, we may have confirmation of the miracles of Israel from the mouths of other nations and peoples.