8 Ancient Writing Systems That Haven't Been Deciphered Yet

Mental Floss ^ | Feb 11, 2025 | Arika Okrent |

[Larry Lucido]

9. My handwriting.

[Wuli]

As to the Olmec writing, there’s this:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17816888/#:~:text=Abstract,over%20the%20last%202%20years.

[BenLurkin]

Interesting!

[Carl Vehse]

"8 Ancient Writing Systems That Haven't Been Deciphered Yet"

Not to mention the IRS Tax Code.

[econjack]

The well-lit part of the Rongorongo script tablet says:

Beware of theives named Democrats as they steal your treasure and...

[z3n]

Kamala speak

[Right Brother]

Imagine way in the future, when they unearth the text of Kamala’s speeches.

[Lizavetta]

It had several large, well-planned cities like Mohenjo-daro, common iconography, and a script no one has been able to understand.

Amateurs. This one is obvious ... "Epstein didn't kill himself."

[dfwgator]

9. My handwriting.

---

LOL, you stole my post.

[FrogMom]

Over here!

[Track9]

The US tax code.

[voicereason]

I’m betting each of those languages references, ‘Ovaltine’.

[j.havenfarm]

I wish they’d called me. We speak Proto-Elamite in the home

[Larry Lucido]

I can write in cursive, but no one can read it.

[SunkenCiv]

In her Plato Prehistorian: 10,000 to 5,000 B.C. Myth, Religion, Archaeology, Mary Settegast reproduces a table (above) which shows four runic character sets; a is Upper Palaeolithic (found among the cave paintings), b is Indus Valley script, c is Greek (western branch), and d is the Scandinavian runic alphabet.

The Ancient Wisdom: Origin of Writing [this kinda poor scan is one *I* did 20 or so years ago, and my online version of it died with tinypic; but of course, I feel famous. Even the caption was what I'd typed in, btw. Dunno who "ancient wisdom" is, maybe a FReeper? :^)]

[Bob434]

[[ The Indus Valley civilization was one of the most advanced in the world for over 500 years]]

Pfftt, most advanced? They couldn’t even speak English!

[Lake Living]

This is a job for AI. As a matter of fact it just deciphered one of those languages. Translation below.
“Gallon of milk, dozen eggs , lb. Of bacon, cat litter.” Ok, the last item is questionable 😅

[Flatus I. Maximus]

Just as long as none of those ancient writing systems look like this. If they do, never translate them and read them out loud.

[SunkenCiv]

The rest of the 'Lost Languages' keyword, sorted:

• Ancient civilization: Cracking the Indus script [10/21/2015]
• Evidence of massacre in Bronze Age Turkey [ Titris Hoyuk ] [02/20/2012]
• Computers to translate world's 'lost' languages after program deciphers ancient text [07/21/2010]
• Phaistos Disc declared as fake by scholar [07/30/2008]
• Interview [with Iravatham Mahadevan,] the Madras Indus scholar [03/31/2007]
• Non-Attic Characters [07/18/2004]

Lost Languages: The Enigma Of The World's Undeciphered Scripts by Andrew Robinson