A lost civilization’s partial alphabet was discovered in a social media post

A part-time researcher spotted letters in a photo of an engraved slate posted on X

A slate slab in a foam-filled cardboard box

Letters inscribed along the edges of this slate slab from the 5th century B.C. are closely related to the Phoenician alphabet, which was hugely influential Latin, Spanish and English writing systems.

Europa Press via AP

A sequence of letters belonging to an ancient alphabet has been discovered in a most unusual way — by someone scrolling through social media.