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"It is less known, however, that P. Amiet in his
study of the first form of hieroglyphics in
Mesopotamia discovered that the earliest
pre-cuneiform sign for 'ship' was identical with
the one representing 'marine' in ancient Egypt.
As shown earlier by A. Falkenstein, this
hieroglyphic sign for 'ship' is very common in
the earliest Sumerian texts of Mesopotamia,
dating back to about 3000 B.C. It actually
represents a sickle-shaped reed boat with
crosswise lashings and with some peculiar
S-shaped adornments both at bow and stern. This
goes to show that before the two respective
continental civilizations took root in
Mesopotamia and Egypt about 3000 B.C. these two
areas on each side of the Arabian peninsula had
already a most peculiar hieroglyphic sign in
common, with the same basic meaning and with
ornamental details so special that they are
never repeated elsewhere in the world. The bow
or stern section of the same type of ship is
used as a separate hieroglyphic sign.
Falkenstein shows that in this earliest
Mesopotamian script the Sumerian sign for 'lord'
or 'gentleman' (en) is represented by the
mere stem of such a reed ship, presumably the
usual place for its master." (Heyerdahl 2) The broken canoe motif in Polynesia is - as many other culture traits - found also among the Nortwest-Coast indians of Vancouver. |