Carian Letter Sh2

Read it as one letter in a Carian spelling. An isolated 𐊯 does not name an object, mood, or action; the surrounding inscription provides the reading. “SH2” distinguishes this catalogue entry from Carian Letter SH, and is not an English gloss.

Early Carian evidence includes a seventh-century BCE figurine of Isis bearing the name of Pharaoh Psammetichus I. Later inscriptions include texts for the dead and religious offerings, as well as graffiti, dedications, and decrees. Carian writing recorded names, remembrance, worship, and public business.

Carian texts from Egypt are usually written right to left; inscriptions elsewhere are written left to right and commonly have no spaces between words. This changes how a text is laid out, not the role of 𐊯 within it.

Why does 𐊯 resemble other ancient alphabets?

Some connections are historical, not just visual. Carian belongs to the ancient Anatolian script group that also includes Lycian and Lydian, and these scripts are described as closely related to Greek. Carian may nevertheless have developed independently. Analyses also connect parts of its sign inventory with Phoenician and Cretan Linear or Cypriot traditions; those broader links do not establish a unique ancestor for SH2.