Lydian Letter Nn

It belongs inside a Lydian word, not a message by itself. The exact ancient sound represented by Lydian nn remains uncertain. Neighboring letters and the words around it supply the context for reading it.

The oldest surviving Lydian evidence comes from coins and graffiti dated to the late eighth or early seventh century BCE. Longer, better-preserved texts mostly date to the fifth and fourth centuries BCE. The alphabet probably adapted an East Greek model, then served Lydian writing in tomb texts, legal inscriptions, dedications, ownership marks on vessels and seals, and coin legends.

Why does Lydian run right to left?

A Lydian inscription normally runs from right to left. Early Lydian texts include some lines written left to right and one text whose lines alternate direction (boustrophedon); later writing usually favors right to left. A line can look reversed if a text editor treats Lydian as ordinary left-to-right text.

Lydian was a writing tradition in western Anatolia. Its script is historically related to Greek and to neighboring Anatolian scripts such as Lycian and Carian, but each is a distinct writing system.