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A selection of the Anzan Cave
Carvings.
The Anzan Cave Carving, also known as the Anzan characters, are a set of characters discovered in 1877 in the caves near the Meridian city of Anzan. These inscriptions provide the only known example of the writing system of pre-dada cultures.[1]
Dating back to at least 1300 B.C., the site contains numerous examples of rock art and what is believed to be a pyctographic writing system of the pre-dada cultures.[1] While mostly these characters are impossible to translate due to their low sample size, a set of seven characters has received significant attention due their repetition throughout the cave.
Contents
The Anzan cave carvings are located in the Rukasan caves just 3 km from Anzan. In 1877 a group of scientists from the University of Darrehkeh on a geologic survey in the region uncovered the carvings deep within the cave network.[2] The site did not receive significant attention until following the War of the Third Coalition, when the Meridian Commonwealth declared it a national heritage site and funded multiple translation efforts.[3]
Translation of the carvings has been significantly hindered by the lack of other examples of the pre-Dada script.[4] Despite this difficulty, many attempts have been made to translate the so-called “Anzan Seven”. This group of seven characters is found repeated in the cave network a total of 48 times, each the same order, indicating a common phrase or name from the culture that occupied the caves.[4]
| Character | Proposed Translation[5] |
|---|---|
 Character 1 |
King, Him, We, Flower |
 Character 2 |
Prince, Him, Flower, Heart |
 Character 3 |
Mountain, Garden, Warning |
 Character 4 |
Rage, Flower, Volcano, Fight |
 Character 5 |
Enemy, Web, Other |
 Character 6 |
Dead, Victory, Priest |
 Character 7 |
Tower, Man, Chapel, Sight |