2,000 year-old Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions found in Egypt's royal tombs

Chennai: In a discovery that rewrites the maritime history of ancient India, researchers have identified 2,000-year-old Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions inside the high-security royal tombs of the valley of the Kings in Egypt.

The findings, which confirm that ancient Tamil traders travelled deep into the Egyptian interior for exploration and tourism, were presented by Swiss scholar Professor Ingo Strauch on the inaugural day of the four-day International Conference on Tamil Epigraphy here on February 11.

Professor Strauch, from the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, along with Professor Charlotte Schmid of the French School of Asian Studies, Paris, documented approximately 30 inscriptions in Tamil-Brahmi and Prakrit across six rock-cut tombs, including the tomb of Ramesses VI. The most significant discovery is the name 'Cikai Korran', which appears in eight different locations.


The researchers noted that one inscription specifically reads 'Cikai Korran vara kanta', which translates to 'Cikai Korran came and saw', mirroring the style of Greek tourist graffiti found in the same complex.

Addressing the delegates, Professor Strauch said, while earlier evidence of Tamil presence in Egypt was confined to port cities like Berenike, these inscriptions prove that Indian merchants were not merely transient sailors.

He noted that the merchants stayed for extended periods and possessed the curiosity to visit inland heritage sites far from the coast.

The name Cikai, meaning tuft or crown, and Korran, meaning leader, suggest the individual was a person of significant status within the merchant guilds of the early historic period, he added.

The conference, organised by the Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology, was inaugurated by Minister for Finance and Archaeology Thangam Thennarasu.

The Minister emphasised that inscriptions provide an authentic chronological record of society that is free from the interpolations often found in later literary works.

He noted that Tamil Nadu accounts for nearly 30,000 of the documented inscriptions in India, offering an unbroken history from the 6th century BCE.

The conference is on till February 14 and its agenda includes the release of a comprehensive volume on traditional water management systems based on ancient sluice inscriptions, documenting how early societies managed irrigation and public resources.

Over the next two days, the event is scheduled to feature sessions on hero stones, trade guild records, and the digital mapping of archaeological sites across the state.