The creator and curator is Brian Edric Colless, pictured with ancient Egyptian rulers and deities in the background, and an early copy of the alphabet in the foreground.

A Bronze-Age tablet showing the original pictorial form of the alphabet.

                        In the top-left corner is a house with a courtyard; with its end-walls removed it became H.

                        Next to the house is the head of an ox with horns; inverted it became A (Alpha).

                        Further along is a door on its post: D (Delta). Then a house (door ajar?):  B (Beta).

                        G (Gamma) was a boomerang (below the A). L was a shepherd's crook (further down).

                        For more enlightenment see ANCIENT SCRIPTS below, and The alphabet when young


    INDEX OF COLLESSEUM PAGES

    PUBLICATIONS of Brian Edric Colless (click to see the list)

    SYRIAC MYSTICISM

The Wisdom of the Pearlers : Anthology of Syriac Christian Mysticism 

Pearl Wisdom

The Hymn of the Pearl : Introduction 

The Hymn of the Pearl : Interpretation 

    ANCIENT EGYPT

The Palette of Narmer : Unification of Egypt

The Cosmology of Heliopolis : Creation by Atum

The Cosmology of Memphis : Creation by Ptah

The Cosmology of Akhetaton :  Hymn to the Aton

The Cosmology of Thebes : Hymns to Amon-Rey

The Book of the Dead

The Battle of Qadesh : Ramesses II

    ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA

The Epic of Atrakhasis : Flood Story

The Tablet of Destinies : New Year Ritual

    ANCIENT LEVANT

The Inscriptions of King Mesha` : Moab and Israel

The Prophet Elijah and the Prophets of Ba`al

    MYTH AND EPIC  

The Beowulf Epic

The Völsung Saga

The Nibelung Epic 

The Saga of Niall

The Kalevala Epic

The Divine Comedy : Introduction

The Divine Comedy : Inferno

The Divine Comedy : Purgatorio

The Divine Comedy : Paradiso

The Golden Fleece Quest : Jason and Medea

The Holy Grail Quest : Introduction

The Gold Grail : Perceval 

The Stone Grail : Parzival 

The Blood Grail : Perlesvaus

The Grail Secrets: Parsifal (Wagner's music-drama) 


   ANCIENT SCRIPTS

SEMITIC

Alphabet Evolution : Pictographs to Letters

West Semitic Logo-syllabary: The Byblos Script

Megiddo Signet Ring : Decipherment verification

Thebes Ostrakon 1 : The alphabet when young 

Cuneiform Alphabet : Based on the picto-proto-alphabet 

Gezer Cult-Stand Sherd : Temple offering stand 

Beth Shemesh Ostrakon : Carousing in the wine bar

Izbet Sartah Ostrakon : An ancient abagadary (abecedary) 

Izbet Sartah Ostrakon : Musings of a student scribe

CRETO-CYPRIAN   

Semitic Crete : Semitic language in ancient Crete

Phaistos Disc Inscription: Not a forgery 

Phaistos Syllabic Script : On tablets, disc, ax

Cyprus Syllabic Scripts : From Linear A to Linear C

Cyprian Shekel Weight :  Enkomi clay weight

Cyprian Inscribed Seals : Twelve brief inscriptions

Cyprian Inscribed Cylinder : Enkomi cylinder

Cyprian Inscribed Balls : Enkomi clay balls

Cyprian Name List :  Tablet from Ugarit

 


    OPERA AND ORATORIO 

HandelMessiah 

Mozart Idomeneo 

Verdi Don Carlo

Verdi Rigoletto