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Helen Betts | all galleries >> Rediscovering Home >> Washington Rediscovered Year 7 > Undecipherable sign
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23-Jul-2022 Tim Betts

Undecipherable sign

We found this sign on the Metropolitan Branch Trail in Northeast DC, where we sometimes go to look for murals. It was posted by the Washington Area Bicyclist Association, presumably about safety on the trail, but we couldn’t figure out what it said. There was nothing on their website to give any clues.

NOTE: Thanks to David, I checked, and it does appear to be in Amharic, which makes sense due to the large Ethiopian and Eritrean communities in DC. Tim thinks there were other signs along the trail, so perhaps they were in other relevant languages such as Spanish.

Best to view in "Original" because other versions resized by PBase are decidedly unsharp.

Enjoying the lantana, posted earlier:

Apple iPhone 13 Pro
1/2632s f/1.5 at 5.7mm iso50 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Zoltán Balogh10-Sep-2022 12:51
Really intriguing and unique find... V
victorswan28-Aug-2022 21:43
An amazing find, but don't understand a word of it, well a beautiful writing beautiful work BV
Julie Oldfield22-Aug-2022 18:17
It’s great to see signs in other languages to represent the melting pot we are. V
janescottcumming21-Aug-2022 20:30
Such interesting looking writing.
Marwan Habib21-Aug-2022 19:35
If there is other signs in other languages, then it will be an interesting trail to learn foreign languages... :-)
Nice find!
larose forest photos21-Aug-2022 19:10
The language is fascinating, and good for David in figuring out what it is. V
Isabel Cutler21-Aug-2022 16:41
Google Lens couldn't ID it either.
Raymond21-Aug-2022 16:39
Here's an example of Aramaic written language, today, Aramaic was spoken mostly in a small village in Syria (Totally destroyed by the Syrian war today). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGGQeoVptKs&t=9s
Aramaic was the native language that Jesus spoke 2022 years ago. Here's the Lord's prayer in Aramaic, as spoken by Jesus Christ: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAEIrp4MFBE
globalgadabout21-Aug-2022 15:45
likely a sign meant to spread trail advice to natives of another country/culture, an attempt at greater inclusivity...the alphabet looks like Amharic, relevant if there are many Ethiopians in DC..
Nestor Derkach21-Aug-2022 15:26
Strange sign usually posted in our language and then underneath for those from another country to understand.
Nice sigh shot Tim pin sharp.
Vote
joseantonio21-Aug-2022 15:04
interesting find and capture.V.