`data/oldest-signatures.json`

21 lines
[
  {"name":"GAR.AMA (Uruk scribe)","approx_date":"c. 3100 BCE","era_sort":-3100,"category_type":"clay colophon","what_was_signed":"Proto-cuneiform lexical clay tablet listing 41 titles/professions (Schøyen MS 2429/4), Sumer","significance":"Cited by the Schøyen Collection as the earliest extant autograph signature — a named scribe signing a lexical list.","signature_image_available":"no","signature_image_url":"","source_url":"https://www.schoyencollection.com/scribes-collection/scribal-training/lexical-list-oldest-autograph-ms-2494-4","notes":"Scribal colophon impressed in wet clay, not cursive handwriting.","met_query":"cuneiform tablet"},
  {"name":"Kushim (Uruk accountant)","approx_date":"c. 3200–3000 BCE","era_sort":-3100,"category_type":"clay colophon","what_was_signed":"18 proto-cuneiform barley-account tablets bearing the name 'Kushim', Uruk (mostly Louvre)","significance":"Widely cited as the oldest recorded personal name in history — an accountant's mark on institutional barley receipts.","signature_image_available":"no","signature_image_url":"","source_url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kushim_(Uruk_period)","notes":"CONTESTED: 'Kushim' may be a title/office, not a person (Harari popularized it; Assyriologists are split). Impressed clay, not a handwritten autograph.","met_query":"cuneiform tablet account"},
  {"name":"Enheduanna","approx_date":"c. 2285–2250 BCE","era_sort":-2270,"category_type":"clay colophon","what_was_signed":"Cuneiform colophons on the 'Exaltation of Inanna' hymns; named on the alabaster Disc of Enheduanna (Penn Museum B16665)","significance":"Earliest known named author in literary history; signed her own literary colophons.","signature_image_available":"yes","signature_image_url":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Disk_of_Enheduanna.JPG","source_url":"https://www.worldhistory.org/Enheduanna/","notes":"The disc is sculpted, not handwritten; surviving tablet copies postdate her by centuries (attribution debated).","met_query":"Akkadian cylinder seal"},
  {"name":"Inspector Merer","approx_date":"c. 2560 BCE","era_sort":-2560,"category_type":"papyrus log","what_was_signed":"The Diary of Merer (Wadi el-Jarf Papyrus) — first-person logbook of Great Pyramid logistics, 26th year of Khufu","significance":"World's oldest surviving inscribed papyrus, written by a named first-person official.","signature_image_available":"no","signature_image_url":"","source_url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diary_of_Merer","notes":"A first-person record, not a discrete signature.","met_query":"Egyptian papyrus Old Kingdom"},
  {"name":"Cleopatra VII","approx_date":"33 BCE","era_sort":-33,"category_type":"cursive (contested)","what_was_signed":"Papyrus Bingen 45 — royal tax-exemption decree for P. Canidius; bottom word 'ginesthoi' (γινέσθωι, 'so be it')","significance":"Argued by some scholars to be the only surviving handwritten word by Cleopatra.","signature_image_available":"yes","signature_image_url":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Papyrus_document_containing_signature_of_Cleopatra_VII_of_Egypt.jpg","source_url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papyrus_Bingen_45","notes":"HOTLY DISPUTED (van Minnen/Zimmermann vs. Sarri/Bagnall) — may be a scribe's hand throughout.","met_query":"Ptolemaic Egypt papyrus"},
  {"name":"Charlemagne","approx_date":"c. 769–814 CE","era_sort":790,"category_type":"seal monogram","what_was_signed":"Carolingian royal diplomas bearing the cruciform 'signum manus' monogram spelling KAROLVS (~180 originals)","significance":"Authenticated royal mark of the most important medieval Western ruler.","signature_image_available":"yes","signature_image_url":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Charlemagne_autograph.svg","source_url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signum_manus","notes":"Monogram device drawn by scribes; Charlemagne may have added only the central stroke. Not cursive.","met_query":"Carolingian manuscript"},
  {"name":"El Cid (Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar)","approx_date":"1098 CE","era_sort":1098,"category_type":"true cursive autograph","what_was_signed":"Charter endowing the Cathedral of Valencia; 'ego Ruderico … afirmo' (Cathedral of Salamanca archive)","significance":"Widely called the oldest surviving handwritten cursive autograph of a famous named individual.","signature_image_available":"yes","signature_image_url":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Signature_of_El_Cid.svg","source_url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Cid","notes":"A genuine cursive Latin subscription — the first 'true autograph' tier in this list.","met_query":"medieval Spanish illuminated manuscript"},
  {"name":"Pope Leo IX","approx_date":"c. 1049–1054 CE","era_sort":1051,"category_type":"seal device (rota)","what_was_signed":"Papal bulls bearing the first 'rota' — a wheel-and-cross authentication device with the pope's name","significance":"First pope to adopt the rota, the standard papal authentication for centuries.","signature_image_available":"no","signature_image_url":"","source_url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rota_(papal_signature)","notes":"Chancery-drawn symbol, not cursive handwriting.","met_query":"medieval papal bull seal"},
  {"name":"Isabella I of Castile","approx_date":"c. 1474–1504 CE","era_sort":1492,"category_type":"true cursive autograph","what_was_signed":"Royal decrees incl. the 1492 Capitulations of Santa Fe (Columbus), signed 'Yo la Reina'","significance":"Her 'Yo la Reina' authorized the European encounter with the Americas.","signature_image_available":"yes","signature_image_url":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Isabella_I_of_Castile_Signature.svg","source_url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella_I_of_Castile","notes":"Genuine cursive autograph.","met_query":"Spanish Renaissance"},
  {"name":"Christopher Columbus","approx_date":"c. 1493–1506 CE","era_sort":1502,"category_type":"true cursive autograph (sigla)","what_was_signed":"Letters incl. to the Office of St. George (Seville, 1502); cryptic pyramidal sigla S·A·S / X·M·Y / Xpo FERENS","significance":"One of history's most mysterious signatures — a cipher he ordered his heirs to keep using.","signature_image_available":"yes","signature_image_url":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Columbus_Signature.svg","source_url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Columbus","notes":"Upper tiers of the cipher remain unresolved.","met_query":"Age of Exploration navigation"},
  {"name":"Leonardo da Vinci","approx_date":"c. 1487–1519 CE","era_sort":1500,"category_type":"true cursive autograph","what_was_signed":"Manuscripts incl. Forster Codex and Codice Atlantico ('io Lionardo')","significance":"Rare autographs from the defining Renaissance polymath, who seldom signed paintings.","signature_image_available":"yes","signature_image_url":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Leonardo_Da_Vinci_signature_from_Forster_codex.svg","source_url":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Signatures_of_Leonardo_da_Vinci","notes":"Wrote in mirror-script; 19+ signature files on Commons.","met_query":"Leonardo da Vinci drawing"},
  {"name":"Michelangelo Buonarroti","approx_date":"1499 CE","era_sort":1499,"category_type":"carved + cursive","what_was_signed":"The Pietà sash (St. Peter's): 'MICHAEL.ANGELUS.BONAROTUS.FLORENT.FACIEBAT'; 342 autograph letters (Casa Buonarroti)","significance":"The Pietà is the only artwork he ever signed.","signature_image_available":"yes","signature_image_url":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Michelangelo_Signature2.svg","source_url":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Signatures_of_Michelangelo_Buonarroti","notes":"Pietà signature is carved marble; handwritten letter signatures also survive.","met_query":"Michelangelo drawing"},
  {"name":"Albrecht Dürer","approx_date":"c. 1494–1528 CE","era_sort":1500,"category_type":"monogram mark","what_was_signed":"Paintings/engravings/woodcuts bearing the nested 'AD' monogram (e.g., 1500 Self-Portrait)","significance":"First artist's trademark defended in court — the pioneer of artistic copyright.","signature_image_available":"yes","signature_image_url":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Albrecht_D%C3%BCrer_Monogramm.svg","source_url":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Monogram_of_Albrecht_D%C3%BCrer","notes":"A device/brand mark plus a cursive hand in letters.","met_query":"Albrecht Durer engraving"},
  {"name":"Martin Luther","approx_date":"c. 1517–1546 CE","era_sort":1517,"category_type":"true cursive autograph","what_was_signed":"Hundreds of letters incl. the 95 Theses cover letter to Archbishop Albert of Mainz (1517)","significance":"Autograph letters among the most consequential documents of the Reformation.","signature_image_available":"yes","signature_image_url":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Martin_Luther_Signature.svg","source_url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther","notes":"Signed 'Martinus LütheR D' with a raised-R flourish.","met_query":"Reformation Cranach print"},
  {"name":"Henry VIII of England","approx_date":"c. 1509–1547 CE","era_sort":1513,"category_type":"true cursive autograph","what_was_signed":"Royal letters/decrees signed 'Henry R' (earliest confirmed 1513)","significance":"Among the most collected and most forged royal autographs in history.","signature_image_available":"yes","signature_image_url":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HenryVIIISig.svg","source_url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_of_Henry_VIII","notes":"A dry-stamp device was used in his final illness; beware fakes.","met_query":"Tudor England portrait"},
  {"name":"Queen Elizabeth I","approx_date":"c. 1544–1603 CE","era_sort":1558,"category_type":"true cursive autograph","what_was_signed":"State documents/letters signed 'Elizabeth R' with an elaborate italic flourish","significance":"One of the most recognizable autographs in English history.","signature_image_available":"yes","signature_image_url":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Autograph_of_Elizabeth_I_of_England.svg","source_url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_I_of_England","notes":"Distinctive humanist italic hand that evolved over her reign.","met_query":"Elizabethan England portrait"},
  {"name":"William Shakespeare","approx_date":"1612–1616 CE","era_sort":1613,"category_type":"true cursive autograph","what_was_signed":"Six signatures on four legal documents (Bellott v. Mountjoy deposition; Blackfriars deeds; the three-page will)","significance":"Only six authenticated signatures survive — none on any literary manuscript.","signature_image_available":"yes","signature_image_url":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_Shakespeare_Signature.svg","source_url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespeare%27s_handwriting","notes":"Secretary-hand; he spelled his own name differently across the six.","met_query":"Jacobean England engraving"},
  {"name":"Galileo Galilei","approx_date":"c. 1595–1642 CE","era_sort":1610,"category_type":"true cursive autograph","what_was_signed":"Very rare signed documents/letters (e.g., a 1595 Padua document)","significance":"'Of the utmost rarity' — only a few authenticated specimens in private hands.","signature_image_available":"yes","signature_image_url":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Galileo_Galilei_Signature_2.svg","source_url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_Galilei","notes":"Two signature SVGs confirmed on Commons.","met_query":"Galileo astronomy instrument"}
]