Early History of the Alphabet
Overview
Alphabetic writing is one of the principal features of Western culture. Our knowledge of the early history, development, and spread of the alphabet is constantly changing. In this introduction to West Semitic epigraphy and paleography, Joseph Naveh outlines the history and current developments in the field, using evidence available to date.
With the Logos edition, this resource is fully integrated with the rest of your digital library. Links to original language texts, dictionaries, and other historical documents—such as the Amarna Letters—are only a click away! Early History of the Alphabet is an important addition to the libraries of Old Testament and Near Eastern scholars, and is ideal for anyone looking to understand more deeply the historical and cultural context of the Old Testament.
- Examines Semitic epigraphy and palaeography
- Attempts to trace the evolution of alphabetic writing
- Outlines the history and current developments
Top Highlights
“Hathor, and in the turquoise mines nearby, there came to light about a score of relatively short inscriptions in a formerly unknown script. The script consisted of pictures, but these pictographs numbered fewer than thirty. It was soon realized that this was an alphabetic—albeit pictographic—script. The first step towards its decipherment was made in 1916 by Gardiner, who pointed out that in these so-called Proto-Sinaitic inscriptions a certain series of pictures recurs several times: ox goad—house—eye—ox goad—cross.” (Page 23)
“As in Sumerian writing, each pictograph initially designated a word, and later there evolved a series of syllabic symbols. However, unlike the cuneiform script in which the signs also represented the vowels within each syllable or word, the Egyptian hieroglyphic script did not indicate the vowels between consonants, and the vocalization of the Egyptian language is not known.” (Page 14)
“In Egyptian writing there were symbols of one, two or three consonants. Had the Egyptians used only the uniconsonantal signs, their writing would have been alphabetic like that of the Semites (Fig. 5). Since they also preserved bi- and triconsonantal pictographs, the number of signs remained large (Fig. 6).” (Page 16)
“Diodorus Siculus and Pliny believed that the Assyrians had introduced writing, whereas Plato and Tacitus claimed that it was an Egyptian invention.” (Page 23)
“West Semitic workers or slaves in Sinai invent the first alphabetic writing” (Page 25)
- Title: Early History of the Alphabet
- Author: Joseph Naveh
- Publisher: Magnes Press
- Publication Date: 1997
- Pages: 222