Question

The Phoenician alphabet eventually evolved into our modern day alphabet. Give ONE reason why the Phoenicians created alphabetic writing.

Answer 1

The first signs of the Phoenician alphabet found in Byblos are clearly derived from Egyptian hieroglyphs, not from cuneiform. The 22 Phoenician letters are simplifications of Egyptian hieroglyphic symbols, which took a standardized form in the late 12th century BCE. The Phoenician alphabet is an ancient consonantal alphabet that was used to write Phoenician and other Canaanite languages ​​(such as Hebrew, Moabite, Ammonite, and Edomite). Although its 22 letters are all consonants, later writings use matres lectionis to represent some vowels.