Small clay tablet (measuring approximately 2cm x7cm) shows the Ugaritic alphabet (Benner 2007), which some claim to be the world's first linear alphabet. Ugarit was a Bronze Age city on the Mediterranean coast in current day Syria. This small tablet now resides in the National Museum in Damascus. ______________________________________________
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I plan to look at other sources to compare what they say with what’s found on Wikipedia and to search for other related sources.
As Wikipedia offers information on a wide range of aspects of this topic, I’ve spent quite a bit of time there reading over that information to consolidate my understanding of the references to aspects like geographical location, time in history and kinds of writing.
This has included considering the following:
• The History of Writing systems from pictographic proto-writing to Cuneiform Script to alphabets to non-alphabet scripts including the difference between Cuneiform and alphabet-based writing. And what is an alphabet? If it just covers consonant sounds, is it a true alphabet? (The Greeks claim theirs was the first true alphabet whereas some scholars say the Phoenican and Ugaritic alphabets, which came into use around the same time, were the first alphabets and the Greek alphabet developed from these.) Abjads (no vowels) and Abugidas (consonants with vowels indicated by marks on the letters, like Arabic is sometimes written), what are they?
• First uses of writing and why that broadened over time. Graffiti (‘I was here’), trading and wars have all played parts.
• The Phoenicians and where they traded. Some geographical references could be ambiguous, like the Erythraean Sea. Some have taken it to be the Red Sea but on a medieval map shown on Wikipedia it’s shown as the Arabian Sea (along the coast from Socotra off Yemen to the Gulf of Oman). Another reference suggests it was the Persian Gulf.
• Round the time of the Phoenicians and Ugarit, there’s mention of Sea Peoples. Scholars weren’t sure whether they might have contributed to the spread of particular types of writing. The Genographic Project has done work on answering this question.
• What the differences in names for different areas of the eastern Mediterranean refer to eg Canaan vs Phoenicia.
• The connections between the writing that evolved and the nature of the language spoken with respect to the need to make vowels clear vs no real need for vowels in an alphabet.
• The Brahmi script which was ancestral to most of the scripts of South, South East and Central Asia (eg Tibetan and Khotanese) and its relationship to Aramaic script which was brought to the Indus Valley by the invasion of Darius the Great, a Persian, in the sixth century BC.
• The development of later alphabets and writing scripts and how they were influenced by or used what was already known. Eg The alphabetic order of Japanese kana is believed to have been influenced by the Brahmi script although the letters are unrelated.
This has included considering the following:
• The History of Writing systems from pictographic proto-writing to Cuneiform Script to alphabets to non-alphabet scripts including the difference between Cuneiform and alphabet-based writing. And what is an alphabet? If it just covers consonant sounds, is it a true alphabet? (The Greeks claim theirs was the first true alphabet whereas some scholars say the Phoenican and Ugaritic alphabets, which came into use around the same time, were the first alphabets and the Greek alphabet developed from these.) Abjads (no vowels) and Abugidas (consonants with vowels indicated by marks on the letters, like Arabic is sometimes written), what are they?
• First uses of writing and why that broadened over time. Graffiti (‘I was here’), trading and wars have all played parts.
• The Phoenicians and where they traded. Some geographical references could be ambiguous, like the Erythraean Sea. Some have taken it to be the Red Sea but on a medieval map shown on Wikipedia it’s shown as the Arabian Sea (along the coast from Socotra off Yemen to the Gulf of Oman). Another reference suggests it was the Persian Gulf.
• Round the time of the Phoenicians and Ugarit, there’s mention of Sea Peoples. Scholars weren’t sure whether they might have contributed to the spread of particular types of writing. The Genographic Project has done work on answering this question.
• What the differences in names for different areas of the eastern Mediterranean refer to eg Canaan vs Phoenicia.
• The connections between the writing that evolved and the nature of the language spoken with respect to the need to make vowels clear vs no real need for vowels in an alphabet.
• The Brahmi script which was ancestral to most of the scripts of South, South East and Central Asia (eg Tibetan and Khotanese) and its relationship to Aramaic script which was brought to the Indus Valley by the invasion of Darius the Great, a Persian, in the sixth century BC.
• The development of later alphabets and writing scripts and how they were influenced by or used what was already known. Eg The alphabetic order of Japanese kana is believed to have been influenced by the Brahmi script although the letters are unrelated.
Reflection
It was quite time-consuming trying to gain a clear understanding of the various terms mentioned. Was Ugarit part of Phoenicia so if there’s reference to Phoenician alphabet does that include the Ugarit alphabet? Are those terms interchangeable or different? Etc.
References
In Our Time: The Alphabet 2003, [radio program], BBC Radio 4, 18 December, viewed 13 April 2010, www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0054950
Gnomon 2004, The Development of the Western Alphabet, viewed 13 April 2010, www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A2451890
Ugaritic 2010, viewed 17 April 2010, http://ancientscripts.com/ugaritic.html
Alphabets 1998, viewed 13 April 2010, www.omniglot.com/writing/alphabets.htm
Pryst, J n.d., Phoenicia, viewed 17 April 2010, http://www.ancientopedia.com/phoenicia/
Goldwasser, O 2010, How the Alphabet Was Born from Hieroglyphs, Biblical Archaeology Review 36:02 Mar/Apr 2010, viewed 20 April 2010, www.bib-arch.org/bar/article.asp?PubID=BSBA&Volume=36&Issue=2&ArticleID=6
It was quite time-consuming trying to gain a clear understanding of the various terms mentioned. Was Ugarit part of Phoenicia so if there’s reference to Phoenician alphabet does that include the Ugarit alphabet? Are those terms interchangeable or different? Etc.
References
In Our Time: The Alphabet 2003, [radio program], BBC Radio 4, 18 December, viewed 13 April 2010, www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0054950
Gnomon 2004, The Development of the Western Alphabet, viewed 13 April 2010, www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A2451890
Ugaritic 2010, viewed 17 April 2010, http://ancientscripts.com/ugaritic.html
Alphabets 1998, viewed 13 April 2010, www.omniglot.com/writing/alphabets.htm
Pryst, J n.d., Phoenicia, viewed 17 April 2010, http://www.ancientopedia.com/phoenicia/
Goldwasser, O 2010, How the Alphabet Was Born from Hieroglyphs, Biblical Archaeology Review 36:02 Mar/Apr 2010, viewed 20 April 2010, www.bib-arch.org/bar/article.asp?PubID=BSBA&Volume=36&Issue=2&ArticleID=6
Benner J 2007, The Ugarit Alphabet, Ancient Hebrew Research Centre, viewed 13 April 2010, http://www.ancient-hebrew.org/22_alphabet.html
Next
I plan to look at other sources to compare what they say with what’s found on Wikipedia and to search for other related sources.
You're going really well Lorraine - keep it up! You need to have 3 posts up as soon as possible. Remember to include some in-text links, some images and video. Widen your sources too.
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