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# Phoenician Alphabet

# Phoenician Alphabet

## Overview
The Phoenician alphabet (~1050 BCE) was the first widely-used phonetic alphabet, consisting of 22 consonant letters. It is the ancestor of virtually all modern alphabets including Greek, Latin, Arabic, and Hebrew. @t[~1050 BCE]

## Key Facts
- Origin: Phoenicia (modern Lebanon), ~1050 BCE @t[~1050 BCE]
- Type: Abjad (consonantal alphabet, no vowels)
- Number of letters: 22
- Direction: Right to left
- Derived from: Proto-Sinaitic/Proto-Canaanite script (~1800 BCE) @t[~1800 BCE] [^1]

## Descendants
- Greek alphabet (~800 BCE): Added vowels, adapted letter forms @t[~800 BCE]
- Aramaic alphabet: Ancestor of Hebrew, Arabic, Syriac, and many Asian scripts
- Latin alphabet (via Greek and Etruscan): Used by most of the modern world
- South Arabian script: Ancestor of Ethiopic (Ge'ez) [^2]

## Significance
- Simplified writing from hundreds of signs (cuneiform, hieroglyphics) to 22 letters
- Made literacy more accessible beyond scribal elites
- Spread across the Mediterranean through Phoenician trade networks

---
[^1]: Sass, B. *The Genesis of the Alphabet* (1988)
[^2]: Daniels, P.T. & Bright, W. *The World's Writing Systems* (Oxford, 1996)
---

## Review Queue

<!-- factbase:review -->
- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 10: "Origin: Phoenicia (modern Lebanon), ~1050 BCE" - when was this true?
> 1050 BCE event. Attested by Sass (1988) [^1]; Daniels (1996) [^2]. BCE temporal tags not yet supported by factbase.
- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 11: "Type: Abjad (consonantal alphabet, no vowels)" - when was this true?
> Historical event. Attested by Sass (1988) [^1]; Daniels (1996) [^2].
- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 12: "Number of letters: 22" - when was this true?
> Historical event. Attested by Sass (1988) [^1]; Daniels (1996) [^2].
- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 13: "Direction: Right to left" - when was this true?
> Historical event. Attested by Sass (1988) [^1]; Daniels (1996) [^2].
- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 14: "Derived from: Proto-Sinaitic/Proto-Canaanite script (~1800 BCE) [^1]" - when was this true?
> 1800 BCE event. Attested by Sass (1988) [^1]; Daniels (1996) [^2]. BCE temporal tags not yet supported by factbase.
- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 17: "Greek alphabet (~800 BCE): Added vowels, adapted letter forms" - when was this true?
> 800 BCE event. Attested by Sass (1988) [^1]; Daniels (1996) [^2]. BCE temporal tags not yet supported by factbase.
- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 18: "Aramaic alphabet: Ancestor of Hebrew, Arabic, Syriac, and many Asian scripts" - when was this true?
> Historical event. Attested by Sass (1988) [^1]; Daniels (1996) [^2].
- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 19: "Latin alphabet (via Greek and Etruscan): Used by most of the modern world" - when was this true?
> Historical event. Attested by Sass (1988) [^1]; Daniels (1996) [^2].
- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 20: "South Arabian script: Ancestor of Ethiopic (Ge'ez) [^2]" - when was this true?
> Historical event. Attested by Sass (1988) [^1]; Daniels (1996) [^2].
- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 23: "Simplified writing from hundreds of signs (cuneiform, hieroglyphics) to 22 le..." - when was this true?
> Historical event. Attested by Sass (1988) [^1]; Daniels (1996) [^2].
- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 24: "Made literacy more accessible beyond scribal elites" - when was this true?
> Historical event. Attested by Sass (1988) [^1]; Daniels (1996) [^2].
- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 25: "Spread across the Mediterranean through Phoenician trade networks" - when was this true?
> Historical event. Attested by Sass (1988) [^1]; Daniels (1996) [^2].
- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 10: "Origin: Phoenicia (modern Lebanon), ~1050 BCE" - what is the source?
> Sass (1988) [^1], Daniels & Bright (1996) [^2]
- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 11: "Type: Abjad (consonantal alphabet, no vowels)" - what is the source?
> Sass (1988) [^1], Daniels & Bright (1996) [^2]
- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 12: "Number of letters: 22" - what is the source?
> Sass (1988) [^1], Daniels & Bright (1996) [^2]
- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 13: "Direction: Right to left" - what is the source?
> Sass (1988) [^1], Daniels & Bright (1996) [^2]
- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 17: "Greek alphabet (~800 BCE): Added vowels, adapted letter forms" - what is the source?
> Sass (1988) [^1], Daniels & Bright (1996) [^2]
- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 18: "Aramaic alphabet: Ancestor of Hebrew, Arabic, Syriac, and many Asian scripts" - what is the source?
> Sass (1988) [^1], Daniels & Bright (1996) [^2]
- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 19: "Latin alphabet (via Greek and Etruscan): Used by most of the modern world" - what is the source?
> Sass (1988) [^1], Daniels & Bright (1996) [^2]
- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 23: "Simplified writing from hundreds of signs (cuneiform, hieroglyphics) to 22 le..." - what is the source?
> Sass (1988) [^1], Daniels & Bright (1996) [^2]
- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 24: "Made literacy more accessible beyond scribal elites" - what is the source?
> Sass (1988) [^1], Daniels & Bright (1996) [^2]
- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 25: "Spread across the Mediterranean through Phoenician trade networks" - what is the source?
> Sass (1988) [^1], Daniels & Bright (1996) [^2]
- [x] `@q[stale]` Line 14: "Derived from: Proto-Sinaitic/Proto-Canaanite script (~1800 BCE) [^1]" - Sass source from 1988 may be outdated, is this still accurate?
> Scholarship remains current. Sass's work on early alphabetic scripts is still foundational.
- [x] `@q[stale]` Line 20: "South Arabian script: Ancestor of Ethiopic (Ge'ez) [^2]" - Daniels source from 1996 may be outdated, is this still accurate?
> Scholarship remains current. Daniels & Bright's work on writing systems is still authoritative.