improve: Phoenician Alphabet

writing-systems/phoenician-alphabet.md

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 <!-- factbase:a94620 -->
 # 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
+- Origin: Phoenicia (modern Lebanon), ~1050 BCE @t[~1050 BCE] [^1]
+- Type: Abjad (consonantal alphabet, no vowels) [^2]
+- Number of letters: 22 [^1]
+- Direction: Right to left [^1]
 - Derived from: Proto-Sinaitic/Proto-Canaanite script (~1800 BCE) @t[~1800 BCE] [^1]
+- Used for: Iron Age Canaanite languages — Phoenician, Hebrew, Ammonite, Edomite, Old Aramaic [^3]
+
+## Oldest Known Evidence
+The Ahiram Sarcophagus (KAI 1), discovered in 1923 by French archaeologist Pierre Montet at Byblos (modern Jbeil, Lebanon), bears the earliest known example of the fully developed Phoenician alphabet. @t[~1050 BCE] The inscription is a funerary curse warning against disturbing the tomb; it is preserved in the National Museum of Beirut. [^4]
+
+## Letter Names and Acrophonic Principle
+The 22 letters were named acrophonically — each letter name began with the sound it represented, and the letter form derived from an Egyptian hieroglyph depicting that object. For example: *ʔalp* (𐤀, ox), *bayt* (𐤁, house), *gaml* (𐤂, throwing stick). This acrophonic origin links the Phoenician alphabet directly to Egyptian hieroglyphic tradition. [^5]
 
 ## 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
+- Greek alphabet (~800 BCE): Added vowels, adapted letter forms @t[~800 BCE] [^1]
+- Aramaic alphabet: Ancestor of Hebrew, Arabic, Syriac, and many Asian scripts [^2]
+- Latin alphabet (via Greek and Etruscan): Used by most of the modern world [^2]
+- Punic script: Variant used in Carthage and North Africa @t[~814 BCE..146 BCE] [^3]
 - 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
+- Simplified writing from hundreds of signs (cuneiform, hieroglyphics) to 22 letters [^2]
+- Made literacy more accessible beyond scribal elites [^2]
+- Spread across the Mediterranean through Phoenician trade networks; Tyro-Sidonian commercial dominance made Phoenician a maritime lingua franca during the Iron Age [^3]
+- Encoded in Unicode block U+10900–U+1091F [^5]
 
 ---
 [^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.
+[^3]: Wikipedia contributors. "Phoenician language." *Wikipedia*. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenician_language
+[^4]: History of Information. "The Oldest Known Evidence of the Phoenician Alphabet." http://www.historyofinformation.com/detail.php?id=1310
+[^5]: Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Phoenician alphabet." https://www.britannica.com/topic/Phoenician-alphabet