Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Who Invented the Alphabet?

Have you ever wondered where language comes from? Where did the alphabet come from? How did people first learn how to read and write?  Hugh Nibley has pondered this question, and written a delightful and thought provoking article on the topic, called The Genesis of the Written Word.  Sumerians, Canaanites, Semites, Phoenicians, Chinese, Indus Valley dwellers, Greeks, Latins... where did they get all those little markings we now call letters?  Where do words come from?