Origins of the Alphabets: Introduction to Archaeology

by Joseph Naveh

Read about the development of alphabets and scripts, the evolution of modern letter forms, more.

Genres: History, Archaeology, Linguistics, Language, Reference

72 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

Reviews

[taʔaf Avedisian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well illustrated (lots of color images, usually 1-3 a page) and decently comprehensive while being compact. A good condension of his more academic book length monograph. Makes some contentious points about the antiquity of the Greek alphabet that Hellenists would reject but that I understand is standard among semiticists.

Thrust of that issue: he proposes 11th century bce transmission of the alphabet from the Phoenicians to the Greeks, whereas most classicists place the date in the mid 8th century. The former argument is based on paleographic evidence (ie letter forms similarities) and the latter is based on the dating of known inscriptions, and that not a single alphabetic inscription from before 800bc is known in the Greek world. It's a live debate, and worth hearing his perspective on, though he could've presented the Hellenists' argument a little more thoroughly--eg, presenting conflicting paleographic evidence.

[Rick Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up Origins of the Alphabets by Joseph Naveh at a booksale because it seemed to be the type of thing I would be interested in. I was not disappointed. I love anything to do with archaeology and classical history, so it was a treat for me to read about the origins of alphabetic systems of writing. The author traces the developments of the Phoenecian, Hebrew, Greek, Roman, Aramaic and Arabic alphabets from their common origin to their later stages. The book is full of great photographs of ancient writing, and is clearly written and easy to read. It appears that it was intended for an introductory college course.

Those interested in archaeology or ancient history might get a kick out of this small book; those who are not already interested might find it a bit dry.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A concise and copiously illustrated introduction to the story of how we humble Semites invented phonetic alphabets during the Bronze Age, when every other self-respecting civilization - such as Egypt and Babylonia - were using pictographic ones, which used many hundreds of symbols for words or concepts, limiting literacy to a tiny class of scribes. With less than 30 letters, a phonetic alphabet allowed anyone to learn how to read, even merchants and women. The Phoenicians spread the idea to the Greeks, who taught it to the Romans, while the Nabataeans caught on and spread the idea to the Arabs, and that, more or less, was that. Not a scholarly work, although written by a scholar, but a good solid introduction for the layman or even the aspiring tour guide.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Admirably simple and clear account, with many illustrations, of what is a fascinating and complex topic. As Joseph Naveh says: 'Language distinguishes man from animal, but the knowledge of writing is the hallmark of civilised man.'

[Erik Graff · Rating 2 out of 5]

This slight book treats of the origins of the various scripts of the Western world back to ancient Canaan. An appendix traces the history of each letter of the modern (Roman) alphabet. The style is compressed, telegraphic, and no great read.