Andrew Shirota

“Writing in Egypt began around 3000 B.C. The official system was hieroglyphics (“sacred carvings”), revered as the gift of the scribe god Toth.”
― David Sacks, Letter Perfect: The Marvelous History of Our Alphabet From A to Z

“Alternatively, the name may refer to the prized textile dye, ranging in hue from red to dark purple, which was Phoenicia’s prime luxury product. Extracted from sea mollusks’ dead bodies through a secret process, this uniquely beautiful and expensive purple, exported in woven clothing and furnishings, became an international status symbol in antiquity, its use confined to the very rich, chiefly royalty. Down through the early 20th century A.D., the color purple was associated in Europe with kings and emperors.”
― David Sacks, Letter Perfect: The Marvelous History of Our Alphabet From A to Z

“Any picture could be employed either as (1) a pictograph or logogram or (2) a phonetic symbol. A sailboat image might mean “boat” or “to sail”—or it might simply contribute certain consonant sounds to help spell a different word. In hieroglyphics, an owl and a reed together meant “there,” not “an owl and a reed.” Read phonetically, the two pictures approximated the sound of the”
― David Sacks, Letter Perfect: The Marvelous History of Our Alphabet From A to Z

“Our word “Phoenician” comes from ancient Greek. Phoinikes, “red people,” was what the Greeks called them, probably in reference to their copper skin color.”
― David Sacks, Letter Perfect: The Marvelous History of Our Alphabet From A to Z