Early History of the Alphabet

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Preface to the First Edition
Preface to the Second Edition

I. Introduction 1

1. Inscriptions and Manuscripts    2
2. Epigraphy and Palaeography    5
3. The Development of Scripts and Script Styles    6
4. Semitic Languages and Scripts    8

II. The Rise of the Semitic Script    13

    1. Background    13

1. Sumerian cuneiform writing    13
2. Egyptian hieroglyphic script    14
3. The Hittite "hieroglyphic" script    18
4. The Cretan script    19
5. Undeciphered scripts in Syria-Palestine    21   

    2. The Beginnings of the Alphabet    23

III. The South Semitic Scripts    43

IV. The West Semitic Scripts    53

1. The Phoenician Script    53
2. The Hebrew Script    65
3. The Aramaic Script    78
4. Comparative Aspects of the Phoenician,
   Hebrew and Aramaic Scripts    89
5. The Scripts of Israel’s Neighbors    100
6. The Change from Hebrew to Jewish Script    112

V. The Development of the Later Aramaic Offshoots    125

1. Aramaic Writing in the Iranian World    127
2. The Aramaic Script in the East    132
   a. The South Mesopotamian branch    133   
   b. The North Mesopotamian    138
   c. The Palmyrene-Syriac    143
3. The Nabataean Script and the Rise of the Arabic Script    153
4. The Jewish Script    162

VI. The Antiquity of the Greek Alphabet    175

Abbreviations     187

Illustrations    189
    Figures     189
    Plates     197

Index     203

Additions and Corrections     213