THE RECORD
What changed
Phoenician cities used a script of about 22 consonantal signs. It influenced Greek writing, whose descendants include Latin and Cyrillic.
EVIDENCE
What remains
The Ahiram sarcophagus inscription, other epigraphy and early Greek alphabets show changes in letter form, direction and sound value.
WHY IT MATTERS
Why it matters
Writing many words with a small sign set eased transmission and learning, but script diffusion did not immediately create mass literacy.
OPEN QUESTION
Where interpretation begins
Rather than the first alphabet outright, Phoenician is better understood as a consonantal script refining earlier Proto-Sinaitic and Canaanite traditions; Greek systematized vowel letters.