Event Details
Tue 27th Feb 2024 @ 5:00pm - 6:15pm
Zoom
FREE
A Virtual panel discussion jointly sponsored by The Anglo-Israel Archaeological Society and British Friends of The Hebrew University.
The alphabet is a simple writing system, which allows anyone to learn how to read and write. This is probably the most important intellectual achievement of human history. The alphabet was invented by Canaanite people under Egyptian influence, around 1800 BC. The shape of the letters was taken from Egyptian hieroglyphs, but instead of hundreds of signs, only about thirty were adopted in the Canaanite script.
This script, which is commonly known as the Proto-Canaanite script, is best known from the Egyptian turquoise mine of Serabit el-Khadim in Sinai. In Israel, most of the Canaanite inscriptions were found in the site of Tel Lachish. The script was used until around 950 BC when it was replaced by a more standard script known as the Phoenician script. The webinar will deal with various aspects related to the first phase of the history of the alphabet.
The webinar was featured by:
Professor Orly Goldwasser, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem:
The Turquoise Miners Who Invented Our Alphabet: The Sinai Desert, 1840 BCE
Professor Christopher Rollston, George Washington University:
The World's First Alphabet: the Canaanite Alphabet as a Technological Revolution
Professor Yossi Garfinkel, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem:
The names Isbaal and Jerubaal in epigraphy and the bible