Some Semitic Epigraphical Considerations on the Antiquity of the Greek Alphabet

Abstract

Although there is a consensus on the WestSemitic origin of the Greek alphabet, there is a scholarly controversy about the earliest use of the alphabet among the Greeks. Since this problem belongs mainly to the sphere of classical studies, most of the investigations have been done by Greek epigraphists. The present writer, being a Semitic epigraphist, believes, however, that recent Semitic epigraphical studies and especially the progress made in the field of the early evolution of the West-Semitic alphabet' indicate that the antiquity of the Greek script should be reconsidered. The main characteristics of the archaic Greek alphabet can be summarized in five points: I) The earliest Greek inscriptions known today belong to the eighth century B.c. 2) The archaic Greek script used the twentytwo West-Semitic letters, some of which designated vowels, and underwent a process of inventing five supplementary letters: Y, then 0, X, qJ and at last D. 3) The archaic Greek script was not uniform, but an alphabet which had some epichoric or local variations.