Biblical Hebrew Forum

[James Christian <jc.bhebrew AT googlemail.com>]

Hi all,

recent theories I've been presenting to the list members about the Hebrew
alphabet and its implications for the perception of the inventors hinge on
one very important factor. Who invented the alphabet?

Throughout my presentation I've been very careful to limit the discussion to
'the perception of the inventors of the alphabet' without stating any
definite conclusions of who those inventors were. And so, I would be very
interested in hearing from supporters of Phoenician origins why they feel
that to be the case. I suspect such theories are largely based on a late
authorship of the Torah (which for most of us who believe it to be ancient
are lines of evidence merely lines of conjecture). Is there anything worth
considering that doesn't involve a conspiracy theory that the Isrealites did
not come out of Egypt? As the Hebrew alphabet characters are evidently
adapted pictograms from Egyptian I really don't see why we need a Phoenician
stepping stone.

James Christian