Phoenician Alphabet
The Phoenician alphabet consists of 22 letters, the ancestor of most modern alphabets including Greek and Latin.
𐤀
Aleph
a
𐤁
Beth
b
𐤂
Gimel
g
𐤃
Daleth
d
𐤄
He
h
𐤅
Waw
w
𐤆
Zayin
z
𐤇
Heth
h
𐤈
Teth
t
𐤉
Yodh
y
𐤊
Kaph
k
𐤋
Lamedh
l
𐤌
Mem
m
𐤍
Nun
n
𐤎
Semkath
s
𐤏
Ayin
a
𐤐
Pe
p
𐤑
Sade
ts
𐤒
Qoph
q
𐤓
Resh
r
𐤔
Shin
sh
𐤕
Taw
t
Download Alphabet Chart
About the Phoenician Alphabet
The Phoenician alphabet is one of the oldest alphabets in the world, consisting of 22 consonant letters. It is the ancestor of most modern alphabets including Greek, Latin, Arabic, and Hebrew. The Phoenicians, a seafaring civilization, spread this alphabet throughout the Mediterranean around 1050 BCE.
History
The Phoenician alphabet developed around 1050 BCE from earlier Proto-Sinaitic scripts. It was the first widely used phonetic alphabet, representing only consonants. The Greeks adapted it around 800 BCE, adding vowels to create the Greek alphabet, which in turn gave rise to Latin and Cyrillic alphabets.
Key Features
- Written from right to left
- 22 consonant letters
- Ancestor of most alphabets
- Developed around 1050 BCE
- First widely used phonetic alphabet
- Spread by Phoenician traders