General Overviews• Wikipedia has what is probably
the best online overview of the history of the Semitic (proto-Sinaitic) Writing System Family - for the majority of writing systems we covered (in class) in this family,
this page can direct you to Wikipedia entires on each of the separate writing systems.
• The sites
Omniglot.com and
AncientScripts.com provide good examples and descriptions of the majority of the writing systems in this superfamily - any of the writing systems I have not included below can be found on these sites and on the Wikipedia
'family tree' of this writing system superfamily.
• Diringer, David
The Alphabet: The Key to the History of Mankind. South Asia Books, 1968, 1996.
Amazon.com link• Diringer, David
History of the Alphabet. Newbury Books, 1983.
Amazon.com link• An analysis of how phoneticism has shaped culture: Logan, Robert
The Alphabet Effect: A Media Ecology Understanding of the Making of Western Civilization. Hampton Press, 1994.
Amazon.com link• Ouaknin, Marc-Alain
Mysteries of the Alphabet: The Origins of Writing. Abbeville Press, 1999. *An interesting anaysis/proposal by Ouaknin - he attempts to relate the evolution of Semitic scripts to contextual/historical events; interesting, but not all scholars agree with some of his proposals.
Amazon.com link• Sacks, David
Letter Perfect: The Marvelous History of Our Alphabet From A to Z. Broadway Books, 2004.
Amazon.com linkEgyptian Hieroglyphic Writing• An
Archaeology.org article on the earliest Egyptian (proto-)writing fround at Abydos (3,400 - 3,200 BC).
• Collier, Mark and Bill Manley
How To Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs: A Step-by-Step Guide to Teach Yourself. Univ of California Press, 2003.
Amazon.com link• Gardiner, Sir Alan Henderson
Egyptian Grammar: Being an Introduction to the Study of Hieroglyphs. Griffith Institue of Egyptology, 1957.
Amazon.com link• Kamrin, Janice
Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs: A Practical Guide. Harry N. Abrams Publ, 2004.
Amazon.com linkWadi el-Hol and Sinaitic Scripts - the Earliest Alphabets (Abjads).• Kuijt, Ian, Charlotte Whiting,
et al. "Results of the 2001 Kerak Plateau Early Bronze Age Survey II: Two Early Alphabetic Inscriptions from the Wadi El-Hol" in
The American Schools of Oriental Research Annual 59, 2006.
Amazon.com link• A New York Times online article about
the discovery of the Wadi el-Hol script.
• A nice online overview of
proto-Siniatic script from
AncientScripts.com.
• Wikipedia offers a good overview of
the proto-Canaanite alphabet (abjad).
Ancient Semitic Scripts• A nice online
gallery of ancient Semitic inscriptions.
The Brahmi Script Family (from Aramaic to South and Central Asian Scripts)• An impressive online resource for
the Brahmic Family of scripts (South and Central Asia).
• A good online resource/overview of
the writing systems and languages of India.Family Tree (download)Here's a downloadable 'family tree' of this writing system superfamily - this tree only represents a small fraction of the writing systems that constitute this superfamily. Click on the image to enlarge, then right-click to download.
