The origin of the alphabet : an examination of the Goldwasser hypothesis

Abstract: Since 2006 the discussion of the origin of the Semitic alphabet has been given an impetus through a hypothesis propagated by Orly Goldwasser: the alphabet was allegedly invented in the 19th century BCE by illiterate Semitic workers in the Egyptian turquoise mines of Sinai; they saw the picturesque Egyptian inscriptions on the site and borrowed a number of the hieroglyphs to write their own language, using a supposedly new method which is now known by the technical term acrophony. The main weakness of the theory is that it ignores the West Semitic acrophonic syllabary, which already existed, and contained most of the letters of the alphabet. Twenty-two propositions from Goldwasser’s publications are examined critically.

Bibliographic Details

Main Author:	Colless, Brian E.
Format:	Artículo biblioteca
Language:	eng
Published:	Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Políticas y de la Comunicación. Centro de Estudios de Historia del Antiguo Oriente 2014
Subjects:	Goldwasser, Orly, ESCRITURAS ANTIGUAS, ALFABETO, HISTORIA DE LAS CULTURAS, ACROFONIA, PROTOALFABETO,
Online Access:	https://repositorio.uca.edu.ar/handle/123456789/6787
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