1222 - How the Alphabet was born

The roots of the world's first alphabet seem to be located in the Sinai peninsula, at a place called Serabit al-Khadem. The Sinai is also the territory where our monotheistic religious roots were incubated. No direct links have been identified but the commonalities are intriguing.

On this program we review an article by professor Orly Goldwasser, an Israeli Egyptologist at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, who suggests that the role played by hieroglyphics in the development of the alphabet may have been more important than previously suspected. She also identifies the person who may be responsible for inventing the alphabet.