Could Another Alphabet Have Developed

The alphabet used in most languages derives from the ancient Canaanite alphabet that developed in the early to mid 2nd millennium BCE in the Sinai region. This alphabet is based on Egyptian hieroglyphs, where the early developers simply took hieroglyphs and simplified them to more basic sounds and symbols. Over time, this developed into the letters that we are familiar with. However, this was not the only alphabet that developed in that time period. In fact, perhaps somewhat later in the 2nd millennium BCE, another competing alphabet developed.

The Other Alphabet

The main other alphabet that developed was based on cuneiform. During the early and middle 2nd millennium BCE, the two most common scripts in the ancient Near East were Egyptian hieroglyphs and cuneiform, which derived from ancient Mesopotamia (modern Iraq and Syria). The cuneiform-based alphabet that developed took hold in the ancient city of Ugarit, which was an important Late Bronze Age city (1600-1200 BCE). The city of Ugarit was a kingdom that often was a vassal state to larger powers such as the Hittites and Egyptians that were powerful in the Late Bronze Age. However, Ugarit was a wealthy merchant town that had extensive trade networks across the Mediterranean and likely inland regions in the Near East.

Neither the hieroglyphs-based alphabet nor the cuneiform one were widespread in the 2nd millennium BCE. In fact, the more complicated hieroglyphs and cuneiform scripts that were non-alphabetical were still dominant in the region and were utilized. In particular, cuneiform and Akkadian specifically were the common script and language used in communication between states and likely merchants. Overall, although two alphabet scripts came into existence, there presence was limited due to the key political powers and trade networks established at the time.