Symbols Become Letters

The Phoenicians
The earliest surviving examples of the alphabet are from ancient Phoenicia, a culture on the western shores of the Mediterranean Sea in what is now Lebanon and parts of Syria and Israel.

Aramic Alphabet
First used by tribes from Aram, a large area in what is now Syria.
Written right to left with a pen held at 45° angle

Hebrew Alphabet
Old Hebrew Alphabet was developed around 1000 B.C.
When Israelites returned after Babylonian exile (586 to 516 B.C.) they adapted Aramaic writing.