(c) Sanford Holst, used here with permission
This chart of the Phoenician alphabet reveals details of the letters used by these ancient sea-merchants. Below each symbol is the original name assigned to it. For the origin of this alphabet and other alphabets, see the Phoenician alphabet origin discussion on this website.
Phoenician Letters
It should be noted that Phoenician writing – just like the Phoenician alphabet shown here – is written from right to left. In addition, some of these letters were later re-used and made into vowels.
The Greek and Latin vowels which were formed from letters in the Phoenician alphabet are as follows: A – aleph, E – he, I – yodh, O – ayin, U – waw.
The content of this website is drawn from the research of historian Sanford Holst
Updated September 30, 2023
Further information
If you would like to experience more of the Phoenician world than you find in these short articles, see the book Phoenicians: Lebanon’s Epic Heritage. This extensive exploration is brightened with 104 illustrations.
Going beyond the few traditionally-cited facts, this authoritative work draws from discussions with leading archaeologists and historians to discover new clues and lines of inquiry into this secretive society.
Phoenicians
You can take a look inside this book. See the first pages here.
