Phoenician Maritime Script and Colonial Transmission across the Mediterranean (c. 1200–200 BCE)

1. Proto-Sinaitic alphabetic writing emerges in Sinai

   Jan 1, 1500 BCELabels: Proto-Sinaitic, Serabit el-Khadim

   • BAS Library
   • Proto Sinaitic

2. Ugarit records an alphabet in cuneiform

   Jan 1, 1400 BCELabels: Ugarit, Cuneiform Alphabet

   • Britannica

3. Phoenician script becomes a stable 22-letter abjad

   Jan 1, 1050 BCELabels: Phoenician script, Canaanite

   • Phoenician alphabet

4. Ahiram sarcophagus shows early mature Phoenician writing

   Jan 1, 1000 BCELabels: Ahiram sarcophagus, Byblos

   • Ahiram sarcophagus
   • Phoenician alphabet

5. Phoenician colony material culture appears at Gadir (Cádiz)

   Jan 1, 900 BCELabels: Gadir C, Phoenician colony

   • Gadir site
   • C diz

6. Phoenician inscription appears early in Sardinia (Nora Stone)

   Jan 1, 825 BCELabels: Nora Stone, Sardinia

   • Nora Stone
   • COJS

7. Tyre-to-Carthage colony tradition anchors western expansion

   Jan 1, 814 BCELabels: Tyre, Carthage

   • Britannica

8. Greek alphabet develops from Phoenician models

   Jan 1, 800 BCELabels: Greek alphabet, Phoenician model

   • Britannica

9. Karatepe bilingual displays Phoenician in a political frontier

   Jan 1, 750 BCELabels: Karatepe bilingual, Anatolia

   • Karatepe

10. Dipylon inscription shows early Greek alphabet in use

    Jan 1, 740 BCELabels: Dipylon inscription, Athens

    • Dipylon inscription
    • Britannica

11. Pyrgi Tablets document Phoenician–Etruscan contact in Italy

    Jan 1, 500 BCELabels: Pyrgi tablets, Etruria

    • Pyrgi Tablets

12. Carthage falls, accelerating Phoenician script decline

    Jan 1, 146 BCELabels: Carthage fall, Rome

    • Britannica
    • Phoenician alphabet