This week is an ode to the alphabet, to words. The alphabet is one of the first things we learn as children, symbols permanantly etched into our minds as we carefully traced the letters on colorful construction paper. This is where we begin. Twenty-six letters and a childhood song, and all of a sudden the world is a new place.
Finance (yes, you read that right) lies at the origin of our modern alphabet. Sort of. Historians believe the Phonecians helped found our modern alphabetical system. Needing a way to keep track of their finances, the Phoenecian merchants of the Mediterranean widely utilized a new system of writing where each symbol represented a sound. Sound familiar?
The alphabet is everywhere. It’s made its way from the shores of the Mediterranean to the pages of medieval manuscripts, to our computer screens and even to our soup. So read on!
