The Phoenician Alphabet: How Trade Spread Writing

Trade Routes That Changed Human History Forever — Fexingo History · Sep 7, 2026 · 8m · transcript

We trace the origin of the modern alphabet not to Greece or Rome, but to the maritime merchants of Tyre and Sidon. This episode explores how the need for efficient record-keeping on cargo ships led to a radical simplification of writing systems, replacing complex cuneiform with just twenty-two phonetic symbols. We examine the role of the Canaanite script, the spread of the alphabet through trade networks across the Mediterranean, and how this innovation democratized literacy. You will hear about specific port cities like Byblos, the economic pressures that drove linguistic change, and why a…