Greeks: The Inventors of the First True Alphabet

 

By Dimitrios Aristopoulos

 

May 31, 2025

 

Among ancient civilizations, the Greeks played a pivotal role as the creators of the first true alphabet and a system of writing that would revolutionize literacy and set the foundation for countless modern languages. The invention of the alphabet stands as one of humanity’s greatest milestones in communication and culture.

The evolution of writing before the Greek alphabet

Before the Greek alphabet emerged, human societies primarily utilized complex writing systems such as cuneiform in Mesopotamia and hieroglyphics in Egypt. These systems relied heavily on symbols representing entire words, syllables, or ideas, making writing complicated and accessible mostly only to trained scribes.

The earliest Greek writing, known as Linear B, relied on syllabic symbols but was limited in flexibility. Around the 8th century BC, the Greeks transformed existing writing traditions.  They devised an alphabet that assigned individual letters to distinct sounds, both consonants and vowels. This innovation made writing much simpler and more versatile than ever before. 300w, 1024w, 768w, 150w, 600w, 696w, 1392w" data-lazy-sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" data-lazy-src="https://greekreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Linear-B-credit-Sharon-Mollerus-CC-BY-20.jpg" data-ll-status="loaded" />

The birth of the Greek alphabet

The Greek alphabet was inspired by the Phoenician script, a consonant-only system developed by maritime Phoenician traders. The Greeks adapted and transformed the Phoenician script by introducing symbols for vowel sounds, a breakthrough that the Phoenician system lacked. This inclusion of vowels allowed for a more accurate and flexible representation of spoken language.

Through the incorporation of both vowels and consonants, the Greek alphabet became the first true one, with each symbol corresponding to a specific sound, making reading and writing easier to learn and more efficient to use for a wider population.

Recent research from Leiden University suggests that the Greek alphabet may be older than previously thought. Traditionally, scholars have dated its origin to the 8th century BC. However, new carbon dating of inscriptions on pottery indicates that the earliest examples of Greek writing could date back to the 9th or even 10th century BC. This challenges the long-held belief of a sudden “alphabetic bang.” It suggests a more gradual development of writing in Greece.

Ancient historian Diodorus Siculus also questioned the Phoenician origin of the Greek alphabet. In his Bibliotheca historica, he noted that, while some believed the Phoenicians invented the alphabet, others argued they merely adapted existing scripts. Diodorus suggests that the Phoenicians “did no more than change the form of the letters,” implying that the Greeks may have inherited or developed their writing system independently, rather than through Phoenician influence.

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Why the Greek alphabet matters

The invention of the Greek alphabet had profound implications. By democratizing reading and writing, it made literacy more accessible beyond elite scribes and priests, helping to spread knowledge and culture throughout Greek society and beyond. With this practical system, the Greeks were able to put their epic poetry and philosophical ideas into writing. Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, as well as the works of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle are among such works and laid the intellectual groundwork of Western civilization.

Furthermore, the Greek alphabet served as the progenitor of many modern alphabets, including Latin—which underpins most Western languages—and Cyrillic, used by many Slavic languages today.

 

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Greek innovation in the context of human history

While earlier writing systems existed, none combined simplicity, phonetic accuracy, and accessibility like the Greek alphabet did. Its creation marked a significant shift from complex, symbolic writing to a more straightforward, sound-based system.

This innovation reflects the Greeks’ broader cultural emphasis on clarity, logic, and communication—values that permeated their art, science, and governance.

Even if the Greeks didn’t invent writing itself, they revolutionized it by inventing the first true alphabet, one that represented the range of sounds of their spoken language with individual letters. This breakthrough not only simplified writing but also laid the foundation for modern alphabets worldwide. Thanks to the Greek alphabet, the ideas and stories of the ancient world could be preserved, shared, and built upon, shaping the course of human history for generations to come.

 

 

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The Greeks had the first true alphabet

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Newly Discovered Large-Scale Pompeii Frescoes

 

Thanks to the generosity of Pompeii Sites, we can explore the newly discovered large-scale frescoes from an ongoing excavation in Region IX and compare it with two other nearly contemporary fresco cycles. This new hall with Dionsysiac scenes is truly a one of a kind discovery. Join Darius for a unique opportunity on site in Pompeii as the excavation continues!

 

 

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More than 100 archaeological structures discovered in the Peruvian Andes

Built by the Chachapoya civilisation, known as the “people of the cloud forest”, the structures are located within a Unesco Mixed World Heritage site 500km north of Lima

 

Garry Shaw

27 May 2025

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Researchers working in Peru have discovered more than 100 previously unknown structures at the Gran Pajatén archaeological complex, an ancient site located within Río Abiseo National Park, 500 km north of Lima. The park is a Unesco Mixed World Heritage site, and famous for the ruins left by the Chachapoya, a civilization that lived in the northeastern Andes of Peru from the 7th to the 16th centuries.

“Everyone on the team is very excited,” says Juan Pablo de la Puente, the executive director of the World Monument Fund in Peru. “Contributing to a deeper understanding of the Chachapoya legacy is both a responsibility and a privilege. Indeed, it’s a great responsibility we Peruvians have to the world.”

As well as identifying more than 100 archaeological structures—significantly expanding on the 26 buildings known since the 1980s—the team revealed that the Chachapoya lived at Gran Pajatén from at least the 14th century. They also conducted fieldwork on a network of pre-Hispanic roads that connect sites across the Río Abiseo National Park.

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“Although specialists suspected that the extension of Gran Pajatén was greater, our findings were unexpected—not only in terms of scale, but in how they reframe the role and significance of the site,” De la Puente says. “We now know that Gran Pajatén was not a remote ceremonial outpost, but rather a central node in an articulated territorial system that included key sites like Cerro Central, Los Pinchudos, La Playa, Papayas, among others. These findings confirm that the Chachapoya created a sophisticated and interconnected network of settlements in the cloud forest bound together by a shared cultural identity and a strategic understanding of the landscape.”

Discovered in the 1960s, Gran Pajatén is located on a ridge with defensive and symbolic significance to the Chachapoya and features high-relief friezes and ceremonial buildings decorated with stone mosaics. “The architectural layout, the visual prominence of the site and its connection to nearby sites by a network of ancient roads suggest that it served ceremonial, administrative and social functions along the river Montecristo Valley,” De la Puente says. “It was likely a spiritual centre and a cultural waypoint—an expression of how the Chachapoya organised and navigated their environment.”

Because much of the site is covered by thick forest, until these recent investigations, scholars had been unable to answers questions about Gran Pajatén’s size, function and length of occupation. “This discovery was made possible thanks to the archaeological exploration at the site, which was accompanied by non-invasive technologies such as Lidar (Light-detection and ranging), terrestrial laser scanning and photogrammetry, which allowed us to ‘see’ through dense vegetation without disturbing the fragile ecosystem,” De la Puente says. “The result is the most detailed map of Gran Pajatén to date and a clearer picture of how the Chachapoya shaped this landscape over centuries.”

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Thriving for a thousand years, the Chachapoya civilisation eventually fell to Inca expansion during the late 15th century. They built their settlements between 2,000m and 3,000m above sea level, adapting to the rugged terrain, often in remote locations—consequently, they are sometimes called the “people of the cloud forest”. The team’s findings shed new light on Chachapoya culture, long-distance connections and regional influence, with more to be discovered.

“What excites me most is that we’re only scratching the surface,” De la Puente says. “So far we have processed only 10% of all the data recorded by Lidar. These new structures raise profound questions: Considering the rugged terrain and harsh weather, how did the Chachapoyas maintain a settlement network of this magnitude in this area? What was the source of their resources? What motivated them to settle in this area? The path ahead is full of possibility, and we’re just beginning the journey.”

 

 

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