The Siloam Inscription and Alphabetic Origins

Abstract

The Siloam Inscription is one of the most important monuments to alphabetic writing. It is, however, almost unknown to people in Western civilization. This article relates the story of its discovery and points to some of the evidence for the development of writing contained within that inscription. The acrophonic principle, upon which the inscription is based, seems to have been the invention of a domestic situation within Palestine. Theories about the origin of the alphabet are discussed, with a tenative conclusion that Palestine was the alphabet’s place of origin.