Egyptian meeting Canaanites and the genesis of alphabetic writing around 1900 BCE

Includes bibliographical references and index.

This extended essay is an attempt to present an update of Professor Morenz's mostrecent research on the genesis of the alphabet (published mostly in German) combinedwith some new interpretations (more general ones as well as specific details based onclose reading). Analyzing the origin of alphabetic writing, the author focuses on thefertility of cross-cultural contacts between Egyptians and Canaanites 4000 years ago.Contrary to expectation, this new way of writing was originally not just a logocentricevolution of simplicity, but it was also combined with conspicuous communicationwithin the sphere of visual culture. Accordingly, we can detect various cultural elementscharacteristic for its place of origin: the mining area of Serabit el-Khadim in SouthwestSinai around 1900 BCE.

Taking a global perspective, this attractive landscape was thestage for one of the most remarkable innovations in cultural history, from which we stillbenefit today -a phenomenon of the longue durée (Fernand Braudel) that concerns notonly nature but also culture. Thus, Serabit el-Khadim -as the birthplace of alphabeticwriting- can be considered a lieu de mémoire (Pierre Nora) for humankind that iscertainly worth formal acknowledgement as World Cultural Heritage. [Publisher's text]

Collected essays.

Online only available