Alphabet

 

Alphabet

As far as basics in life goes, the alphabet ranks pretty high. We start learning it usually before we reach school, sometimes even before our memories have fully formed. It is the foundation of literacy which, in our Age of Information, is pretty important.

Yet in ancient times, writing—and being able to read what was written—was a skill that belonged primarily to priests. Add in the fact that inscriptions were engraved on tombs of the dead, and it’s not hard to believe that writi...