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From Twenty-Two Signs to the Alphabet: Phoenicians

7th grade nonfiction passage about the phoenician alphabet: 242 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

7th grade nonfiction the phoenician alphabet 242 words

From Twenty-Two Signs to the Alphabet: Phoenicians

Many early writing systems were difficult to learn. Egyptian hieroglyphs and the wedge-shaped writing of Mesopotamia used hundreds of signs, so only trained scribes could master them. Reading and writing stayed in the hands of a small group.

The Phoenicians took a different path. They lived in port cities along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, in a region that is part of modern Lebanon, and they were energetic sailors and traders. Merchants needed to keep records of cargo and send messages to partners in distant harbors. By about 1000 BCE, they were using an alphabet of around twenty-two letters. Each letter stood for a consonant sound, and words were written by putting the sounds in order.

The great advantage was simplicity. A learner could memorize twenty-two letters in a short time, much faster than hundreds of signs. Writing could then spread beyond palaces and temples, and more people could take part in trade and record keeping.

As Phoenician ships traveled, the alphabet traveled with them. The Greeks borrowed it and made an important change. Because their language had vowel sounds that mattered, they used some unneeded letters to stand for vowels. Over time, this system passed to the Romans, and our own alphabet descends from it.

Even the word alphabet carries a hint of its history. It comes from alpha and beta, the first two Greek letters, which grew from the names of the first two Phoenician ones.

Questions

  1. Why was it hard to learn early writing systems like hieroglyphs? in the text

  2. Where did the Phoenicians live? in the text

  3. What did each Phoenician letter stand for? in the text

  4. What important change did the Greeks make? in the text

  5. Why did a simple alphabet help writing spread to more people? think about it

  6. How did the Phoenician alphabet reach so many places? think about it

Words to know

scribes
people whose job was to write and copy documents
consonant
a speech sound like b, t, or m made by closing the mouth or throat
cargo
goods carried on a ship
vowel
a speech sound like a, e, or o made with an open mouth
descends
comes down from an earlier source
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One passage, three levels

The same topic and facts written three ways, so a mixed class can read and talk about one text. Each group’s sheet shows only a shape; the key says which is which.

● Easier · 224 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.8

Many early writing systems were hard to learn. Egyptian hieroglyphs and the wedge writing of Mesopotamia had hundreds of signs. Only trained scribes could master them. Reading and writing stayed with a small group.

The Phoenicians did it differently. They lived in port cities on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. That is part of modern Lebanon today. They were busy sailors and traders. Merchants had to keep records of cargo. They also had to send messages to partners in far harbors. By about 1000 BCE, the Phoenicians used an alphabet of around twenty-two letters. Each letter stood for a consonant sound. A word was written by putting the sounds in order.

The big gain was how simple it was. A learner could memorize twenty-two letters fast. That is easier than hundreds of signs. Writing could spread beyond palaces and temples. More people could join in trade and keep records.

The alphabet traveled on Phoenician ships. The Greeks borrowed it and made one big change. Their language had vowel sounds that mattered. So they used some extra letters for vowels. Later it passed to the Romans. Our own alphabet comes from it.

The word alphabet holds a clue. It comes from alpha and beta. These are the first two Greek letters. They grew from the names of the first two Phoenician ones.

▲ This passage · 242 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7.7

Many early writing systems were difficult to learn. Egyptian hieroglyphs and the wedge-shaped writing of Mesopotamia used hundreds of signs, so only trained scribes could master them. Reading and writing stayed in the hands of a small group.

The Phoenicians took a different path. They lived in port cities along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, in a region that is part of modern Lebanon, and they were energetic sailors and traders. Merchants needed to keep records of cargo and send messages to partners in distant harbors. By about 1000 BCE, they were using an alphabet of around twenty-two letters. Each letter stood for a consonant sound, and words were written by putting the sounds in order.

The great advantage was simplicity. A learner could memorize twenty-two letters in a short time, much faster than hundreds of signs. Writing could then spread beyond palaces and temples, and more people could take part in trade and record keeping.

As Phoenician ships traveled, the alphabet traveled with them. The Greeks borrowed it and made an important change. Because their language had vowel sounds that mattered, they used some unneeded letters to stand for vowels. Over time, this system passed to the Romans, and our own alphabet descends from it.

Even the word alphabet carries a hint of its history. It comes from alpha and beta, the first two Greek letters, which grew from the names of the first two Phoenician ones.

■ Harder · 271 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 10.4

Many of the earliest writing systems were exceedingly difficult to learn. Egyptian hieroglyphs and the wedge-shaped script of Mesopotamia employed hundreds of separate signs, so that only professionally trained scribes could master them. As a result, literacy remained concentrated in the hands of a small and privileged group.

The Phoenicians pursued a very different path. They inhabited port cities along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, in a region that forms part of modern Lebanon, and they were energetic sailors and traders. Their merchants needed to keep accurate records of cargo and to send messages to partners in distant harbors. By about 1000 BCE, they were using an alphabet of approximately twenty-two letters. Each letter represented a consonant sound, and words were written by arranging those sounds in sequence.

The great advantage of this approach was its simplicity. A learner could memorize twenty-two letters in a remarkably short time, far more quickly than hundreds of individual signs. Writing could therefore extend beyond palaces and temples, and a much wider range of people could take part in commerce and record keeping.

As Phoenician ships voyaged from harbor to harbor, the alphabet journeyed along with them. The Greeks borrowed it and introduced a crucial modification. Because vowel sounds were essential in their language, they converted several unneeded letters into vowels. In time, this system was handed on to the Romans, and our own alphabet descends from it.

Even the word alphabet preserves a trace of this history. It derives from alpha and beta, the first two Greek letters, which grew out of the names of the first two Phoenician ones.

Download as one PDF

How to use it

  1. Press Read it big (or B) to put the text on the projector, or Full screen (F) to fill the whole screen.
  2. Ask the questions one at a time and use Show answer when the class has decided. A shows or hides every answer.
  3. Print student copy for the class, or Print with answers for yourself.

Ideas for class

  • Before reading, put scribes, consonant, cargo, vowel and descends on the board with their meanings from the Words to know section and have students predict what the text will be about.
  • Read it aloud once while students follow along, then have them reread it alone or with a partner. At a calm 100 words a minute it takes about 2 minutes to read aloud.
  • Use the Read it big button (or B) to put the text on the projector, and Show answer on one question at a time so the class commits to an answer first.
  • Question 5 asks the reader to infer. Ask students to point to the words in the passage that led them to their answer.
  • Ask students to write one question the passage did not answer, then look for the answer in a book or on a classroom screen.
  • Print the student copy for independent work and keep the answer-key copy for yourself.

Related

Questions

What reading level is "From Twenty-Two Signs to the Alphabet: Phoenicians"?

It was written for 7th grade. It has 242 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 7.7. That is a formula's estimate from sentence length and syllables, and it is not a Lexile or a guided reading level, so check it against your students.

What do the questions ask?

There are six. 4 ask for something the text says directly and 2 ask the reader to work something out from clues. Each has an answer in the key, and the answers are written as a teacher would accept them, not as the only possible wording.

How long does it take to read?

About 2 minutes read aloud at 100 words a minute. For a one-minute fluency check, paste it into the fluency timer and use the word count.

Can I print it?

Yes. Print student copy gives the passage, the questions with lines to write on, and the word meanings. Print with answers gives the same page with the answers filled in. Both are made in your browser.

Is this passage from a published book?

No. It was written for Peabody Teach, so there is no book to buy and no login to read it.

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