Semitic inscriptions

The first mention of the name “Sardinia” can be read in the Semitic inscription of the Nora stele, dating back to the 8th century BC. It is no coincidence that even in Sardinia writing appears in association with the equally important phenomenon of the birth of urban civilization, and it is perhaps no coincidence that the Nuragic civilization did not practice urban form or writing.

The birth of writing, which occurred in Mesopotamia in the 4th millennium BC with cuneiform writing, represents one of the fundamental stages in the history of humanity. In fact, writing allowed a very effective management of information, which until then had to be entrusted to oral transmission.

However, it was in the Semitic field that alphabetical writing originated (although the term 'alphabet' derives from the names of the first two letters of the Greek alphabet 'alpha' and 'beta' in fact), which soon became one of the great cultural resources of the Phoenician world.

In fact, alphabetical writing proved to be a much more flexible and effective instrument than the other forms of writing developed up to that moment and certainly represented one of the main cultural resources on which the Phoenicians were able to count in setting up their intense and articulated commercial economy.

The Phoenicians' permanent arrival in Sardinia marks the entry into the island of forms of cultural exchange based precisely on writing, leading to a progressive change in local balances focusing instead on orality (without, however, ever completely supplanting this system).

Update

20/9/2023 - 10:57