The Phoenician alphabet is the mother of virtually all modern
alphabets, the direct ancestor of our own Roman letters, as well as the
Runic alphabet of the Norse. The first true alphabet, it was
originally developed circa 1,050 B.C.E. in Phoenicia (modern
Lebanon/Israel/Syria) it developed a standardized form that endured
for centuries.
This font is taken from The Moabite Stone, a stela of black basalt,
carved around 840 to 820 B.C.E. (ANET 320-321). The relatively lengthy
inscription was written by King Mesha of Moab. The inscription, and a
picture of the stela can be found most readily in the paperback
The Ancient Near East -- An Anthology of Texts and Pictures, edited by
James B. Pritchard.
