When small children learn their ABC's, they don't realize that they are paying homage to a major turning-point in the history of civilization.
The alphabet represents progress, because earlier writing forms (hieroglyphs, cuneiform) took longer to learn, longer to write, and longer to read. Before the alphabet, very few people could read or write, because it took so long to learn how to read and write; and very little reading and writing was done, because it took so long. After the invention of the alphabet, more people could read and write, and more information was recorded in writing. The alphabet is a Semitic invention.
The term "Semitic", we remember, includes a range of groups including Arabs, Hebrews, Egyptians, Babylonians, Syrians, and Ethiopians, to name a few.
Not Semitic are Persians, Hindus, Hittites, and the European language families.
So the rise of the alphabet highlights the importance of Semitic cultures in the ancient world.
