Vowels and consonants by design

All alphabets are artificial, but some are more artificial than others.

The Garabed Gospel Book, an Armenian manuscript from the 13th century, now preserved in the Armenian Museum of America in Watertown, MA

The oldest known alphabet is the Proto-Sinaitic script, also referred as Proto-Canaanite, which developed around 1800 BC. Emerging in the Sinai Peninsula, this type of script evolved from Egyptian hieroglyphics, marking …