later Grecian alphabet was introduced from Phoenicia--though not,
of course, by any individual named Kadmus, the latter being,
indeed, a name of purely Greek origin. Further studies of the
past generation tended to corroborate the ancient belief as to
the original source of the Phoenician alphabet, but divided
scholars between two opinions: the one contending that the
Egyptian hieroglyphics were the source upon which the Phoenicians
drew; and the other contending with equal fervor that the
Babylonian wedge character must be conceded that honor.

But, as has often happened in other fields after years of
acrimonious controversy, a new discovery or two may suffice to
show that neither contestant was right. After the Egyptologists
of the school of De Rouge[1] thought they had demonstrated that
the familiar symbols of the Phoenician alphabet had been copied
from that modified form of Egyptian hieroglyphics known as the
hieratic writing, the Assyriologists came forward to prove that
certain characters of the Babylonian syllabary also show a
likeness to the alphabetical characters that seemingly could not
be due to chance. And then, when a settlement of the dispute
seemed almost hopeless, it was shown through the Egyptian
excavations that characters even more closely resembling those in
dispute had been in use all about the shores of the
Mediterranean, quite independently of either Egyptian or Assyrian
writings, from periods so ancient as to be virtually prehistoric.

Coupled with this disconcerting discovery are the revelations
brought to light by the excavations at the sites of Knossos and
other long-buried cities of the island of Crete.[2] These
excavations, which are still in progress, show that the art of