Abstract :
At the time of its decipherment by Griffith (1911), the Meroitic writing
system was considered an alphabet. This alphabet was found to have a
rather limited vowel notation. It was not until 1970 that the system was
understood to have a more complex vowel notation. This system of
vowel notation is comparable to what is found in an alpha-syllabary, a
term used to describe the scripts of the Indian sub-continent, such as
Brahmi and Devanagari. Since alpha-syllabaries were rare when the
Meroitic writing system was in use (c. 200 BCE–c. 500 AD), it is tempting
to suggest a possible historical connection between the Meroitic kingdom
in Sudan and the then existent scripts in India. A systematic analysis, as
opposed to a description of alpha-syllabic writing, indicates that the structure
of this type of script is less regionally confined. Rather, it places
Meroitic writing among scripts that were created in the presence of alphabetic
writing both in modern and in ancient times.
