This article is not so much a review as an FYI. We’re all very familiar with the African oral tradition. What you may not be so familiar with is the African tradition of writing. It turns out that the Egyptians had a writing system known as Hieratic script which was created by 1600 BC, perhaps even earlier than the Phoenicans alphabet that, in the west, is taught as the first alphabet. This script was considered a shorthand and would never be used on their monuments. They preferred instead to use Hieroglyphics (sacred writings) for important documents and monuments.

The book I’m writing about, Afrikan Alphabets by Saki Mafundikwa, doesn’t speak on Egyptian writing though. The author states that he doesn’t want to get into the argument of whether the ancient Egyptians were African or not (they were). Instead, and perhaps more importantly, he documents writing systems that exist in sub-saharan Africa. He puts them all into the category of alphabet though he understands that many are actually “syllabaries”. The characters represent syllables rather that having singular consonant or vowel sounds as we would understand an alphabet.




Some of these writing systems Such as the Ethiopic date back thousands of years, some hundreds, and some were created in the early 20th century. As a graphic designer immersed in Western typography on a daily basis, what I find most striking is the beauty of the characters. Some seem to show Arabic influences and some that seem to be uniquely black African. I’m hoping to be able to integrate some of these characters into my work in the same way that I sometimes use Adinkra symbols, though not being able to speak the languages poses a barrier.

As mentioned this is not a full review. More info on this important book can be found here. While we take pride in our oral tradition, the invention of writing has always been seen in the west as a sign of high civilization. The fact that Africans are mistakenly believed to not have any written tradition is one way of demeaning our culture and ourselves. That makes this book an extremely important addition to African scholarship.

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Mark Batty Publisher (May 25, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0977282767
• ISBN-13: 978-0977282760
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 7.9 x 0.6 inches

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