The first true phonetic alphabet (as opposed to pictograms and syllable systems) was invented by a group generally referred to by scholars, with admirable academic caution, as "Northern Semitic". They seem to have done it almost by accident. They are very familiar with Egyptian hieroglyphs (i.e. pictograms) but they assign speech sounds rather than full words to each symbol. The alphabet they used was not identical to that used by the Phoenicians, nor is it the same as that used later, and still is today, for Hebrew. But, as strange as it may sound, all known phonetic alphabets can be traced back to their origins. It seemed that this was the kind of discovery that couldn't happen a second time because it spread so quickly after the first. (I've heard the same thing about fire and the wheel, but I haven't tried to verify it. It makes sense.) "Northern Semitic" obviously spoke Semitic. They were clearly not Egyptian, but were very familiar with Egyptian culture. Were they ever slaves in Egypt? I can't imagine any way to prove or disprove that idea. Did they also give the Bible to the world? Again, the idea is interesting but not provable.
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