The Mycenaeans in Greece wrote in Linear B which was deciphered in the 1950’s. The collapse of this civilization occurred around 1200 BCE and writing did not appear again until around 750 BCE. The new writing was a borrowing of Semitic writings in the eastern Mediterranean. The Greeks took the symbol for a word and just used the first sound of the word to describe the sound of the letter. This formed the basis for their writing. One of the first uses of the new writing was to write down the works of Homer.

(The Great courses – Ancient Greek Civilization)