who decided on the order of the alphabet
Alphabetical order Alphabetical order was first used in the 1st millennium BCE by Northwest Semitic scribes using the Abjad system.[1] The first effective use of alphabetical order as a cataloging device among scholars may have been in ancient Alexandria.[2] In the 1st century BCE, Roman writer Varro compiled alphabetic lists of authors and titles.[3] In the 2nd century CE, Sextus Pompeius Festus wrote an encyclopedic epitome of the works of Verrius Flaccus, De verborum significatu, with entries in alphabetic order.[4] In the 3rd century CE, Harpocration wrote a Homeric lexicon alphabetized by all letters.[5] In the 10th century, the author of the Suda used alphabetic order with phonetic variations. In the 14th century, the author of the Fons memorabilium universi used a classification, but used alphabetical order within some of the books.[6]