It seems that until vowels were invented by the Hebrews, writers didn't have them. I thought this was from Onion, but it is from the Jerusalem Post (h/t to Brian Ferguson):
"Roughly 3,000 years ago, in and around the area we now call Israel, a group of people who may have called themselves ivri, and whom we call variously 'Hebrews,' 'Israelites,' or more colloquially but less accurately 'Jews,' began an experiment in writing that would change the world."
Almost all alphabetic writing the world today is the result of the 3,000-year-old Hebrew experiment....
As Jews pause in the calendrical cycle to celebrate the Torah, it seems particularly apt to take note of the fascinating story that lies behind this experiment, without which writing would never have become widespread, and without which the world would have no Torah scrolls, books, newspapers or e-mail.
The key is the vowels.