Paleo-hebrew alphabet.jpg

The Paleo-Hebrew script ( he, הכתב העברי הקדום), also Palaeo-Hebrew, Proto-Hebrew or Old Hebrew, is the writing system found in Canaanite inscriptions from the region of biblical Israel and Judah. It is considered to be the script used to record the original texts of the Hebrew Bible due to its similarity to the Samaritan script, as the Talmud stated that the Hebrew ancient script was still used by the Samaritans. The Talmud described it as the "Libona'a script" ( he, לִיבּוֹנָאָה ''Lībōnāʾā''), translated by some as "Lebanon script". Use of the term "Paleo-Hebrew alphabet" is due to a 1954 suggestion by Solomon Birnbaum, who argued that "[t]o apply the term Phoenician to the script of the Hebrews is hardly suitable".

The first Paleo-Hebrew inscription identified in modern times was the ''Shebna inscription'', found in 1870, and then referred to as "two large ancient Hebrew inscriptions in Phoenician letters".Clermont-Ganneau, 1899
Archaeological Researches In Palestine 1873–1874
Vol 1, p. 305: "The most important of these discoveries is certainly that which I had the good fortune to make of two large ancient Hebrew inscriptions in Phoenician letters... I may observe, by the way, that the discovery of these two texts was made long before that of the inscription in the tunnel, and therefore, though people in general do not seem to recognise this fact, it was the first which enabled us to behold an authentic specimen of Hebrew monumental epigraphy of the period of the Kings of Judah." Fewer than 2,000 inscriptions are known today, of which the vast majority comprise just a single letter or word. The earliest known examples of Paleo-Hebrew writing date to the 10th century BCE.

Like the Phoenician alphabet, it is a slight regional variant and an immediate continuation of the Proto-Sinaitic script#Proto-Canaanite, Proto-Canaanite script, which was used throughout Canaan in the Late Bronze Age. Phoenician language, Phoenician, Hebrew language, Hebrew, and all of their sister Canaanite languages were largely indistinguishable dialects before that time. The Paleo-Hebrew script is an abjad of 22 consonant, consonantal letters, exactly as the other Canaanite scripts from the period.

By the 5th century BCE, among Judeans the alphabet had been mostly replaced by the Aramaic alphabet as officially used in the Achaemenid Empire. The "Square Aramaic script, Jewish square-script" variant now known simply as the Hebrew alphabet evolved directly out of the Aramaic script by about the 3rd century BCE (although some letter shapes did not become standard until the 1st century CE). By contrast, the Samaritan alphabet, as used by Samaritans, is an immediate continuation of the Proto-Hebrew script without intermediate non-Israelite evolutionary stages. There is also some continued use of the old Hebrew script in Jewish religious contexts down to the 1st century BCE, notably in the Paleo-Hebrew Leviticus scroll, Paleo-Leviticus text found in the Dead Sea scrolls.

History

Origins

The Paleo-Hebrew and Phoenician alphabets developed in the wake of the Bronze Age collapse, out of their immediate predecessor script Proto-Canaanite alphabet, Proto-Canaanite (Late Proto-Sinaitic script, Proto-Sinaitic) during the 13th to 12th centuries BCE, and earlier Proto-Sinaitic scripts.

The earliest known inscription in the Paleo-Hebrew script is the Zayit Stone discovered on a wall at Tel Zayit, in the Beth Guvrin Valley in the lowlands of ancient Judea in 2005, about southwest of Jerusalem. The 22 letters were carved on one side of the stone, which resembles a bowl on the other. The find is attributed to the mid-10th century BCE. The so-called Ophel inscription is of a similar age, but difficult to interpret, and may be classified as either Proto-Canaanite or as Paleo-Hebrew. The Gezer calendar is of uncertain date, but may also still date to the 10th century BCE.

The script on the Zayit Stone and Gezer Calendar are an earlier form than the classical Paleo-Hebrew of the 8th century and later; this early script is almost identical to the early Phoenician script on the 9th-century Ahiram sarcophagus inscription. By the 8th century, a number of regional characteristics begin to separate the script into a number of national alphabets, including the Israelite (Israel and Judah), Moabite (Moab and Ammon), Edomite, Phoenician and Old Aramaic scripts.

Linguistic features of the Moabite language (rather than generic Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic) are visible in the Mesha Stele inscription, commissioned around 840 BCE by King Mesha of Moab. Similarly, the Tel Dan Stele, dated approximately 810 BCE, is written in Old Aramaic, dating from a period when Dan had already fallen into the orbit of Damascus.

The oldest inscriptions identifiable as Biblical Hebrew have long been limited to the 8th century BCE. In 2008, however, a potsherd (ostracon) bearing an inscription was excavated at Khirbet Qeiyafa which has since been interpreted as representing a recognizably Hebrew inscription dated to as early as the 10th century BCE. The argument identifying the text as Hebrew relies on the use of vocabulary.

From the 8th century onward, Hebrew epigraphy becomes more common, showing the gradual spread of literacy among the people of the Kingdom of Israel (Samaria), Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah; the Dating the Bible, oldest portions of the Hebrew Bible, although transmitted via the recension of the Second Temple period, are also dated to the 8th century BCE.

Use in the Israelite kingdoms

The Paleo-Hebrew alphabet was in common use in the kingdoms of Israel and Judah throughout the 8th and 7th centuries BCE. During the 6th century BCE, the time of the Babylonian captivity of Judah, Babylonian exile, the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet was gradually replaced by the use of the Imperial Aramaic alphabet. The letters of Imperial Aramaic were again given shapes characteristic for writing Hebrew during the Second Temple period, developing into the "square shape" of the Hebrew alphabet.

The Samaritans, who remained in the Land of Israel, continued to use their variant of the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet, called the Samaritan script. After the fall of the Persian Empire, Jews used both scripts before settling on the Assyrian form.

The Paleo-Hebrew script evolved by developing numerous cursive features, the Lapidary#Secondary meanings, lapidary features of the Phoenician alphabet being ever less pronounced with the passage of time. The aversion of the lapidary script may indicate that the custom of erecting stelae by the kings and offering votive inscriptions to the deity was not widespread in Israel. Even the engraved inscriptions from the 8th century exhibit elements of the cursive style, such as the shading, which is a natural feature of pen-and-ink writing. Examples of such inscriptions include the Siloam inscription, numerous tomb inscriptions from Jerusalem, the Ketef Hinnom scrolls, a fragmentary Hebrew inscription on an ivory which was taken as war spoils (probably from Samaria) to Nimrud, the Arad ostraca dating to the 6th-century BCE, the hundreds of 8th to 6th-century Hebrew seals from various sites, and the Paleo-Hebrew Leviticus scroll discovered near ''Qumran, Tel Qumran''. The most developed cursive script is found on the 18 Lachish letters, Lachish ostraca, letters sent by an officer to the governor of Lachish just before the destruction of the First Temple in 586 BCE. A slightly earlier (''circa'' 620 BCE) but similar script is found on an ostracon excavated at Mesad Hashavyahu#The Mesad Hashavyahu ostracon, Mesad Hashavyahu, containing a petition for redress of grievances (an appeal by a field worker to the fortress's governor regarding the confiscation of his cloak, which the writer considers to have been unjust).

Decline and late survival

After the Babylonian capture of Judea, when most of the nobles were taken into exile, the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet continued to be used by the people who remained. One example of such writings are the 6th-century BCE jar handles from Gibeon (ancient city), Gibeon, on which the names of winegrowers are inscribed. Beginning from the 5th century BCE onward, the Aramaic language and script became an official means of communication. Paleo-Hebrew was still used by scribes and others.

The Paleo-Hebrew script was retained for some time as an archaizing or conservative mode of writing. It is found in certain texts of the Torah among the Dead Sea Scrolls, dated to the 2nd to 1st centuries BCE: manuscripts 4Q12, 6Q1: Genesis. 4Q22: Exodus. 1Q3, 2Q5, 4Q11, 4Q45, 4Q46, 6Q2, and the Leviticus scroll (11QpaleoLev). In some Qumran documents, the tetragrammaton name of the Israelite deity, YHWH, is written in Paleo-Hebrew while the rest of the text is rendered in the adopted Aramaic square script that became today’s normative Jewish Hebrew script. The vast majority of the Hashmonean coinage, Hasmonean coinage, as well as the coins of the First Jewish–Roman War and Bar Kokhba's revolt, bears Paleo-Hebrew legends. The Paleo-Hebrew alphabet fell completely out of use among Jews only after 135 CE.

Legacy

Samaritan alphabet

The paleo-Hebrew alphabet continued to be used by the Samaritans and over time developed into the Samaritan alphabet. The Samaritans have continued to use the script for writing both Hebrew and Aramaic texts until the present day. A comparison of the earliest Samaritan inscriptions and the medieval and modern Samaritan manuscripts clearly indicates that the Samaritan script is a static script which was used mainly as a book hand.

Babylonian Talmud

The Amoraim, Talmudic sages did not share a uniform stance on the subject of Paleo-Hebrew. Some stated that Paleo-Hebrew was the original script used by the Israelites at the time of the Exodus,Sanhedrin (tractate), Sanhedrin 21b while others believed that Paleo-Hebrew merely served as a stopgap in a time when the ostensibly original script the (Ktav Ashuri, Assyrian Script) was lost. According to both opinions, Ezra the Scribe (c. 500 BCE) introduced, or reintroduced the Assyrian script to be used as the primary alphabet for the Hebrew language. The arguments given for both opinions are rooted in Jewish scripture and/or tradition.

A third opinion in the Talmud states that the script never changed altogether. It would seem that the sage who expressed this opinion did not believe that Paleo-Hebrew ever existed, despite the strong arguments supporting it. His stance is rooted in a scriptural verse, which makes reference to the shape of the letter vav (letter), vav. The sage argues further that, given the commandment to copy a Torah scroll directly from another, the script could not conceivably have been modified at any point. This third opinion was accepted by some early Jewish scholars, and rejected by others, partially because it was permitted to write the Torah in Greek.

Contemporary use

Use of Proto-Hebrew in modern Israel is negligible, but it is found occasionally in nostalgic or pseudo-archaic examples, e.g. on the Israeli New Shekel#Coins, ₪1 coin ( "Judea") and in the logo of the Israeli town Nahariyah (Blessing of Moses, Deuteronomy 33:24 "Let Tribe of Asher, Asher be blessed with children").

Archaeology

In 2019, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) unearthed a 2,600 year-old seal impression, while conducting excavations at the City of David, containing paleo-Hebrew script, and which is thought to have belonged to a certain "Nathan-Melech," an official in King Josiah's court.

Table of letters

Phoenician or Paleo-Hebrew characters were never standardised and are found in numerous variant shapes. A general tendency of more cursive writing can be observed over the period of c. 800 BCE to 600 BCE. After 500 BCE, it is common to distinguish the script variants by names such as "Samaritan", "Aramaic", etc.

There is no difference in "Paleo-Hebrew" vs. "Phoenician" letter shapes. The names are applied depending on the language of the inscription, or if that cannot be determined, of the coastal (Phoenician) vs. highland (Hebrew) association (c.f. the Zayit Stone abecedary).

, Aleph, ʾālep
, head of cattle (:wikt:אלף#Hebrew, אלף)
, ʾ
, 𓃾
,
, Aleph, א
, -
,
, }
, Bet (letter), bēt
, house (:wikt:בית#Hebrew, בית)
, b
, 𓉐
,
, Bet (letter), ב

, -
,
, }
, gimel, gīmel
, camel (גמל)
, g
, 𓌙
,
, Gimel, ג

, -
,
, }
, Dalet, dālet
, door (:wikt:דלת#Hebrew, דלת)
, d
, 𓇯
,
, Dalet, ד

, -
,
, }
, He (letter), hē
, jubilation/window
, h
, 𓀠?
,
, He (letter), ה

, -
,
, }
, Waw (letter), wāw
, hook (:wikt:וו#Hebrew, וו)
, w
, 𓏲
,
, Waw (letter), ו

, -
,
, }
, zayin
, weapon (:wikt:זין#Hebrew, זין)
, z
, 𓏭
,
, Zayin, ז

, -
,
, }
, Heth, ḥēt(?)
, courtyard/threadThe letters he and ḥēt continue three Proto-Sinaitic letters, ''ḥasir'' "courtyard", ''hillul'' "jubilation" and ''ḫayt'' "thread".
The shape of ''ḥēt'' continues ''ḥasir'' "courtyard", but the name continues ''ḫayt'' "thread".
The shape of ''he'' continues ''hillul'' "jubilation" but see: He (letter)#Origins.

, ḥ
, 𓉗/𓈈?
,
, Heth, ח

, -
,
, }
, Teth, ṭēt
, wheel (?)
, ṭ
, ?
,
, Teth, ט

, -
,
, }
, Yodh, yōd
, arm, hand (:wikt:יד#Hebrew, יד)
, y
, 𓂝
,
, Yodh, י

, -
,
, }
, kaph, kāp
, palm of a hand (:wikt:כף#Hebrew, כף)
, k
, 𓂧
,
, Kaph, כ, ך
, -
,
, }
, Lamedh, lāmed
, goad (:wikt:ל־מ־ד, למד)
, l
, 𓌅
,
, Lamedh, ל
, -
,
, }
, mem, mēm
, water (:wikt:מים#Hebrew, מים)
, m
, 𓈖
,
, Mem, מ, ם
, -
,
, }
, Nun (letter), nūn
, fish (:wikt:מים#Hebrew, נון)
, n
, 𓆓
,
, Nun (letter), נ, ן
, -
,
, }
, Samekh, sāmek
, pillar, support (:wikt:ܣܡܟܐ, סמך)
, s
, djed, 𓊽
,
, Samekh, ס

, -
,
, }
, Ayin, ʿayin
, eye (:wikt:עין#Hebrew, עין)
, ʿ
, 𓁹
,
, Ayin, ע

, -
,
, }
, Pe (Semitic letter), pē
, mouth (:wikt:פה#Hebrew, פה)
, p
, 𓂋
,
, Pe (Semitic letter), פ, ף

, -
,
, }
, Tsade, ṣādē
, ?
, ṣ
, ?
,
, Tsade, צ, ץ

, -
,
, }
, Qoph, qōp
, ?"The old explanation, which has again been revived by Halévy, is that it denotes an 'ape,' the character Q being taken to represent an ape with its tail hanging down. It may also be referred to a Talmudic root which would signify an 'aperture' of some kind, as the 'eye of a needle,' [...] Lenormant adopts the more usual explanation that the word means a 'knot'." Isaac Taylor, History of the Alphabet: Semitic Alphabets, Part 1, 2003.
, q
, ?
,
, Qoph, ק
, -
,
, }
, Resh, rēš
, head (:wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Semitic/raʾš-, ראש)
, r
, 𓁶
,
, Resh, ר

, -
,
, }
, Shin (letter), šīn
, tooth (:wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Semitic/šinn-, שין)
, š
, 𓌓
,
, Shin (letter), ש

, -
,
, }
, Taw, tāw
, mark, sign (:wikt:תו#Hebrew, תו)
, t
, 𓏴
,
, Taw, ת

Unicode

The Unicode block Phoenician (U+10900–U+1091F) is intended for the representation of, apart from the Phoenician alphabet, text in Palaeo-Hebrew, Archaic Phoenician, Early Aramaic, Late Phoenician cursive, Phoenician papyri, Siloam Hebrew, Hebrew seals, Ammonite language, Ammonite, Moabite language, Moabite, and Punic language, Punic.

See also

* Ancient Hebrew writings
* Ancient North Arabian
* Biblical Hebrew orthography
* History of the Hebrew alphabet
* Proto-Canaanite alphabet

References

Further reading

* "Alphabet, Hebrew". ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'' (CD-ROM Edition Version 1.0). Ed. Cecil Roth. Keter Publishing House.
*
*

External links

Hebrew Alphabet
at the ''Jewish Encyclopedia''

History of the Aleph-Bet
at the Jewish Virtual Library

Aramaic/Paleo-Hebrew alphabet
at Omniglot

Unicode Modern/Paleo-Hebrew conversion tool

Paleo-Hebrew Abjad font (the current version of the font is 1.1.0)

Open-source Unicode Hebrew Fonts

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paleo-Hebrew alphabet
Ancient Jewish history
Canaanite writing systems
Hebrew alphabet
Language and mysticism
Obsolete writing systems
Proto-Sinaitic script
Right-to-left writing systems