Hebrew
Letters
The Hebrew block script is the form of Hebrew most people are familiar with. It is the script used today, but it did not exist during old testament times. Unintuitively, this script is not a descendant of Paleo-Hebrew, which was the common script from 1000 BC until displaced by block script. Instead, the block script descends from the closely related Imperial Aramaic alphabet. Paleo-Hebrew characters are also referred to as Phoenician, being used by the Phoenicians as well. Though there were numerous variations on the alphabet as it was not standardized, the variation of the alphabet is not typically considered very useful in distinguishing a Hebrew variant from a Phoenician variant.
Paleo-Hebrew/Phoenician is understood to be a descendant of Proto-Sinaitic, which is expected to have been developed around the 19th century BC, with a hypothesized Proto-Canaanite script intervening. All of these scripts would be descended from hieroglyphs. (To be clear, the Hebrew language is NOT being described as having descended from hieroglyphs; just the alphabet.)
- "Hebrew alphabet", Wikipedia
- "Paleo-Hebrew alphabet", Wikipedia
| Letter | Block Script c. 200β100 BC to present |
Paleo Hebrew c.β1000 BC to 135 AD |
Proto-Sinaitic | Hieroglyphs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alef | Χ | π€ | ||
| Bet | Χ | π€ | ||
| Gimel | Χβ | π€ | ||
| Dalet | Χ | π€ | ||
| He | Χ | π€ | ||
| Vav | Χ | π€ | ||
| Zayin | Χ | π€β | ||
| Chet | Χ | π€β | ||
| Tet | Χ | π€β | ||
| Yod | Χ | π€ | ||
| Kaf | Χ | π€β | ||
| Lamed | Χ | π€β | ||
| Mem | Χ | π€β | ||
| Nun | Χ | π€β | ||
| Samekh | Χ‘ | π€β | ||
| Ayin | Χ’ | π€β | ||
| Pe | Χ€ | π€β | ||
| Tsadi | Χ¦ | π€β | ||
| Qof | Χ§ | π€β | ||
| Resh | Χ¨ | π€β | ||
| Shin | Χ© | π€ | ||
| Tav | Χͺ | π€ |