Paleo-Hebrew alphabet
| Paleo-Hebrew alphabet | |
|---|---|
| Script type | |
Time period | 10th century BCE – 135 CE |
| Direction | Right-to-left script  |
| Languages | Hebrew |
The Paleo-Hebrew alphabet, also know as Ktav Ivri, is an offshoot of the ancient Semitic alphabet (see the akin Phoenician alphabet). At the very least it dates to the 10th century BCE. It was used in writing the Hebrew language until it began to fall out of use in the 5th century BCE with the adoption of the "square-script" Aramaic alphabet as a writing system for the Hebrew language and the subsequent emergence of the "Hebrew alphabet".
Origins
The earliest known inscription in the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet was discovered on the stone on a wall at Tel Zayit, in the Beth Guvrin Valley in the lowlands of ancient Judea. The 22 letters were carved on one side of the 38lb stone (17kg) - which resembles a bowl on the other. Next would be the Gezer calendar dated to the late 10th century BCE. The script of the Gezer calendar bears strong resemblance to the akin contemporaneous Phoenician inscriptions from Byblos. Clear Hebrew features are visible in the scripts of the Moabite inscriptions of the Mesha Stele. The 8th-century Hebrew inscriptions exhibit many specific and exclusive traits, leading modern scholars to conclude that already in the 10th century BCE the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet was used by wide scribal circles. Even though very few 10th-century Hebrew inscriptions have been found, the quantity of the epigraphic material from the 8th century onward shows the gradual spread of literacy among the people of the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah.
Further development
The independent Hebrew script evolved by developing numerous cursive features, the 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, a fragmentary Hebrew inscription on an ivory which was taken as war spoils (probably from Samaria) to Nimrud, and the hundreds of 8th to 6th-century Hebrew seals from various sites. The most developed cursive script is found on the 18 Lachish ostraca, letters sent by an officer to the governor of Lachish just before the destruction of the First Temple in 586 BCE.
Decline of use
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 to work the fields. One example of such writings are the 6th-century BCE jar handles from Gibeon, on which the names of winegrowers are inscribed. Beginning from the 5th century BCE onward, when the Aramaic language and script became an official means of communication, the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet was preserved mainly for writing the Tanakh by a coterie of erudite scribes, who most likely belonged to the sect of the Sadducees[citation needed]. Some Paleo-Hebrew fragments of the Torah were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. The vast majority of the 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 only after 135 CE.
Use of Paleo-Hebrew by Samaritans
The divergence of the Samaritan alphabet began sometime in the last two centuries of the first millennium BCE. Unlike the Jews, the Samaritans continued to use this script for writing both Hebrew and Aramaic texts well into the Middle Ages and present. 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.
See also
References
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4422628.stm
- "Alphabet, Hebrew". Encyclopedia Judaica (CD-ROM Edition Version 1.0). Ed. Cecil Roth. Keter Publishing House. ISBN 965-07-0665-8
- Greenfeld, Jonas C. (2001). Al Kanfei Yonah: Collected Studies of Jonas C. Greenfield on Semitic Philology. Brill Academic Publishers. ISBN 90-04-12170-6