View source for Paleo-Hebrew alphabet

{{Short description|Writing  found in Canaanite inscriptions}}
{{Infobox writing system
| name      = Paleo-Hebrew
| sample    = Proto-Hebrew-aramaic.png
| type      = [[Abjad]]
| language  = [[Biblical Hebrew]]
| time      = {{circa|1000 BCE – 135 CE}}
| fam1      = [[Egyptian hieroglyphs]]
| fam2      = [[Proto-Sinaitic script]]
| fam3      = [[Phoenician alphabet]]
| children   = {{plainlist|*[[Samaritan script]]}}
| sisters   = {{plainlist|*[[Aramaic alphabet]]
*[[Greek alphabet]]}}
| unicode   = [http://unicode.org/charts/PDF/U10900.pdf U+10900&ndash;U+1091F]
| iso15924  = 115
}}
{{Alphabet}}
The '''Paleo-Hebrew script''' ({{langx|he|הכתב העברי הקדום}}), also '''Palaeo-Hebrew''', '''Proto-Hebrew''' or '''Old Hebrew''', is the writing system found in [[Canaanite and Aramaic inscriptions]], including pre-Biblical and [[Biblical Hebrew]], from southern [[Canaan]], also known as the biblical kingdoms of [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Israel (Samaria)]] and [[kingdom of Judah|Judah]]. It is considered to be the script used to record the original texts of the Bible due to its similarity to the [[Samaritan script]]; the [[Talmud]] states that the Samaritans still used this script.<ref name="bSan21b">[[Sanhedrin (tractate)|Sanhedrin]] 21b:22: "{{lang|tmr|אמר מר זוטרא ואיתימא מר עוקבא בתחלה ניתנה תורה לישראל בכתב עברי ולשון הקודש חזרה וניתנה להם בימי עזרא בכתב אשורית ולשון ארמי ביררו להן לישראל כתב אשורית ולשון הקודש והניחו להדיוטות כתב עברית ולשון ארמי. מאן הדיוטות אמר רב חסדא כותאי מאי כתב עברית אמר רב חסדא כתב ליבונאה}} [[Mar Zutra]] says, and some say that it is [[Mar Ukva]] who says: Initially, the Torah was given to the Jewish people in Ivrit script, and the sacred tongue, Hebrew. It was given to them again in the days of Ezra in [[Ktav Ashuri|''Ashurit'' script]] and the [[Jewish Babylonian Aramaic|Aramaic tongue]]. The Jewish people selected the ''Ashurit'' script and the sacred tongue for the [[Torah scroll]] and left the ''Ivrit'' script and the Aramaic tongue for the commoners. Who are these commoners? [[Rav Chisda]] said: The [[Samaritans]] [Kutim]. What is ''Ivrit'' script? Rav Chisda says: Lebanon script.</ref> The Talmud described it as the "Livonaʾa script" ({{langx|tmr|לִיבּוֹנָאָה|Lībōnāʾā}}), translated by some as "[[Lebanon]] script".<ref name="bSan21b"/> However, it has also been suggested that the name is a corrupted form (with the letters [[Nun (letter)|nun]] and [[Lamedh|lamed]] accidentally swapped) of "Neapolitan", i.e. of [[Nablus]].<ref> James A.  Montgomery, ''The Samaritans, the earliest Jewish sect'' (1907), [https://archive.org/details/cu31924028585929/page/n341 p. 283].</ref> 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 alphabet|Phoenician]] [from Northern Canaan, today's Lebanon] to the script of the [[Hebrews]] [from Southern Canaan, today's Israel-Palestine] is hardly suitable".<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=CWREAQAAIAAJ&q=%22coined+the+term%22 The Hebrew scripts, Volume 2, Salomo A. Birnbaum, Palaeographia, 1954], "To apply the term Phoenician to the script of the Hebrews is hardly suitable. I have therefore coined the term Palaeo-Hebrew."</ref> The Paleo-Hebrew and Phoenician alphabets are two slight regional variants of the same script. 

The first Paleo-Hebrew inscription identified in modern times was the [[Royal Steward inscription]] ([[Kanaanäische und Aramäische Inschriften|KAI]] 191), found in 1870,<ref>Avigad, N. (1953). [http://www.jstor.org/stable/27924525 The Epitaph of a Royal Steward from Siloam Village]. Israel Exploration Journal, 3(3), 137–152: "The inscription discussed here is, in the words of its discoverer, the first 'authentic specimen of Hebrew monumental epigraphy of the period of the Kings of Judah', for it was discovered ten years before the Siloam tunnel inscription. Now, after its decipherment, we may add that it is (after the Moabite Stone and the Siloam tunnel inscription) the third longest monumental inscription in Hebrew and the first known text of a Hebrew sepulchral inscription from the pre-Exilic period."</ref>  and described at the time as "two large ancient Hebrew inscriptions in Phoenician letters".<ref name=CG1899>Clermont-Ganneau, 1899, [https://archive.org/details/ClermontGanneauCArchaeologicalResearchesInPalestine18731874Vol11899/page/n337/mode/2up 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."</ref> Fewer than 2,000 inscriptions are known today, of which the vast majority comprise just a single letter or word.<ref>Millard, A. (1993), [http://www.jstor.org/stable/23967100 Reviewed Work: Ancient Hebrew Inscriptions. Corpus and Concordance by G. I. Davies, M. N. A. Bockmuehl, D. R. de Lacey, A. J. Poulter], The Journal of Theological Studies, 44(1), new series, 216–219: "...every identifiable Hebrew inscription dated before 200 BC... First ostraca, graffiti, and marks are grouped by provenance. This section contains more than five hundred items, over half of them ink-written ostraca, individual letters, receipts, memoranda, and writing exercises. The other inscriptions are names scratched on pots, scribbles of various sorts, which include couplets on the walls of tombs near Hebron, and letters serving as fitters' marks on ivories from Samaria.... The seals and seal impressions are set in the numerical sequence of Diringer and Vattioni (100.001–100.438). The pace of discovery since F. Vattioni issued his last valuable list (Ί sigilli ebraici III', AnnaliAnnali dell'Istituto Universitario Orientate di Napoli 38 (1978), 227—54) means the last seal entered by Davies is 100.900. The actual number of Hebrew seals and impressions is less than 900 because of the omission of those identified as non-Hebrew which previous lists counted. A further reduction follows when duplicate seal impressions from different sites are combined, as cross references in the entries suggest... The Corpus ends with 'Royal Stamps' (105.001-025, the Imlk stamps), '"Judah" and "Jerusalem" Stamps and Coins' (106.001-052), 'Other Official Stamps' (107.001), 'Inscribed Weights' (108.001-056) and 'Inscribed Measures' (109.001,002).... most seals have no known provenance (they probably come from burials)... Even if the 900 seals are reduced by as much as one third, 600 seals is still a very high total for the small states of Israel and Judah, and most come from Judah. It is about double the number of seals known inscribed in Aramaic, a language written over a far wider area by officials of great empires as well as by private persons.</ref><ref name="DaviesAitken2004">{{cite book|author1=Graham I. Davies|author2=J. K. Aitken|title=Ancient Hebrew Inscriptions: Corpus and Concordance|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AwbDkgzkEF0C&pg=PR9|year=2004|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-82999-1|page=xi|quote= This sequel to my Ancient Hebrew Inscriptions includes mainly inscriptions (about 750 of them) which have been published in the past ten years. The aim has been to cover all publications to the end of 2000. A relatively small number of the texts included here were published earlier but were missed in the preparation of AHI. The large number of new texts is not due, for the most part, to fresh discoveries (or, regrettably, to the publication of a number of inscriptions that were found in excavations before 1990), but to the publication of items held in private collections and museums.}}</ref> The earliest known examples of Paleo-Hebrew writing date to the [[10th century BCE]].<ref name="eurekalert.org">{{Harvcoltxt|Feldman|2010}}</ref><ref name="bar">{{Harvcoltxt|Shanks|2010}}</ref><ref name="JMH2004-23">{{cite book|last1=Hoffman|first1=Joel M.|title=In the beginning : a short history of the Hebrew language|date=2004|publisher=New York Univ. Press|location=New York, NY [u.a.]|isbn=978-0-8147-3654-8|pages=23|quote=By 1000 B.C.E., however, we see Phoenician writings [..] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pj0TCgAAQBAJ&q=canaanite&pg=PA167|access-date=23 May 2017}}</ref>

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]].<ref>Israel Finkelstein & Benjamin Sass, The West Semitic Alphabetic Inscriptions, Late Bronze II to Iron IIA: Archeological Context, Distribution and Chronology, HeBAI 2 (2013), pp. 149–220, see p. 189: "From the available evidence Hebrew appears to be the first regional variant to arise in the West Semitic alphabet – in late Iron IIA1; the scripts of the neighbouring peoples remain undifferentiated. It is only up to a century later, in early Iron IIB, that the distinct characteristics in the alphabets of Philistia, Phoenicia, Aram, Ammon and Moab develop."</ref> [[Phoenician language|Phoenician]], [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], and all of their sister [[Canaanite languages]] were largely indistinguishable dialects before that time.<ref>{{Citation | first = Joseph | last = Naveh | year = 1987 | contribution = Proto-Canaanite, Archaic Greek, and the Script of the Aramaic Text on the Tell Fakhariyah Statue | editor1-last = Miller | title = Ancient Israelite Religion|display-editors=etal}}.</ref><ref name="Kratz2015">{{cite book|author=Reinhard G. Kratz|title=Historical and Biblical Israel: The History, Tradition, and Archives of Israel and Judah|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TaznCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA64|year= 2015|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-104448-9|page=64|quote=[...] scribes wrote in Paleo-Hebrew, a local variant of the Phoenician alphabetic script [...]}}</ref> 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 used officially by the [[Achaemenid Empire]]. The "square" variant now known simply as the [[Hebrew alphabet]] evolved directly out of this by about the 3rd century BCE, although some letter shapes did not become standard until the 1st century CE. By contrast, the [[Samaritan script]] is an immediate continuation of the Proto-Hebrew script without intermediate non-Israelite evolutionary stages. There is also some continued use of the Paleo-Hebrew script in Jewish religious contexts down to the 1st century BCE, notably in the [[Paleo-Hebrew Leviticus Scroll]] found in the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]].

== History ==
=== Origins ===
[[File:Oldest Hebrew Inscription X BC.jpg|thumb|Photograph of section of the [[Zayit Stone]], 10th century BCE: (right-to-left) the letters waw, he, het, zayin, tet (𐤅𐤄𐤇𐤆𐤈)]]
[[File:Paleo-Hebrew seal.jpg|thumb|Paleo-Hebrew signet ring discovered in Jerusalem's City of David. City of David Archive, Eliyahu Yannai.]]
{{main|Phoenician alphabet|Proto-Sinaitic alphabet}}
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.

[[File:Gezer calendar close up.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Gezer calendar]]]]
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 {{cvt|50|km}} southwest of Jerusalem. The 22 letters were carved on one side of the {{cvt|38|lb}} 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.

[[File:Khirbet Qeiyafa Ostracon.jpg|thumb|Drawing of the [[Khirbet Qeiyafa ostracon]]]]
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.<ref>On January 10, 2010, the University of Haifa issued a press release stating that the text "uses verbs that were characteristic of Hebrew, such as ‘śh (עשה) ("did") and ‘bd (עבד) ("worked"), which were rarely used in other regional languages. Particular words that appear in the text, such as ''almanah'' ("widow") are specific to Hebrew and are written differently in other Canaanite languages. 
{{cite web |title= Most ancient Hebrew biblical inscription deciphered |publisher= University of Haifa |date= January 10, 2010 |access-date= November 5, 2011 |url= http://newmedia-eng.haifa.ac.il/?p=2043 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111005020653/http://newmedia-eng.haifa.ac.il/?p=2043 |archive-date= October 5, 2011 }}
See also: 
{{cite web |url= http://qeiyafa.huji.ac.il/ostracon2.asp |title= Qeiyafa Ostracon Chronicle |access-date= November 5, 2011 |publisher= Khirbet Qeiyafa Archaeological Project |archive-date= October 2, 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111002182840/http://qeiyafa.huji.ac.il/ostracon2.asp |url-status= dead }}, {{cite web |url= http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/magazine/the-keys-to-the-kingdom-1.360222 |title= The keys to the kingdom |date= 6 May 2011 |work= Haaretz.com |access-date= 20 December 2014 }}</ref>

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.
<!--see [[Phoenician alphabet]]
In 1855 a Phoenician inscription in 22 lines was found among the ruins of [[Sidon]]. Each line contained about 40 or 50 characters. A facsimile copy of the writing was published in United States Magazine in July 1855. The inscription was on the lid of a large stone [[sarcophagus]] carved in fine Egyptian style. The writing was primarily a genealogical history of a king of Sidon buried in the sarcophagus.<ref>''The Newly Discovered Phoenician Inscription'', [[New York Times]], June 15, 1855, pg. 4.</ref>-->

=== Use in the Israelite kingdoms ===
[[File:Birkat kohanim 22.jpg|thumb|upright|Illustration of script on one of the [[Ketef Hinnom scrolls]], {{Circa|700 BCE|lk=no}}—the "Silver Scroll"]]
[[File:Imer_bulla.JPG|thumb|The [[Immer Bulla]] (7th–6th century BCE), written in the Paleo-Hebrew script, was discovered during the [[Temple Mount Sifting Project]]. ]]

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]].<ref>''The Mishnah'', ed. [[Herbert Danby]], [[Oxford University Press]]: Oxford 1933, s.v. ''Megillah'' 1:8, p. 202 ([https://archive.org/details/DanbyMishnah/page/n231/mode/1up note 20]); ''[[Yadayim]]'' 4:5–6, p. 784 ([https://archive.org/details/DanbyMishnah/page/n813/mode/1up note 6]) ({{ISBN|0-19-815402-X}})</ref>

The [[Samaritans]], who remained in the Land of Israel, continued to use their variant of the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet, called the [[Samaritan script]].<ref name="A History of the Hebrew Language">{{cite book|year=1993 |title=A History of the Hebrew Language |publisher=Cambridge University Press |author= Angel Sáenz-Badillos|location=Cambridge, England |isbn=0-521-55634-1}}</ref> 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]],<ref>An illustration of the Siloam script is available at this [http://www.historian.net/images/siloam.jpg link].</ref> numerous tomb inscriptions from [[Jerusalem]],<ref>An illustration of a tomb inscription said to be scratched onto an ossuary to identify the decedent is available [http://www.jerusalemperspective.com/wp-content/uploads/1991/07/Inscription1.jpg ''here'']. An article describing the ossuaries Zvi Greenhut excavated from a burial cave in the south of Jerusalem can be found in [http://www.jerusalemperspective.com/2598/ ''Jerusalem Perspective''] (July 1, 1991), with links to other articles.</ref><ref>Another tomb inscription is believed to be from the tomb of [[Shebna]], an official of King Hezekiah. An [[:File:Silwan-inscr.jpg|''illustration'']] of the inscription may be viewed, but it is too large to be placed inline.</ref> 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]],<ref>An illustration of the Lachish script is available at this [http://www.historian.net/images/lachish.gif link].</ref> 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).<ref>See [[Mesad Hashavyahu#Translation|Worker's appeal to governor]].</ref><ref>The conduct complained about is contrary to Exodus 22, which provides:"If you take your neighbor's garment in pledge, you must return it to him before the sun sets; it is his only clothing, the sole covering for his skin. In what else shall he sleep?"</ref>

=== Decline and late survival ===
[[File:Barkokhba-silver-tetradrachm.jpg|thumb|[[Bar Kochba Revolt coinage|Coin from the Bar Kokhba revolt]] with the Paleo-Hebrew writings. The letters are {{script|Phnx| 𐤇𐤓𐤅𐤕 𐤋𐤉𐤓𐤅𐤔𐤋𐤌 }} on one side and {{script|Phnx| 𐤔𐤌𐤏𐤍 }} on the other, meaning 'of (or: for) the freedom of Jerusalem' and the name 'Shimon' (לחרות ירושל[י]ם and שמע[ו]ן in square script).]]
[[File:המילה עברית בכתב ובכתב העברי הקדום.jpg|thumb|The word "[[Hebrews#Etymology|Hebrew]]" ({{lang|he|עברית}} ''ʿbryt'', [[modern Hebrew]]: ''Ivrit'') written in the modern Hebrew alphabet (top), and in the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet (bottom)]]
{{see|History of the Hebrew alphabet}}
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]]).<ref>[http://www.deadseascrolls.org.il/explore-the-archive/image/B-298934 Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library].</ref> 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.<ref>e.g. [[:File:Psalms Scroll.jpg]]</ref> 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 ===
{{Main|Samaritan alphabet}}
[[File:Samaritan Leviticus.jpg|thumb|A page from the Samaritan version of [[Leviticus]]]]
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]].

=== 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,<ref name="bSan21b"/> whereas the Aramaic square script was brought from Assyria<ref name="bSan22a">Sanhedrin 22a</ref><ref name="yMeg">[[Jerusalem Talmud]], [[Megillah (Talmud)|Megillah]] 1:8.</ref> and introduced for writing [[Sefer Torah|Torah scrolls]] in the post-exilic period,<ref>[[Zevachim]] 62a</ref> 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.<ref name="yMeg"/><ref>[[Megillah (Talmud)|Megillah]] 3a</ref><ref>[[Shabbat (Talmud)|Shabbat]] 104a</ref> 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]].<ref name="bSan21b"/> The arguments given for both opinions are rooted in Jewish scripture and/or tradition.

A third opinion<ref name="bSan22a"/> in the [[Talmud]] states that the script never changed altogether. Rabbi Eleazar from Modiin, the sage who expressed this opinion, based his opinion on a scriptural verse,<ref>Exodus 27, 10</ref> which makes reference to the shape of the letter [[vav (letter)|vav]]. He 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.<ref name="bSan22a"/> A different version of the debate in the [[Jerusalem Talmud]] refers to the circular shapes of the letters [[Ayin]] in Paleo-Hebrew and [[Samekh]] in square script on the stone tablets as miracles according to the respective sages arguing for one script or the other.<ref name="yMeg"/> This third opinion was accepted by some early Jewish scholars,<ref>[[Chananel ben Chushiel|Rabbeinu Chananel]] on Sanhedrin 22a</ref> and rejected by others, partially because it was permitted to write the Torah in Greek.<ref>{{cite web|last=Maimonides|title=Mishne Torah Hilchos Stam 1:19|url=http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/925417/jewish/Chapter-One.htm}}</ref>

===Contemporary use===
[[File:1 new shekel.jpg|thumb|YHD ({{script|Phnx|𐤉𐤄𐤃}}), for ''[[Yehud Medinata|Yehud]]'', written in Paleo-Hebrew on the [[Israeli new shekel|1 New Shekel]] coin (1986)]]
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]] ({{script|Phnx|𐤉𐤄𐤃}} "Judea")<ref>This is in imitation of the "[[:File:YehudObverse 1.jpg|Yehud coinage]]" minted in the Persian period.
Yigal Ronen, "The Weight Standards of the Judean Coinage in the Late Persian and Early Ptolemaic Period", ''Near Eastern Archaeology'' 61, No. 2 (Jun., 1998), 122&ndash;126.</ref> and in the logo of the Israeli town [[Nahariyah]] ([[Blessing of Moses|Deuteronomy 33]]:24 {{script|Phnx| 𐤁𐤓𐤅𐤊 𐤌𐤁𐤍𐤉𐤌 𐤀𐤔𐤓 }} "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.<ref>[https://www.friendsofiaa.org/news/2019/4/1/whats-in-a-name?mc_cid=b2c208eac1&mc_eid=e3e3038631 What's in a Name...] - [[Israel Antiquities Authority]] (1 April 2019)</ref>

== Table of letters ==
{{Contains special characters}}
{{Main|Phoenician alphabet#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 (cf. the [[Zayit Stone]] abecedary).

{| class="wikitable" id="letters_chart"
|-
! colspan="2" | Letter
! rowspan="2" | Name<ref>after {{cite book|first=Steven R.|last=Fischer|year=2001|title=A History of Writing|publisher=Reaction Books|location=London|page=126}}</ref>
! rowspan="2" | Meaning
! rowspan="2" | [[Phoneme]]
! rowspan="2" | Origin
! colspan="9" | Corresponding letter in
|-
! Image
! Text
! [[Samaritan alphabet|Samaritan]] 
! [[Hebrew alphabet|Square]]

|-
| {{Anchor|aleph}}[[File:Phoenician aleph.svg|20px|Aleph]]
| {{huge|{{lang|phn|{{script|Phnx|𐤀}}}}}}
| [[Aleph|ʾālep]]
| head of cattle ({{lang|he|rtl=yes|[[:wikt:אלף#Hebrew|אלף]]}})
| ʾ {{IPAblink|ʔ}}
| 𓃾
| {{Script|Samr|ࠀ}}
| {{Script|Hebr|[[Aleph|א]]}}
|-
| {{Anchor|Beth|Bet}}[[File:Phoenician beth.svg|20px|Beth]]
| {{huge|{{lang|phn|{{script|Phnx|𐤁}}}}}}
| [[Bet (letter)|bēt]]
| house ({{lang|he|rtl=yes|[[:wikt:בית#Hebrew|בית]]}}) 
| b {{IPAblink|b}}
| 𓉐
|{{Script|Samr|ࠁ}}
| {{Script|Hebr|[[Bet (letter)|ב]]}}
 
|-
| {{Anchor|Gimel}}[[File:Phoenician gimel.svg|20px|Gimel]]
| {{huge|{{lang|phn|{{script|Phnx|𐤂}}}}}}
| [[gimel|gīmel]]
| camel ({{lang|he|rtl=yes|גמל}})
| g {{IPAblink|ɡ}}
| 𓌙
|{{Script|Samr|ࠂ}}
| {{Script|Hebr|[[Gimel|ג]]}}
 
|-
| {{Anchor|Daleth|Dalet}}[[File:Phoenician daleth.svg|20px|Daleth]]
| {{huge|{{lang|phn|{{script|Phnx|𐤃}}}}}}
| [[Dalet|dālet]]
| door ({{lang|he|rtl=yes|[[:wikt:דלת#Hebrew|דלת]]}})
| d {{IPAblink|d}}
| 𓇯
|{{Script|Samr|ࠃ}}
| {{Script|Hebr|[[Dalet|ד]]}}
 
|-
| {{Anchor|He}}[[File:Phoenician he.svg|20px|He]]
| {{huge|{{lang|phn|{{script|Phnx|𐤄}}}}}}
| [[He (letter)|hē]]
| jubilation/window<ref name=he-het/>
| h {{IPAblink|h}}
| 𓀠?
| {{Script|Samr|ࠄ}}
| {{Script|Hebr|[[He (letter)|ה]]}}
 
|-
| {{Anchor|Waw}}[[File:Phoenician waw.svg|20px|Waw]]
| {{huge|{{lang|phn|{{script|Phnx|𐤅}}}}}}
| [[Waw (letter)|wāw]]
| hook ({{lang|he|rtl=yes|[[:wikt:וו#Hebrew|וו]]}})
| w {{IPAblink|w}}
| 𓏲
| {{Script|Samr|ࠅ}}
| {{Script|Hebr|[[Waw (letter)|ו]]}}
 
|-
| {{Anchor|Zayin}}[[File:Phoenician zayin.svg|20px|Zayin]]
| {{huge|{{lang|phn|{{script|Phnx|𐤆}}}}}}
| [[zayin]]
| weapon ({{lang|he|rtl=yes|[[:wikt:זין#Hebrew|זין]]}})
| z {{IPAblink|z}}
| 𓏭
| {{Script|Samr|ࠆ}} 
| {{Script|Hebr|[[Zayin|ז]]}}
 
|-
| {{Anchor|Heth}}[[File:Phoenician heth.svg|20px|Heth]]
| {{huge|{{lang|phn|{{script|Phnx|𐤇}}}}}}
| [[Heth|ḥēt]](?)
| courtyard/thread<ref name=he-het>The 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 {{cns|the name means "window".|date=December 2019}} see: [[He (letter)#Origins]].
</ref>
| ḥ {{IPAblink|ħ}}
| 𓉗/𓈈?
|{{Script|Samr|ࠇ}}
| {{Script|Hebr|[[Heth|ח]]}}
 
|-
| {{Anchor|Teth}}[[File:Phoenician teth.svg|20px|Teth]]
| {{huge|{{lang|phn|{{script|Phnx|𐤈}}}}}}
| [[Teth|ṭēt]]
| wheel (?)<ref>The glyph was taken to represent a wheel, but it possibly derives from the hieroglyph ''[[nefer]]'' hieroglyph 𓄤 and would originally have been called ''tab'' טוב "good".</ref>
| ṭ {{IPAblink|tˤ}}
| ?
| {{Script|Samr|ࠈ}}
| {{Script|Hebr|[[Teth|ט]]}}
 
|-
| {{Anchor|Yodh}}[[File:Phoenician yodh.svg|20px|Yodh]]
| {{huge|{{lang|phn|{{script|Phnx|𐤉}}}}}}
| [[Yodh|yōd]]
| arm, hand ({{lang|he|rtl=yes|[[:wikt:יד#Hebrew|יד]]}})
| y {{IPAblink|j}}
| 𓂝
| {{Script|Samr|ࠉ}} 
| {{Script|Hebr|[[Yodh|י]]}}

|-
| {{Anchor|Kaph}}[[File:Phoenician kaph.svg|20px|Kaph]]
| {{huge|{{lang|phn|{{script|Phnx|𐤊}}}}}}
| [[kaph|kāp]]
| palm of a hand ({{lang|he|rtl=yes|[[:wikt:כף#Hebrew|כף]]}})
| k {{IPAblink|k}}
| 𓂧
|{{Script|Samr|ࠊ}} 
| {{Script|Hebr|[[Kaph|כ, ך]]}}
|-
| {{Anchor|Lamedh}}[[File:Phoenician lamedh.svg|20px|Lamedh]]
| {{huge|{{lang|phn|{{script|Phnx|𐤋}}}}}}
| [[Lamedh|lāmed]]
| goad ({{lang|he|rtl=yes|[[:wikt:ל־מ־ד|למד]]}})<ref>The root l-m-d mainly means "to teach", from an original meaning "to goad". [https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H3925 H3925] in ''Strong's Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible'', 1979.</ref>
| l {{IPAblink|l}}
| 𓌅
|{{Script|Samr|ࠋ}} 
| {{Script|Hebr|[[Lamedh|ל]]}}
|-
| {{Anchor|Mem}}[[File:Phoenician mem.svg|20px|Mem]]
| {{huge|{{lang|phn|{{script|Phnx|𐤌}}}}}}
| [[mem|mēm]]
| water ({{lang|he|rtl=yes|[[:wikt:מים#Hebrew|מים]]}})
| m {{IPAblink|m}}
| 𓈖
|{{Script|Samr|ࠌ}} 
| {{Script|Hebr|[[Mem|מ, ם]]}}
|-
| {{Anchor|Nun}}[[File:Phoenician nun.svg|20px|Nun]]
| {{huge|{{lang|phn|{{script|Phnx|𐤍}}}}}}
| [[Nun (letter)|nūn]]
| fish ({{lang|he|rtl=yes|[[:wikt:נון#Hebrew|נון]]}})<ref>the letter name ''nūn'' is a word for "fish", but the glyph is presumably from the depiction of a snake, which would point to an original name [[:wikt:נחש#Hebrew|נחש]] "snake".</ref>
| n {{IPAblink|n}}
| 𓆓
|{{Script|Samr|ࠍ}}
| {{Script|Hebr|[[Nun (letter)|נ, ן]]}}
|-
| {{Anchor|Samekh}}[[File:Phoenician samekh.svg|20px|Samekh]]
| {{huge|{{lang|phn|{{script|Phnx|𐤎}}}}}}
| [[Samekh|sāmek]]
| pillar, support ({{lang|he|rtl=yes|[[:wikt:ܣܡܟܐ|סמך]]}})<ref>[https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H5564&t=WLC H5564] in ''Strong's Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible'', 1979.</ref>
| s {{IPAblink|s}}
| [[djed|𓊽]]
| {{Script|Samr|ࠎ}} 
| {{Script|Hebr|[[Samekh|ס]]}} 
 
|-
| {{Anchor|Ayin}}[[File:Phoenician ayin.svg|20px|Ayin]]
| {{huge|{{lang|phn|{{script|Phnx|𐤏}}}}}}
| [[Ayin|ʿayin]]
| eye ({{lang|he|rtl=yes|[[:wikt:עין#Hebrew|עין]]}})
| ʿ {{IPAblink|ʕ}}
| 𓁹
|{{Script|Samr|ࠏ}}
| {{Script|Hebr|[[Ayin|ע]]}}
 
|-
| {{Anchor|Pe}}[[File:Phoenician pe.svg|20px|Pe]]
| {{huge|{{lang|phn|{{script|Phnx|𐤐}}}}}}
| [[Pe (Semitic letter)|pē]]
| mouth ({{lang|he|rtl=yes|[[:wikt:פה#Hebrew|פה]]}})
| p {{IPAblink|p}}
| 𓂋
| {{Script|Samr|ࠐ}} 
| {{Script|Hebr|[[Pe (Semitic letter)|פ, ף]]}}
 
|-
| {{Anchor|Sadek|Tsade}}[[File:Phoenician sade.svg|20px|Sadek]]
| {{huge|{{lang|phn|{{script|Phnx|𐤑}}}}}}
| [[Tsade|ṣādē]]
| ?<ref>the letter name may be from {{lang|he|rtl=yes|[[:wikt:צד#Hebrew|צד]]}} "to hunt".</ref>
| ṣ {{IPAblink|sˤ}}
| ?
|{{Script|Samr|ࠑ}} 
| {{Script|Hebr|[[Tsade|צ, ץ]]}}
 
|-
| {{Anchor|Qoph}}[[File:Phoenician qoph.svg|20px|Qoph]]
| {{huge|{{lang|phn|{{script|Phnx|𐤒}}}}}}
| [[Qoph|qōp]]
| ?<ref>"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.</ref>
| q {{IPAblink|q}}
| ?
|{{Script|Samr|ࠒ}} 
| {{Script|Hebr|[[Qoph|ק]]}}
|-
| {{Anchor|Res|Resh}}[[File:Phoenician res.svg|20px|Res]]
| {{huge|{{lang|phn|{{script|Phnx|𐤓}}}}}}
| [[Resh|rēš]]
| head ({{lang|he|rtl=yes|[[:wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Semitic/raʾš-|ראש]]}})
| r {{IPAblink|r}}
| 𓁶
|{{Script|Samr|ࠓ}} 
| {{Script|Hebr|[[Resh|ר]]}}
 
|-
| {{Anchor|Sin|Shin}}[[File:Phoenician sin.svg|20px|Sin]]
| {{huge|{{lang|phn|{{script|Phnx|𐤔}}}}}}
| [[Shin (letter)|šīn]]
| tooth ({{lang|he|rtl=yes|[[:wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Semitic/šinn-|שין]]}})
| š {{IPAblink|ʃ}}
| 𓌓
|{{Script|Samr|ࠔ}} 
| {{Script|Hebr|[[Shin (letter)|ש]]}}
 
|-
| {{Anchor|Taw}}[[File:Phoenician taw.svg|20px|Taw]]
| {{huge|{{lang|phn|{{script|Phnx|𐤕}}}}}}
| [[Taw|tāw]]
| mark, sign ({{lang|he|rtl=yes|[[:wikt:תו#Hebrew|תו]]}})
| t {{IPAblink|t}}
| 𓏴
|{{Script|Samr|ࠕ}}
| {{Script|Hebr|[[Taw|ת]]}}
 
|}

==Unicode==
The Unicode block Phoenician (U+10900&ndash;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]].
[[File:Shiloach.jpg|thumb|The [[Siloam inscription]]]]
{{Unicode chart Phoenician}}

== See also ==
{{Portal|Asia|Judaism|Israel|Writing}}
* [[Ancient Hebrew writings]]
* [[Ancient North Arabian]]
* [[Biblical Hebrew orthography]]
* [[History of the Hebrew alphabet]]
* [[Proto-Canaanite alphabet]]
* [[Proto-Sinaitic script]]

== References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* "Alphabet, Hebrew". ''[[Encyclopaedia Judaica]]'' (CD-ROM Edition Version 1.0). Ed. [[Cecil Roth]]. Keter Publishing House. {{ISBN|965-07-0665-8}}
*{{cite web|last=Feldman|first=Rachel|url=http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-01/uoh-mah010710.php|year=2010|title=Most ancient Hebrew biblical inscription deciphered|access-date=15 June 2011| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110607150148/http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-01/uoh-mah010710.php| archive-date= 7 June 2011 | url-status= live}}
*{{cite journal|last=Shanks|first=Hershel|title=Oldest Hebrew Inscription Discovered in Israelite Fort on Philistine Border|journal=Biblical Archaeology Review|year=2010|pages=51–56|volume=36|issue=2|url=http://www.bib-arch.org/bar/article.asp?PubID=BSBA&Volume=36&Issue=2&ArticleID=9|access-date=2020-06-20|archive-date=2012-02-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120229232512/http://www.bib-arch.org/bar/article.asp?PubID=BSBA&Volume=36&Issue=2&ArticleID=9|url-status=dead}}

== External links ==
{{Sister project links |wikt=Category:Paleo-Hebrew |c=Paleo-Hebrew alphabet |commonscat=yes |n=no |q=no |s=no |b=no |v=no}}
* [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/1308-alphabet-the-hebrew Hebrew Alphabet] at the ''[[Jewish Encyclopedia]]''
* [https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/hebrewhistory.html History of the Aleph-Bet] at the [[Jewish Virtual Library]]
* [http://www.omniglot.com/writing/aramaic.htm Aramaic/Paleo-Hebrew alphabet] at Omniglot
* [http://alittlehebrew.com/paleo/ Unicode Modern/Paleo-Hebrew conversion tool]
* [https://sourceforge.net/projects/paleo-hebrew-abjad/ Paleo-Hebrew Abjad font (the current version of the font is 1.1.0)]
* [https://opensiddur.org/help/fonts/ Open-source Unicode Hebrew Fonts]

{{Northwest Semitic abjad}}
{{Hebrew language}}
{{List of writing systems}}

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