Knowra Aramaic alphabet Aramaic alphabet The Aramaic alphabet is a consonantal script derived from Phoenician and used to write Aramaic. Its forms spread widely across the ancient Near East and gave rise to several later writing systems.
Abjad : A writing system whose basic signs represent consonants, with vowels absent or marked secondarily. The Aramaic alphabet is an abjad: its core letters denote consonants.
Phoenician script : An ancient writing system used for Phoenician, written from right to left with consonant signs. Its letter inventory and shapes provided the immediate model for early Aramaic writing.
Hebrew alphabet : The writing system used for Hebrew, descended from the square Aramaic script. The modern Hebrew letter forms developed from a later Aramaic script style.
Tel Dan Stele : A ninth-century BCE Aramaic inscription from northern Israel, notable for its reference to the House of David. Its carved letters preserve an early monumental form of the Aramaic script.
Phoenician alphabet : An ancient consonantal script used by Phoenician speakers and the source of several alphabetic traditions. Aramaic inherited its alphabetic structure and early letter forms from Phoenician.
Old Aramaic : The earliest attested stage of the Aramaic language, documented in inscriptions from the early first millennium BCE. Inscriptions in Old Aramaic show the alphabet’s early development.
Syriac alphabet : A script used to write Syriac, a literary form of Aramaic. Syriac script developed from Aramaic writing and became central to Syriac literature.
Zakkur Stele : An Aramaic royal inscription of King Zakkur of Hamath and Lu'ash, generally dated to the early eighth century BCE. The inscription offers a substantial example of early Aramaic monumental writing.
Imperial Aramaic : A standardized form of Aramaic used across the Achaemenid Empire, including in administration. Its script became a widely used, relatively standardized form of Aramaic writing.
Achaemenid Empire : The Persian empire founded by Cyrus the Great, which ruled much of western and central Asia from the sixth to fourth centuries BCE. Imperial administration helped spread Aramaic writing across a vast territory.
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