Paleo-Hebrew alphabet

The ancient Hebrew alphabet is a modification of the Phoenician alphabet, and is also known as paläohebräisches alphabet. It consists of 22 consonants, the reader must vocalize the text itself. The ancient Hebrew alphabet was used since at least the 10th century BC for the Hebrew language and was over a thousand years officially in use. One of the earliest examples is the Gezer calendar from the time of Solomon. The ancient Hebrew alphabet was gradually displaced since the Persian Empire in the 5th century BC by the Aramaic alphabet, but was still partially used until Bar Kochba revolt.

In the second century the Jewish religious authorities decided that the ancient Hebrew alphabet for religious texts is inappropriate and only to be used from the Aramaic square script developed binding. The Samaritans, however, use the ancient Hebrew Scriptures in modified form today for the Samaritan Pentateuch.

• Alphabet
• Hebrew Scriptures