The Evolution of the Hebrew Letter
- Noa Katz
- Jul 3
- 13 min read
Hey! I’m sharing here a paper from my undergraduate studies that I submitted in 2014 to Dr. Nadine Shenkar as part of the course “The Hebrew Letter in Jewish Tradition,” which turned out to be one of the most fascinating courses I took during my entire undergraduate degree! (Visual Communication at Bezalel).
It was a course where, in every session, we traveled back in time and read various biblical sources. It was simply so interesting and completely unrelated to my everyday life. It didn’t come from a religious place but rather from a place of curiosity.Eleven years later, I sometimes remember and reflect on the things we discussed in that course.
I’m very interested in the Hebrew language and its history, and as a result, I also developed a passion for fonts and lettering. I’m really fascinated by understanding where things come from, so even though this paper is 11 years old, I feel it’s cool to share it! Here it is, and I hope you enjoy it!
Introduction
We are born and learn Hebrew as our mother tongue, using and reading it everywhere, but we rarely stop to ask: where did it all begin?
The script we use today evolved from the ancient Hebrew script, which was used by Hebrew speakers until the Second Temple period. It is a local version of the Phoenician alphabet, which itself developed from the Proto-Canaanite alphabet. In the Proto-Canaanite script, each symbol represented the consonant that began the word depicted by the symbol—a method known as the acrophonic principle. For example, a drawing of a head represented the sound "R"; an eye represented the sound "ע" (‘ayin), and so forth.
No symbols were assigned to vowels (such as "e," "a," or "u")—this characteristic is one of the defining features of what is called an Abjad: a writing system based solely on consonants.
The ancient Canaanite script gradually spread, and its symbols became so familiar that its users began to "take shortcuts" by simplifying the drawings, assuming that readers would understand the letter even from schematic sketches. For example, the head became a triangle with a neck; the hand with all its fingers turned into a sparse sketch; and only the fish’s tail remained. When the Hebrews adopted the Canaanite script, they sometimes struggled to recognize the original drawings, assuming, for instance, that the symbol for the word "zihah" (meaning "weapon") was a weapon; that the fish’s triangular tail was a door; and that a snake was actually a fish. This is how the Hebrew names for the letters Zayin, Dalet, and Nun originated (Nun means "fish," as in the names Amnon and Sfamnun - which are types of fishes).
The ancient Canaanite alphabet spread widely and became the basis for many alphabets, most notably the Phoenician alphabet, which spread with Phoenician traders around the Mediterranean basin. It directly influenced the development of the Greek alphabet, which was the first to add vowel signs, and from which the Latin alphabet (used for English) and Cyrillic alphabet (used, among others, for Russian) evolved. Thus, the majority of modern alphabets trace their origins back to this ancient root from our region.
During the Second Temple period, the Aramaic alphabet was adopted instead of the ancient Hebrew script. The old script remained in limited use, for example, in writing sacred names and minting coins, until this use also faded. Therefore, the Hebrew alphabet we use today is not a direct continuation of the ancient Hebrew script but rather a derivative of the Aramaic script, which underwent formal and linguistic adaptations over generations.
In this paper, I will write about the invention and discovery of the first phonetic alphabet, the differences between it and previous writing systems, and I will trace its development up to the form familiar to us today.
Chapter 1: Serabit el-Khadim and the Proto-Sinaitic Script
In the winter of 1904–1905, the English archaeologist Flinders Petrie excavated at Serabit el-Khadim in the western Sinai Peninsula. There, he discovered the remains of a large temple dedicated to the worship of Hathor, the Egyptian goddess—who was identified with a local Semitic goddess associated with beauty, love, and music in Egyptian mythology.
He also uncovered the remains of a sizable camp established for the miners working in the nearby copper and turquoise mines.
Flinders Petrie, the archaeologist, began studying the inscriptions, which date to the first half of the second millennium BCE, and noticed that they were a kind of imitation of Egyptian hieroglyphs. However, the number of repeated signs was low. Petrie identified the signs as an alphabetic script, very different from the hieroglyphic writing system, which contains hundreds of signs. Nonetheless, Petrie was unable to decipher these strange inscriptions.
In 1906, Petrie published the results of his excavations at the site. The English Egyptologist Alan H. Gardiner became interested in the unusual inscriptions that Petrie had found in Sinai, and in 1916 published an article on the subject. In his article, Gardiner presented a group of four signs that appeared frequently in the Sinai inscriptions—he read this as "Baalat" (meaning “female Baal”), referring to Hathor, the goddess worshiped in the temple uncovered by Petrie.
This reading served as the basis for proving that the script of these inscriptions is indeed alphabetic and that their language is Semitic.
Moreover, Gardiner demonstrated that although this script is alphabetic, its form is still pictographic—derived from images originally found in Egyptian hieroglyphs. However, Gardiner was unable to decipher all the signs appearing in the inscriptions and could not read most of them. Nevertheless, he paved the way and established the connection between the ancient Canaanite Hebrew alphabet and the Egyptian hieroglyphic script.
Some scholars infer that the Canaanite workers in the turquoise mines at Serabit el-Khadim could not read the complex Egyptian hieroglyphs, which consisted of hundreds of signs, nor did they know any other writing system. Therefore, they needed to invent a simpler method—a phonetic alphabet with fewer than 30 symbols, governed by only a few rules concerning letters and sounds.
In the Proto-Sinaitic script, letters were written in different directions, and the lines were arranged in various ways—upwards, downwards, right-to-left, left-to-right, and even back and forth. This indicates that the writers were not proficient in Egyptian hieroglyphs or any other writing system.
From this, we conclude that the inventors of the Hebrew alphabet—strange as it may sound—were illiterate.
The new method of writing created by the Canaanites in the Sinai desert was a brilliant invention. Instead of hundreds of symbols, they used fewer than thirty symbols representing sounds (and only sounds). With this small set of symbols, it was possible to represent any word in the language, and rather than applying complicated reading rules, the alphabet offers one fixed way to read them.
P.S. The Proto-Sinaitic script was an intermediate stage before the Proto-Canaanite script.
Chapter 2: The Phoenician Alphabet – Father of the Ancient Hebrew Script and Father of the Aramaic Script
The Reduction of Signs in the Proto-Canaanite Script
The reduction in the number of signs in the Proto-Canaanite script took place around the 13th century BCE. During that period, the number of phonemes in the Southern Canaanite dialect also decreased. By the middle of the 11th century BCE, the pictographic Canaanite script had already transformed into a linear script—meaning that each letter was composed of a small number of straight or curved lines, and the original pictorial forms became abstract shapes. The Canaanites who inhabited Phoenicia wrote in this script, which scholars later named the “Phoenician script” after them, dating from around the middle of the 11th century BCE.
At that time, the Phoenicians used 22 consonants of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet to write their language. The Phoenician script was an abjad—writing consisting only of consonants, with no indication of vowels. Around the same period, the writing direction stabilized to right-to-left, and the letter forms were standardized.
The Phoenicians were the first people to use the alphabet extensively for commercial and maritime purposes, spreading it throughout the entire Mediterranean basin. The Phoenician script became widespread and was adopted to write several dialects in regions neighboring Phoenicia. Among the peoples who adopted the Phoenician script were the Hebrews and the Arameans.
Over its history, the Phoenician script developed several handwriting styles. Scholars generally divide the Phoenician script into three main stylistic groups that also roughly correspond to chronological phases: the Phoenician script, the Punic script, and the Neo-Punic script. The latest Neo-Punic inscriptions date from the 2nd or early 3rd century CE. After that, the Phoenician script ceased to be used.
From the Phoenician script developed the Greek alphabet—out of which the Cyrillic alphabet later evolved—as well as the ancient Italic alphabet, from which the Latin alphabet emerged.
Chapter 3: The Ancient Hebrew Script
Archaic Name: Da‘atz Script (Damascus–Iraq–North, based on geographic usage)
In its origins, the ancient Hebrew script differed from the Phoenician mainly in its tendency toward more fluent handwriting, which was reflected in the inclination of the vertical strokes of letters with long legs to the left, the consistent use of the letter Waw with a head curved upward, and the letter Tav resembling the Latin letter X.
The ancient Hebrew script is not the direct ancestor of the script we use today. Instead, the modern Hebrew script developed from a different branch that split off from the Phoenician script — the Aramaic script.
The ancient Hebrew script was a local variant of the Phoenician alphabet as it was used by the inhabitants of the Kingdom of Judah and the Kingdom of Israel in the first half of the first millennium BCE. It also influenced the scripts of several neighboring kingdoms, such as Moab, Philistia, and Aram. Like the Phoenician alphabet, this script had 22 signs ("letters") representing consonants only, with no vowels indicated (vowel markers—matres lectionis—appeared only later). For this reason, it is classified as an abjad. The direction of writing in the ancient Hebrew alphabet, as in the Phoenician, was from right to left, and the angular shapes of the letters were fixed and stable (unlike the variable letter shapes in the Proto-Canaanite alphabet).
Following the exile of the people to Babylon and the Assyrian and Babylonian rule over the Land of Israel in the 6th century BCE, the use of the Aramaic alphabet spread widely. The Aramaic script became the lingua franca—the international bridging language—of the Assyrian and Babylonian empires. During the following centuries (6th–2nd centuries BCE), in the period of the governors of Judah up to the Hasmonean kingdom, the ancient Hebrew script was still used alongside the Aramaic script. However, by the 2nd–1st centuries BCE, the use of the ancient Hebrew script among the Jews ceased almost entirely, except for symbolic or sacred purposes. Today, it is used mainly by scholars familiar with its letters for academic and research purposes.
A specific variation of this script continues to be used by the Samaritans today (the Samaritan script differs slightly from the ancient Hebrew script). In the first centuries CE, the form of the Aramaic script as used by the Jews crystallized and took on its “square” shape, which serves as the prototype of the modern Hebrew script.
Chapter 4: The Aramaic Script — Father of the Hebrew Script
The Aramaic Alphabet
The Aramaic alphabet is an abjad (a consonantal alphabet) used for writing the Aramaic language, which has been spoken since the beginning of the first millennium BCE. It developed from the Phoenician alphabet and began to differentiate itself from it around the 8th century BCE. Like other types of consonantal alphabets, all the letters represent consonants; some also function as matres lectionis (vowel indicators), thus representing vowels as well.
Historically, the Aramaic alphabet is important because nearly all writing systems in India and the Middle East are derived from it to some degree. This is partly because Aramaic served as a lingua franca (a language that was not a native tongue but an official language) in several empires, including the Neo-Assyrian Empire, the Babylonian Empire, and the Achaemenid Persian Empire. Religious scriptures of Judaism and Islam, as well as Christian and some Buddhist sacred texts, are written in scripts derived from Aramaic. It is even possible that the Brahmi family of scripts, used in Hinduism, Sikhism, and certain branches of Buddhism, has a connection to the Aramaic alphabet.
Initially, Aramaic was written using the Phoenician alphabet and later developed into the square script. Some Aramaic speakers in the past—and some still today—used the Syriac alphabet, which closely resembles the Hebrew script.
In rabbinic literature and following that, in archaic Hebrew writings, this script is called the “Assyrian alphabet.” This is a traditional name referring only to the square Aramaic script used today and does not refer to the true Assyrian cuneiform script used in the ancient Assyrian Empire.
This name swap arose because during the Second Temple period, Jews commonly referred to Aram as “Asshur,” since toward its end Aram became an Assyrian province (hence the modern name “Syria”).
In the Assyrian Empire itself, however, the Akkadian language was spoken in the northern dialect (Assyrian), and the writing system used was Sumerian cuneiform.
It is important to note that the Aramaic script was highly flexible, and from it developed the Syriac, Nabataean, Estrangelo scripts, and eventually even the Arabic script.
Chapter 5: The Hebrew Script — The Script of Our Time
The current Hebrew alphabet has been in use since the Second Temple period and originates from the Aramaic script. The Hebrew alphabet consists of 22 letters plus 5 final forms. This script continues to be used today for writing Hebrew, Yiddish, and Judeo-Arabic.
Most of the books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh), the entire Mishnah, most of the Apocrypha, and most of the Dead Sea Scrolls were written in this script. The biblical texts are written in Biblical Hebrew, while the Mishnah is written in the dialect known as the language of the Sages (Lashon HaChazal).
At some point toward the end of the 2nd century CE or slightly later (scholars disagree on the exact timing), most Jews ceased to use Hebrew as a spoken language. Hundreds of years after the Mishnah was finalized, when Hebrew was no longer used for everyday speech, the Talmuds were composed primarily in Aramaic. However, there is evidence that Hebrew was still spoken in Tiberias in the 8th century CE, where the Masoretes were active.
Even during periods when Hebrew was not a spoken language, it remained the primary written language for Jews through what is called the “Intermediate Period” of Hebrew, especially in halakhic (Jewish legal) contexts.
Meanings of the Letters
The letter Aleph originates from the image of an "Aluf," meaning ox or cattle head. Over time, the shape of the image evolved into a more symbolic form as a letter.
The letter Bet was created from the ancient Canaanite sign that depicted a house, with the opening in the square symbolizing the entrance to the house.
The original drawing from which the letter Gimel was formed is not precisely known. Some claim it was a tool used as a boomerang, and its name is the source of the name Gimel.
Some scholars believe that the letter Dalet was created from the Canaanite drawing that depicted a door. However, in inscriptions from the 15th century BCE, its shape resembles a fish, and in inscriptions from the 12th century BCE, it appears as a triangle (the triangular shape is preserved in the Greek letter Delta).
The letter Hea likely developed from the image of a person praying with arms outstretched upward. This form appears in Canaanite inscriptions from the 15th century BCE. The origin of the letter’s name is unknown.
The first shape of the letter Vav was like a hook, which probably gave it its name.
The letter Zayin developed from a drawing of an axe head, which likely served as a tool or weapon, and thus its name.
The shape of the letter Het is probably based on an ancient sign that depicted a fence; the origin of the name Het is unknown.
The letter Tet developed from the Phoenician form, a cross surrounded by a circle, resembling a wheel. The meaning of the name Tet is unknown.
The ancient shape of the letter Yod was a hand with part of the arm, as seen from the side.
The name of the letter Kaf refers to the ancient shape of the letter—a palm of a hand.
The letter Lamed likely developed from the sign of a bent staff, which served as a shepherd's crook, hence the name Lamed.
The letter Mem developed from an ancient sign of a wave, probably symbolizing water.
The ancient Canaanite sign from which the letter Nun was created resembles the shape of a snake—despite the meaning of the word "Nun" in Aramaic being "fish."
The Phoenician shape used to create the letter Samekh is unknown. In Arabic, the name of the letter means "fish," but the shape of the fish is uncertain, although the letter resembles a fish skeleton.
The letter Ayin was created from a drawing of an eye.
The letter Peh in ancient Canaanite inscriptions from around the 15th century BCE was drawn as two parallel segments of a bow or an angle. The drawing might signify a mouth, as the letter’s name means "mouth," or "face," meaning edge or boundary.
The ancient Canaanite drawing that formed the letter Tsadi is like a plant or a flower bud.
In Canaanite inscriptions, the letter Qof appears as two circles of different sizes, one above the other. It is uncertain what the shape symbolizes; some believe the name Qof means "monkey," the animal, or "hole" at the tip of a needle.
The letter Resh originates from a drawing of a head found in ancient Canaanite inscriptions. The name Resh in Aramaic means "head," clearly indicating the ancient form of the symbol.
Initially, there were two signs for the sounds Shin and Tav. After merging, their symbol became a bow.
The last letter of the Hebrew alphabet is called "Tav," meaning mark or sign.
Additionally, there was another letter that disappeared from our alphabet during its development. This letter merged into the letter Ayin, its sound was a silent "g" (like a soft 'g'), and its shape resembled a rope. In research, this letter is sometimes called "Weak Ayin" or "Gayin." Its sound is preserved in Arabic as the letter "Jeem" (ج).
Summary
The Hebrew alphabet (more precisely—its ancient predecessor, the Proto-Canaanite script) was a revolutionary invention created in the second millennium BCE. It was so successful that its fundamental principles have not needed to change since.
The alphabet we write with today still carries within it the shapes, names, and sounds born nearly 4,000 years ago. It continues the phonetic writing revolution initiated by illiterate workers in the Sinai desert.
Most of our letters are still called by the same names they were back then and still symbolize the same meanings, because the alphabet was invented by the Canaanites, who spoke the ancient Canaanite language, the direct ancestor of Hebrew.
Other peoples began adopting this alphabetic system—using symbols to represent sounds rather than whole words—and today it is the most widespread writing system.
Sources:
The Book of the Hebrew Script — Ada Yardeni
History of the Hebrew Script — Shmuel Yeivin
Orit Kipnis — The Letter: Development and Design of the Hebrew Letter
Wikipedia entries:
Ancient Hebrew Script
Aramaic Script
Serabit el-Khadim
Phoenician Alphabet
Orly Goldwasser — The Exodus of the Script
Jeff Benner — Ancient Hebrew Research Center
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