A History of Hebrew Part 9: Dating the Semitic Alphabet

This is a segment of a much larger video production that I am working on and am looking for feedback (positive and negative) on the layout and content.

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The inscriptions discovered in the past century and a half, have been accurately dated through the advances of archeology.

The original Semitic alphabet with its pictographic letters, can be divided into three periods. The early Semitic alphabet existed between the 20th and 12th centuries BC. However, note that the 20th century date is based on the oldest inscriptions found thus far and it is possible that future discoveries may push the date of the Semitic alphabet back even farther into history. The middle Semitic alphabet, the phoenician and old Hebrew, was in use between the 10th and 4th century BC. The late Semitic alphabet, the square aramaic script, was in use between 5th century BC and into modern times with the modern Hebrew alphabet that is used to this day.

Early Semitic Inscriptions

To date, the Wadi El-Hol inscriptions found in southern Egypt, are the oldest Semitic inscriptions found and date to between the 19th and 20th centuries BC. The Sinaitic inscriptions from the Sinai penninsula date to about the 15th century BC.

Middle Semitic Inscriptions

The Elah Valley Fortress, Tel-Zayit abecedary and the gezer calendar are dated to about the 10th century BC. Between the 12th and 10th centuries BC, the Greek alphabet used the same middle semitic script. The Mesha Stele (or Moabite stone) and the Ammonite inscriptions found in Jordan date to about the 9th century BC. The Siloam inscription from Hezekiah's tunnel and the Tel-Dan inscription which mentions the "house of David," date to about the 8th century BC. The Lachish inscriptions date to the 6th century BC and the Sarcophagus discovered in 1852 in Sidon dates to the 5th century BC.

Late Semitic Inscriptions

The majority of the scrolls from the Dead Sea Caves are written in the late semitic script and date to between the 2nd and 1st centuries BC. A few of the scrolls found in the dead sea caves, such as the Leviticus scroll, uses the middle semitic script showing that the script did not fall out of use completely. The letters from General Simon Bar Kockba in 135 AD during the second Jewish revolt against Rome were written in Hebrew with the late semitic script. The late Semitic script continued to be used for the works of the Talmud, the Masoretic Hebrew Bible as well the printed Hebrew Bibles of today.

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Credits

Narration: Jeff A. Benner

Graphics: Jeff A. Benner

Music: Jason Emory

Category:

Education

Tags:

• early
• middle
• late
• hebrew
• alphabet

[VictorLepanto]

Is there a "corrected" printing of the Bible (or atleast the Torah) w/ the script in what we can best determine is the original? I would think some valuable insights can be gained from such a text.

[ancienthebreworg]

@VictorLepanto I have published the Ancient Hebrew Torah, but I would not call this a corrected printing, but it is an attempt to restore the Torah to its original characteristics.

[VictorLepanto]

@ancienthebreworg: I am especially struck by how the original tov is a cross. The letter tet is a snake. Thus the cross, tov, is set against the serpent as opposed principles.

[ancienthebreworg]

@VictorLepanto One of the very first Hebrew words that I examined the pictographs used to spell the word is satan, which is spelled samech, a picture of a thorn, tet, a picture of a basket and means to surround, and nun, the picture of a seed - the thorn that surrounds the seed. The second word I did was Adam - aleph, an ox head meaning that can mean first, as it is the first letter, dalet meaning door and enter, and mem meaning water or chaos - the first to enter chaos.

[helltrackrider]

Wait...isnt the Earth supposed to be 6,000 years old?...how can these alphabets be so old?

But really...These alphabets were around well before Egyptians? Man...that is a loooong ass time ago.

[ancienthebreworg]

@helltrackrider The idea that the earth is only six thousand years old is based solely on an attempt to date the earth according to genealogies, but the Bible genealogies are not necessarily a complete record of the history of man.

[mrtruthify]

@MrViTopol

That is all very interesting. but i know better. Instead.. try playing some Hebrew audio for a Welshman... then watch him explain what is being said to you. Then we can skip the hours of debate. Also.. please see the centuries old Declaration of Abroath by Robert the Bruce, as well as just about any Greek history you like. The white "Euopean" man is in fact Israel. Thanks for the comment.

[MrViTopol]

@mrtruthify not exactly. Welsh, like all Celtic languages are closer to Arabic rather than Hebrew. random examples like Caledonia (from the Arabic ''Qalъa'' = ''Stone Quarry'' and ''Edana'' = ''to extract ore from rock'') and Tngland's place names like Devon // Devonshire from the Arabic ''Doun'' = ''to be submerged'' to ''flow low'' etc. which is the origin of the english word ''down'' just like the the names of rivers Dunai, Don, Dniepr, Dniestr etc. will suffice here.

[mrtruthify]

@ZeusTelemaxos

How many would you like?

Start with Irish/Scot WELSH. Welsh is the closest language to Hebrew. Our "Alpha-bet".. derives from the Hebrew Aleph-bet. English & German are the next closest languages. Some words remain identical.

[VictorLepanto]

@ancienthebreworg: Perhaps it is a mistake to imagine the ancients had no capacity for abstraction. In your saying that water is figure for chaos, I am reminded of the treatment that St. Augustine gave for the waters of creation in his City of God. He took it to mean an amorphous, non-solid & thus liquid like substance. He was tying it into his Platonism of course. But maybe this is an indication of the original intention of Moses. Much as "solid gold" forms from liquid molten gold.