Writing systems:
abjads |
alphabets |
syllabic alphabets |
syllabaries |
semanto-phonetic scripts
undeciphered scripts |
alternative scripts |
your con-scripts |
A-Z index |
Direction index
Writing systems:
abjads |
alphabets |
syllabic alphabets |
syllabaries |
semanto-phonetic scripts
undeciphered scripts |
alternative scripts |
your con-scripts |
A-Z index |
Direction index
The Early Aramaic or Proto-Hebrew alphabet was developed sometime during the late 10th or early 9th century BC and replaced Assyrian cuneiform as the main writing system of the Assyrian empire. This alphabet is thought to be the ancestor of a number of Semitic alphabets as well as the Kharosthi alphabet. At the end of the 6th century BC the Early Aramaic alphabet was replaced by the Hebrew square script which is also known as the Aramaic alphabet.
Aramaic, a language which was the lingua franca of much of the Near East from about 7th century BC until the 7th century AD, when it was largely replaced by Arabic. Classical or Imperial Aramaic was the main language of the Persian, Babylonian and Assyrian empires and spread as far as Greece and the Indus valley.
After Alexander the Great destroyed the Persian Empire, Aramaic ceased to be the official language of any major state, though continued to be spoken widely. It was during this period that Aramaic split into western and eastern dialects.
Aramaic was once the main language of the Jews and appears in some of the Dead Sea Scrolls. It is still used as a liturgical language by Christian communities in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq, and is still spoken by small numbers of people in Iraq, Turkey, Iran, Armenia, Georgia and Syria.
Aramaic has also been written in versions of the Latin, Hebrew and Cyrillic alphabets, though the Syriac is the most widely used script to write Aramaic.
Sample text in Aramaic in the Hebrew alphabet (Tower of Babel)
Free Aramaic fonts
http://www.historian.net/files.htm
http://www.aramaicpeshitta.com/fonts.htm
The History of the Aramaic Language
http://members.aol.com/assyrianme/aramaic/history.html
The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon and texts
http://cal1.cn.huc.edu/
Aramaic Peshitta Bible Repository
http://www.aramaicpeshitta.com
Learn Ayssyrian Aramaic online
http://www.learnassyrian.com
Ancient Berber, Arabic, Hebrew, Mandaic, Manichaean, Middle Persian, Nabataean, Parthian, Phoenician, Proto-Hebrew, Psalter, Punic, Sabaean, Samaritan, Sogdian, South Arabian, Syriac, Tifinagh, Ugaritic
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