Samaritan alphabet

Origins

The Samaritan alphabet was derived from the Old Hebrew alphabet by the Samaritans. According to the Bible, the Samaritans came originally from Mesopotamia, then moved to Palestine at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC and adopted Jewish religion and culture. The Samaritans themselves claim descent from the northern tribes of Israel. Evidence from recent DNA tests supports this claim and shows they are related to the Israelites through the paternal line.

For further details, see: www.khazaria.com/genetics/abstracts.html

The Samaritan alphabet is still used by a few Samaritans in the city of Nablus and in the Samaritan quarter of Holon.

Notable features

This is a consonant alphabet. Vowels indicated with diacritics.
Written from right to left in horizontal lines.

Used to write

Samaritan, an extinct Semitic language which fell out of use as a mother tongue in the 12th century AD, though is still used to a limited extent as a liturgical language.

Samaritan alphabet

Note

The font used for the first version of the alphabet was created by Shawn Eyer (shawn@orindalodge.org). The letters are based on those found in the Masonic writings of A Albert Pike (1809-1891). The second version of the alphabet is the one currently in use.

Links

Free Samaritan font
http://members.tripod.com/~osher_2/script.htm
http://www.orindalodge.org/kadoshsamaritan.php

Other consonant alphabets (abjads)

Ancient Berber, Arabic, Dhives Akuru, Hebrew, Mandaic, Middle Persian, Nabataean, Parthian, Phoenician, Proto-Hebrew, Psalter, Sabaean, Samaritan, Sogdian, South Arabian, Syriac, Tifinagh, Ugaritic