Samaritan script

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Samaritan
Script type	Abjad
Time period	600 BCE – present
Direction	right-to-left script, top-to-bottom
Languages	Samaritan Hebrew, Samaritan Aramaic
Related scripts
Parent systems	Egyptian hieroglyphs[1] Proto-Sinaitic alphabet Phoenician alphabet Paleo-Hebrew alphabet Samaritan
ISO 15924
ISO 15924	Samr, 123 , ​Samaritan
Unicode
Unicode alias	Samaritan
Unicode range	U+0800–U+083F
This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

The Samaritan script is used by the Samaritans for religious writings, including the Samaritan Pentateuch, writings in Samaritan Hebrew, and for commentaries and translations in Samaritan Aramaic and occasionally Arabic.

Samaritan is a direct descendant of the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet, which was a variety of the Phoenician alphabet. Paleo-Hebrew is the alphabet in which large parts of the Hebrew Bible were originally penned according to the consensus of most scholars, who also believe that these scripts are descendants of the Proto-Sinaitic script. Paleo-Hebrew script was used by the ancient Israelites, both Jews and Samaritans.

The better-known "square script" Hebrew alphabet which has been traditionally used by Jews since the Babylonian exile is a stylized version of the Aramaic alphabet called Ashurit (כתב אשורי), though secular and religious literalist interpretations of Exodus 32:16 assume that the text asserts that it was received on Sinai from the Finger of God and that it has been in continuous and unchanged use since then.

Historically, the Aramaic alphabet became distinct from Phoenician/Paleo-Hebrew in the 8th century. After the fall of the Persian Empire, Judaism used both scripts before settling on the Aramaic form, henceforth de facto becoming the “Hebrew alphabet” since it was repurposed to write Hebrew. For a limited time thereafter, the use of paleo-Hebrew (proto-Samaritan) among Jews was retained only to write the Tetragrammaton, but soon that custom was also abandoned.

A cursive style of the alphabet also exists.

The Samaritan alphabet first became known to the Western world with the publication of a manuscript of the Samaritan Pentateuch in 1631 by Jean Morin.^[2] In 1616 the traveler Pietro della Valle had purchased a copy of the text in Damascus, and this manuscript, now known as Codex B, was deposited in a Parisian library.^[3]

Development[]

The table below shows the development of the Samaritan script. On the left are the corresponding Hebrew letters for comparison. Column I is the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet. Column X shows the modern form of the letters.

Letters[]

Ancient inscription in Samaritan Hebrew. From a photo c.1900 by the Palestine Exploration Fund.

Unicode[]

Samaritan script was added to the Unicode Standard in October 2009 with the release of version 5.2.

The Unicode block for Samaritan is U+0800–U+083F:

Notes[]

Bibliography[]

• Flôrenṭîn, Moše (2005). Late Samaritan Hebrew: A Linguistic Analysis of Its Different Types. Brill. ISBN 978-900413841-4.

External links[]

• A Samaritan Bible, at the British library
• Omniglot.com - Samaritan alphabet
• Link to free Samaritan font (consonants only as of 2010)