The earliest examples of nun depict a snake. Typically it looked like the Egyptian sign for a resting cobra which in Egyptian was used for the sound usually transcribed as “dj” by scholars and which was probably pronounced similar to the way Ethiopian Jews pronounce … Continue reading Origins of the Hebrew Aleph-Bet (Part 14, Nun)
The origin of mem is clear. The name is recognizable as a variant of the word mayim meaning water and the earliest forms of mem depict a ripple of water. The Egyptians used this for the n sound from their word “nut” for water, but … Continue reading Origins of the Hebrew Aleph-Bet (Part 13, Mem)
With lamed we are back to the case of a sign that a modern person might find hard to identify without context. The earliest forms look like a stick with a hook at the end. But knowing that the signs ultimately originate from earlier Egyptian … Continue reading Origins of the Hebrew Aleph-Bet (Part 12, Lamed)
The origin of the letter kaph is quite clear. The word “kaph” means palm (of the hand) and the earliest forms of kaph are based on the Egyptian sign depicting a hand showing the palm. The Egyptians used this for the d sound (based on … Continue reading Origins of the Hebrew Aleph-Bet (Part 11, Kaph)
The tenth letter yud has a fairly clear origin. The name “yud” is recognizable as a form of the word “yad” meaning hand. The most common versions of the early yud are clearly based on the Egyptian hieroglyph depicting a forearm and hand being held … Continue reading Origins of the Hebrew Aleph-Bet (Part 10, Yud)
The letter Tet is probably the one that has caused the most confusion regarding its origins. Based on its modern appearance some assume that it originally depicted a snake. However during the first temple period it did not resemble a snake at all and consisted … Continue reading Origins of the Hebrew Aleph-Bet (Part 9, Tet)
Like with zayin, there are a few surprises behind the next letter chet. First temple period chet had the appearance of two vertical strokes joined by three horizontal lines. Based on this, people often conjectured that it might depict the side of a tent or … Continue reading Origins of the Hebrew Aleph-Bet (Part 8, Chet)
With zayin comes a few surprises and our first real mystery. The form of the zayin during the first temple period was two horizontal strokes joined by a vertical stroke. We know the word zayin from the Mishna where it means armaments or trappings of … Continue reading Origins of the Hebrew Aleph-Bet (Part 7, Zayin)
In the case of the letter he’ the object depicted in the earliest forms was clear but it was the meaning of the name that required explanation. With the next letter vav, we are back to a situation where it is not clear to a … Continue reading Origins of the Hebrew Aleph-Bet (Part 6, Vav)
With bet and dalet, it was not easy for a modern day person to identify what was being depicted in the earliest forms of these letters but the meanings of the names of the letters were obvious and helped to identify the depicted objects. With … Continue reading Origins of the Hebrew Aleph-Bet (Part 5, He’)
Ivri Anochi 