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)
Part 2 – The age of the Avot (Patriarchs): In part 1 we looked at the Pharaohs associated with the era of Avraham’s ancestors. Now we examine the Pharaohs at the time of Avraham, Yiztchak, Yaacov and of course Yosef. We are firmly in the … Continue reading The Pharaohs of Jewish history according to the historians of antiquity
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)
Part 1 – The glimmer of history in accounts of the Haflagah (separation of nations): With Pesach around the corner its time to learn about the Egyptian Pharaohs who impacted Jewish history. Historians of antiquity had much knowledge relating the events of the Tanach to … Continue reading The Pharaohs of Jewish history according to the historians of antiquity
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)
Although Purim is over, its never too late to brush up on who the Persian monarchs impacting Jewish history were, in particular who Achashverosh was. There is much confusion when one looks to commentators of the late 19th century. This is partly due to attempts … Continue reading Knowing your Arsaces from your Elamites
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)
Ivri Anochi 