Aramaic square script: Difference between revisions

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==Background==

==Background==

[[Imperial Aramaic]] was the language of administration during the period of [[Achaemenid]] rule over [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] (6th – 4th centuries BC) and the wider region, as they inherited the Aramaic language of the administrative bodies of the [[Neo-Assyrian empire]] that had ruled the region previously. Aramaic had also become a common spoken language among the people of [[Syria-Palaestina]], persisting under [[Roman Palestine|Roman rule]].<ref name=p2247/> The written [[Aramaic language]] under Persian rule transitioned from using the [[Phoenician alphabet]] script to developing and using a highly standardized square script sometime between the 5th and 4th centuries BC.<ref name=Mansoor>Mansoor, 1978, p. 26.</ref>

[[Imperial Aramaic]] was the language of administration during the period of [[Achaemenid]] rule over [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] (6th – 4th centuries BC) and the wider region, as they inherited the Aramaic language of the administrative bodies of the [[Neo-Assyrian empire]] that had ruled the region previously. Aramaic had also become a common spoken language among the people of [[Syria-Palaestina]], persisting under [[Roman Palestine|Roman rule]].<ref name=p2247/> The written [[Aramaic language]] under Persian rule transitioned from using the [[Phoenician alphabet]] script to developing and using a highly standardized square script sometime between the 5th and 4th centuries BC.<ref name=Mansoor>Mansoor, 1978, p. 26.</ref>

[[File:4q246-manuscript.jpg|thumb|left|upright|”[[4Q246|Son of God]]” manuscript, one of the [[Qumran scrolls]] written in Aramaic using square script]]

[[File:4q246-manuscript.jpg|thumb|left|upright|”[[4Q246|Son of God]]” manuscript, one of the [[Qumran scrolls]] written in Aramaic using square script]]

At the time of the writing of the [[Hebrew Bible]], [[Jewish]] authors of the text used [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] primarily as a liturgical language, which had up to then been written using the Phoenician alphabet (also known as [[Paleo-Hebrew]]). Sacred texts written in Hebrew needed to be translated into Aramaic to be understood and were known as ”targumim” (singular: [[targum]]).<ref name=What>{{cite web|url=https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/ancient-near-eastern-world/what-is-aramaic/|publisher=[[Biblical Archaeology Society]]|title=What Is Aramaic?: Exploring the rich legacy of a biblical language|first=Clinton J.|last=Moyer|date=2025-04-07}}</ref> Imperial Aramaic or Biblical Aramaic square script also came to be adopted as the new alphabet for writing Biblical Hebrew,<ref name=p2247/><ref name=Mansoor/> likely in the [[Babylonian exile]] where Aramaic was also the language of daily life.<ref name=Mitchell>Mitchell, 1998, p. 32.</ref>

At the time of the writing of the [[Hebrew Bible]], [[Jewish]] authors of the text used [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] primarily as a liturgical language, which had up to then been written using the Phoenician alphabet (also known as [[Paleo-Hebrew]]). Sacred texts written in Hebrew needed to be translated into Aramaic to be understood and were known as ”targumim” (singular: [[targum]]).<ref name=What>{{cite web|url=https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/ancient-near-eastern-world/what-is-aramaic/|publisher=[[Biblical Archaeology Society]]|title=What Is Aramaic?: Exploring the rich legacy of a biblical language|first=Clinton J.|last=Moyer|date=2025-04-07}}</ref> Imperial Aramaic or Biblical Aramaic square script also came to be adopted as the new alphabet for writing Biblical Hebrew,<ref name=p2247/><ref name=Mansoor/> likely in the [[Babylonian exile]] where Aramaic was also the language of daily life.<ref name=Mitchell>Mitchell, 1998, p. 32.</ref>

Aramaic square script is the 22-letter consonantal alphabet and script that developed to write the Aramaic language beginning in the 5th BC. The earliest Qumran scrolls dating to the mid-third century BC are written using Aramaic square script.^[1] It is this script that was adopted to write Late Biblical Hebrew, and thus called Ktav Ashuri by Jewish scribes, and it is identical in form to the alphabet script used for Modern Hebrew.

Background

Imperial Aramaic was the language of administration during the period of Achaemenid rule over Palestine (6th – 4th centuries BC) and the wider region, as they inherited the Aramaic language of the administrative bodies of the Neo-Assyrian empire that had ruled the region previously. The Assyrian empire had adopted use of the script alongside their native Akkadian language after conquering the Aramaean city-states and kingdoms in the 9th and 8th centuries BC.^[2] Aramaic had also become a common spoken language among the people of Syria-Palaestina, persisting under Roman rule.^[1] The written Aramaic language under Persian rule transitioned from using the Phoenician alphabet script to developing and using a highly standardized square script sometime between the 5th and 4th centuries BC.^[3]

At the time of the writing of the Hebrew Bible, Jewish authors of the text used Hebrew primarily as a liturgical language, which had up to then been written using the Phoenician alphabet (also known as Paleo-Hebrew). Sacred texts written in Hebrew needed to be translated into Aramaic to be understood and were known as targumim (singular: targum).^[4] Imperial Aramaic or Biblical Aramaic square script also came to be adopted as the new alphabet for writing Biblical Hebrew,^[1][3] likely in the Babylonian exile where Aramaic was also the language of daily life.^[5]

This new script for writing Hebrew was called “Jewish square script” or ketav ashuri (“Assyrian script”) by the Jewish scribes who used it.^[6] This “square” variant of Aramaic developed into the Hebrew alphabet proper during the Second Temple period, in a process that was not complete before the 1st century CE; for example, the letter samekh developed its closed or circular form only in the middle Hasmonean period, around 100 BCE, and this variant becomes the standard form in early Herodian hands, in the 1st century CE.^[7]
Only the Samaritans in Palestine continued using a form of Paleo-Hebrew for their written language.^[6]

Texts

While most of the Hebrew Bible was written in Hebrew, there are hundreds of verses that were composed in Biblical Aramaic using Aramaic square script. The first six chapters of the Book of Daniel, for example, are written mostly in Biblical Aramaic square script while chapters 7–12 are written mainly in Late Biblical Hebrew square script.

Aramaic was the common spoken language in Roman Palestine at the time of Jesus.^[1] Among the Dead sea scrolls discovered in the caves of Qumran were many manuscripts and fragments written in Aramaic square script, such as the Son of God and the Book of Giants.^[9][10] Discovery of the Aramaic square script fragments for the Book of Giants with the names of Gilgamesh and Hombabish, “attests to the vitality of Mesopotamian literary traditions among literate circles of the ancient Near East, probably transmitted via Aramaic versions.”^[11]

One manuscript found in Qumran (4Q243) uses Aramaic square script throughout with one exception: the name El(ohim), which is written using Paleo-Hebrew characters. In contrast, another manuscript in “the square Aramaic script” (4Q244) twice uses the square script itself to record Elohim (‮אלוהין‬‎).^[12]

Other square scripts and cursive counterparts

One of the alphabets for writing Western neo-Aramaic that is still spoken and written in Maaloula, Al-Sarkha (Bakhah) and Jubb’adin in Syria, uses Aramaic square script and is called Maalouli square script.^[13]

Several other alphabets were born out of Imperial Aramaic that resemble the Aramaic square script, yet exhibit differences in the letter shapes tending towards being more rounded or cursive. Among these are Hatran Aramaic, Palmyrene Aramaic and Nabataean Aramaic.^[2]

References

Bibliography

• Newsom, Carol Ann; Brettler, Marc Zvi; Coogan, Michael David; Perkins, Pheme (2018). The New Oxford Annotated Bible: New Revised Standard Version with the Apocrypha: an Ecumenical Study Bible. Oxford University Press.
• Berlin, Adele; Brettler, Marc Zvi (2004). The Jewish Study Bible.
• Collins, John J. (2002). “Current Issues in the Study of Daniel”. In Collins, John J.; Flint, Peter W.; VanEpps, Cameron (eds.). The Book of Daniel: Composition and Reception. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-11675-7.
• Byrne, R. (2005). “Asia, Ancient Southwest: Middle Aramaic Scripts”. Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics. Elsevier Science.
• Mansoor, Menahem (1978). Biblical Hebrew Step by Step: Volume 1.
• Mitchell, T. C. (1988). Biblical Archaeology: Documents for the British Museum. Cambridge University Press.
• Meyer, Anthony R. “Chapter Five: Aramaic Dead Sea Scrolls”. Naming God in Early Judaism. Brill. pp. 90–129.
• Reeves, John C. (2000). “Giants, Book of the”. In Lawrence H. Schiffman & James C. VanderKam (ed.). Encyclopaedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls (Volume 1). Oxford University Press, 2000. pp. 309–311.
• Tov, Emmanuel (2025). “Scribal Habits of the Aramaic Qumran Texts”. Textus. 34 (1): 1–14.