Ancient Hebrew Language and Alphabet

Ancient Hebrew Language and Alphabet
The Hebrews splintered into sub-groups such as the
Phoenicians, Canaanites, Akkadians, Moabites (fig. 5),
Ammonites (fig. 6), Arameans (fig. 8), and others, all
known as Shemites. Due to the close proximity and
interaction of these Shemitic cultures, their alphabet script
evolved similarly.
Figure 5 Moabite inscription on stone c. 900 BCE
Figure 6 Ammonite inscription on stone c. 900 BCE
At other times, alphabet scripts evolved very differently.
The most unique is the Ugaritic, consisting of 30 letters
where the original pictographic script evolved into a
cuneiform 23 script 24 (fig. 7) sometimes called Hebrew
cuneiform.
23 Cuneiform, meaning, "wedge-shape", is written with a stylus that is
pressed into a clay tablet to form the letters.
24 Because the Ugarit language is so similar to Hebrew, the Ugarit
cuneiform is called Hebrew cuneiform.
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