Secrets of the Hebrew Alphabet: Origins

more than 3,000 years ago the Divine text of the Torah was revealed to the nation of Israel at sin what did this text look like how were these letters formed what was the origin of these letters who was behind this writing system join me as we investigate the secrets of the Hebrew alphabet [Music] [Music] for thousands of years the word has been written down transcribed by countless scribes passed down from father to son and from generation to generation the word which the nation of Israel was commanded should be upon your heart and you shall teach

them diligently to your children and you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your Gates the word of which Moses was commanded write these words in in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel the word that reflects the ultimate manifestation of the Divine will law and wisdom upon Earth the word of God himself and the tablets were the work of God and the writing was the writing of God Graven upon the tablets but what do we know about how this word was actually written what

were its character characteristics or more specifically its characters or in a word what was the original script used at Sinai for hundreds if not thousands of years Jewish scribes known as suim strictly adhered to a very specific script called Stam while transcribing sacred biblical texts Stam an acronym for Torah Scrolls filteries and mut is in fact the only script considered suitable according to Jewish law for transcribing such holy manuscripts but was this the original script used over 3,000 years ago at Sinai and if not what was it where did it originate and who was behind

it to answer these questions we have to first understand the history of the Hebrew alphabet which is in essence the history of the alphabet itself according to the Jewish tradition man's language capacity is so Central it's considered a creation on its own right brought about during the Twilight hours of the sixth day of creation it is what sets him apart from the rest of creation and makes him human this idea is perhaps best reflected in the tarum unilus an ancient authoritative Aramaic translation of the Torah which interprets the verse from Genesis and Man became a

living being as Man became a speaking Spirit historically the ability to write that is to convey a spoken language by means of visible symbols is one of Mankind's greatest achievements it enabled him to communicate without the limitations of time and space was what ushered him into the age of history and eventually what brought about our current age of information the earliest writing systems first appeared during during the mid4 millennium BCE nearly 52,000 years ago these systems which arose practically simultaneously in two separate locations are Kun form first developed by the samarians in southern Mesopotamia modern

day Iraq and hieroglyphs developed by the Egyptians originally both systems were purely pictographic in nature whereby each symbol represented a complete word or phrase later they evolved towards greater sophistication and abstraction incorporating idiograms or symbols that represent Concepts and logograms representing a spoken sound or utterance ranging anywhere from one to three syllables around 4,000 Years Ago by the beginning of the second millennium BC these two writing systems reached their Peak allowing the great empires of the ancient near East both in Egypt and Mesopotamia to govern over large areas communicate across vast distances and operate complex

administrations and thriving economies yet both these writing systems had a major drawback being comprised of hundreds of signs and symbols they were extremely complex and took literally years to master this meant that literacy was limited to a select class of scribes and Elites representing 1% or less of the population while the vast majority remained virtually illiterate it was precisely this predicament that made the alphabet a truly great Innovation indeed if writing is one of Mankind's greatest achievements then the development of the alphabet is arguably his greatest but what was the origin of this alphabet [Music]

in 1905 renowned British egyptologist and father of modern archaeology sir flenders Petri conducted excavations at a location known as sadm situated on a desolate plateau in the southwestern Sinai Peninsula cabit was an ancient mining site from which the Egyptians extracted turquoise and copper this site also included an Egyptian Temple dedicated to the goddess hathor who among her many other roles was believed to govern turquoise and mining for hundreds of years the site was mined and the temple upheld and enlarged by various Egyptian dynasties however the most intensive activity took place during the reign of the

12th Egyptian Dynasty in the early 2 millennium BCE it was petry's wife Hilda who first noticed several oddl looking petroglyphs not far from one of the Minds these symbols notably stood apart from the many hieroglyphic inscriptions that were scattered around the site the odity of the markings compelled Petri to take a closer look and it had quickly dawned upon him that they represented an alphabetic script which he had never seen before nor was he able to decipher finally in 1916 sir Alan Garder a leading egyptologist of the time published a groundbreaking work in which he

was finally able to decipher the script he established that the inscriptions represented a Semitic language written in the earliest known purely alphabetic script and that its characters are no less than for runners of those used in later so-called Northwestern citic languages such as Hebrew and Phoenician one of the fascinating things Gardener was able to demonstrate about this early alphabet was the fact that many of its characters resembled common Egyptian hieroglyphic symbols this was an indication that The Originators of the alphabet borrowed inspiration from various hieroglyphs to form many of the characters of their new writing

system however it wasn't the original sound or meaning of the Egyptian hieroglyphs that they were inspired by instead they used the symbols in an entirely new way you see see the inventors of the alphabet perceived the very building blocks of language in a way that no one had before they realized that all describable reality the thousands of words that exist in any given language were all composed of endless combinations derived from a limited number less than 30 in fact of specific sound utterances known to us as consonants what the inventors of the alphabet did was

to Simply assign a symbol for every one of these sounds the sound each symbol stood for was the sound made by its first consonant as pronounced in their Semitic language Let Us examine a few letters to get a better understanding of how this concept worked to specify the letter Al if or a they drew a symbol of a Bull's Head in accordance with the word for bull which was called an alof to specify the letter bet or B they drew a square symbolizing a house or B it for the letter yud or I they drew

an arm and a hand symbolizing Yad or hand for CF or k they drew the palm of a hand which is pronounced C for I or o they drew an i which is for the letter or R they drew a picture of a head pronounced R Etc following Petrie's initial discovery of 10 inscriptions composed in this early alphabetic script now commonly referred to by Scholars as protoc cinetic in additional 37 inscriptions composed of the same script and carved upon Stone panels Rock faces and statuettes were subsequently discovered by later Expeditions in the same general area

of Southern Sinai more recently however in the year 1999 two inscriptions resembling the Proto satic group were discovered in Egypt they were found carved on the Limestone walls of Wadi hul a ravine serving as a military and trade route connecting thieves and abidos during the Egyptian Middle Kingdom some scholars believe that these inscriptions show even greater resemblance to Egyptian hieroglyphs than many of the Sinai inscriptions suggesting the possibility that the w H inscriptions May date to yet a slightly earlier Horizon following its initial appearance in Egypt and Sinai the Proto CTIC alphabet seems to have

spread from the Sinai Peninsula to the land of Canaan where inscriptions comprised of the same script have been discovered at several ancient sites including Lish gazer Jerusalem and Shem thus inspiring the term protoc canite script used by many scholars as time progressed this so-called protoc canite script continued to spread throughout the Levant as its symbols gradually lost their original pictographic form and assumed a more abstract and standardized appearance by the late 11th early 10th centuries B.C the script had evolved into a completely linear form commonly referred to as paleo Hebrew or Phoenician script this was

the script used during the first temple period in the kingdoms of Israel and Judah as well as in several of their neighboring kingdoms around the same time frame the seafaring Phoenicians of the Lebanese Coast introduced the script to the Greeks inspiring them to form their own alphabetic system which in turn became the source of all Indo-European language scripts including Latin English and cilic but today more than a century after its Discovery many aspects regarding the origin and development of the earliest alphabetic script are still shrouded in mystery what we do know as the available evidence

seems to suggest is that it originated in Egypt or its vicinity from which it subsequently spread first to Canaan and then on to neighboring lands we also know that it records a Semitic language virtually identical to Hebrew and that its first appearance dates to sometime during the early 2 millennium BC e most probably during the reign of the 12th Egyptian Dynasty but who was behind this Innovation ever since its initial Discovery Scholars haven't been able to agree upon who it was that invented the protos satic alphabet or the precise date in which it emerged nor

could they always agree on the exact reading of the actual inscriptions these issues are indeed complex requiring combined knowledge in the fields of archaeology epigraphy paleography ancient near Eastern languages and of course history the difficulties in deciphering the protoc CTIC texts arise from the fact that the early alphabet had not yet been standardized there were no V indicators no spaces between words and no set direction of writing the texts were alternately written from left to right right to left from top to bottom or even in alternate directions in a style known as bastrin or as

the ox plows and as if these difficulties weren't enough many of the inscriptions are worn broken or damaged in some way after being exposed to the elements for thousands of years as a result Scholars have suggested several interpretations of the text and accordingly varying opinions regarding the Originators of the script some scholars believe that The Originators of the alphabet were illiterate Canaanite laborers working in the Egyptian Minds While others maintained that they belong to a sophisticated class of Northwest semites fluent in the Egyptian writing system a third school of thought attempted to tie the early

alphabet with the biblical narrative these Scholars maintained that the early alphabetic inscriptions were not written in some nebulous so-called Northwestern citic language but rather that they represent Hebrew and accordingly that they were written by or mentioned biblical figures or events these Notions however are shunned by most mainstream Scholars who completely disregard such theories deeming them mere sensationalism but perhaps by trying to understand the roots of the alphabet without referring to the Jewish tradition were barking up the wrong language tree so to speak so what does the Jewish tradition teach us regarding the origin of the

alphabet the sages of Israel actually discussed the very question we opened with regarding the script in which the original Torah was written and while several opinions are offered let us examine the one which seems to be the most consistent with what we currently know thanks to historical and archaeological records the talmud in tractate Sanhedrin records the following teaching attributed to the sages mutra and Uka initially the Torah was given to the Jewish people in Hebrew script and the sacred language it was later given to them again in the days of Ezra in Assyrian script and

the Aramaic language while this statement is somewhat enigmatic when combined with the historical evidence it may provide a clue as to the nature and origin of the script in which the original Torah was handed down according to this teaching the original Torah was written in the Hebrew script now since the Revelation at Sinai should be dated to the second half of the second millennium BCE the original Torah had to have been comprised of the only alphabet that existed at the time we can thus infer that what the Ted refers to as the Hebrew script is

one and the same as the so-called Proto CTIC or protoc Canaanite script and indeed as we've mentioned earlier when sir Alan Garder first deciphered the protos satic script he demonstrated that its symbols represent forerunners of the same characters used in the ancient Hebrew script hundreds of years later still most Scholars are reluctant to directly associate the protos script with the Hebrew language and prefer to relate to it as Canaanite this is however in many ways purely semantics as the Hebrew and Canaanite languages are virtually indistinguishable from one another this fact even finds possible validation in

a verse from the book of Isaiah which reads in that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt which speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord of hosts in this verse the Hebrew language is seemingly equated with Canaanite demonstrating that they are indeed when and the same but the terms Hebrew script and the sacred language used by the tomod are more than merely a reference to the type of font used to write the original Torah as they also include deeper layers of meaning regarding the nature and origin of

the Hebrew language the first to be called the Hebrew was Abraham who is described as Abram the Hebrew in Genesis 14 the sages of Israel explain that the term Abram the Hebrew refers to the fact that he was a descendant of ever great grandson of Shem son of Noah and that he conversed in the Hebrew language but let's back up a bit in the Book of Genesis we learn how initially mankind spoke a single language and that after uniting in Rebellion against Heaven at the Tower of Babel their language was confounded and they were subsequently

dispersed to the four corners of the Earth but what was this original language spoken by all mankind well the answer to this question was hidden in my last sentence where I mentioned the word Earth that's because the English word Earth is derived from the Hebrew word erit meaning land this is but one example of many showing the Hebrew roots that can be identified in many words of contemporary languages as can be seen in the eloquent work of Dr Isaac moseson who has demonstrated this in great detail even with a superficial reading of scripture it becomes

evident as noted by the sages of Israel that Hebrew was the original language already in the Book of Genesis we read how Adam's name comes from the Hebrew word Adama dust of the earth and now Adam calls his wife Eve an Isa as she was derived from an ish which is Hebrew for man it was the confounding of man's speech at the Tower of Babel that resulted in a collective amnesia whereby his original language was all but forgotten in 1787 August Ludwig von schoer first coined the term Semitic languages in accordance with the genealogical accounts

found in Genesis this term is used by linguists to this day to designate certain language groups spoken in the near East and incidentally resonates quite well with the Jewish tradition according to the Jewish tradition Shem son of Noah was one of four righteous individuals who did not partake in the building of the Tower of Babel and hence had retained Mankind's original language and so shim who as the Book of Genesis tells us was the father of all the children of ever transmitted the original Hebrew language to his great-grandson ever who taught it to Abraham the

Hebrew and from Abraham it was passed on and preserved by his Descendants the Hebrews later Moses taught it to the nation of Israel as recounted by the 2 century B.C helenistic Jewish historian eamus who wrote that Moses was the first wise man the first who imparted the alphabet to the Jews the Phoenicians received it from the Jews and the Greeks from the Phoenicians but Hebrew is more than just Mankind's original language it is also as the the talud calls it a sacred language and this is not intended as a mere metaphor a well-known teaching in

the mishna based on the first chapter of Genesis states that the Universe was created by 10 Divine utterances this teaching reflects the notion that each of the 22 letters that comprise the Hebrew alphabet embodies a unique spiritual essence or Divine energy and that through countless combinations these letters form code like sequences that make up the very fabric of reality itself these sequences are in turn embedded within the deepest layers of meaning in the Torah which forms the very blueprint of creation this notion is reflected in a well-known teaching found in the ancient mystical text known

as the Zohar regarding the creation of the universe which states that God peered into the Torah and created the universe it it is also brought down that betel the chief Artisan of the Tabernacle knew how to combine together the letters that formed Heaven and Earth this alludes to the idea that since the sanctuary reflected a microcosm of the universe butel needed to be familiar with the inner dimensions of the Hebrew letters so that he can form the right combinations and accurately construct the Tabernacle an ancient mystical text known as letters of AA attributed to the

great Jewish Sage who lived in the 2 century is one of many sources that reveal some of the Hidden aspects of the Hebrew alphabet remarkably some of the letters elaborated upon by rabi AKA in this text are said to derive their meaning from the very same words used to denote some of the characters of the original pictographic protos satic script this is quite astonishing when considering the fact that by RAB aa's time the alphabet had evolved to such an extent that its characters looked nothing like the original protos CTIC script in fact the early alphabet

had been long lost until being rediscovered by Petri only a little more than a century ago however while the letters described by rabi AKA derive their meaning from some of the same words as the protos satic characters in Rabbi aka's teaching the words reflect a spiritual rather than mundane interpretation for instance the letter Al if is interpreted as deriving from the word aloof just like in the protos CTIC script however in this case not denoting the word bull but rather Alam referring to the master of the universe and similarly the letter a is derived from

the Hebrew word meaning I however the text emphasizes that this denotes the metaphorical eye of the Torah the eye that opens all other eyes as applied in 19 the Commandment of the Lord is pure enlightening the eyes thus from a historical perspective the Torah was most likely originally written in the protos CTIC script however it was the Divine spiritual Essence made manifest through the letters that counted the most but still with all we've learned we haven't established who was behind the first alphabet and while we may never have a definitive scientific answer to this question

let us attempt and approach this issue from a Biblical perspective first the fact that the alphabet originated in the Egyptian sphere is of profound significance as it places it in the same domain of origin as the nation of Israel this doesn't necessarily imply that the Israelites were The Originators of the alphabet but rather that from a spiritual perspective it had undergone a similar process of formation a fundamental concept found within Jewish thought is the idea that light emerges from Darkness this is Apparent from the very beginning of creation as described in the Book of Genesis

and there was evening and there was mourning one day this process is likewise evident in the very formation of Israel that had emerged as a nation from the bondage and constriction in the dark Straits of Egypt so too the Hebrew alphabet had been trapped as it were in the very Egyptian hieroglyphic writing system only to emerge as the first original alphabet as to the identity of the inventor of the alphabet this indeed remains in the realm of mystery that said if we were to nevertheless attempt to hypothetically ascribe its origin to a Biblical character who

would the best candidate be chronologically speaking Abraham is likely the best candidate since he lived during the early second millennium BCE approximately the same time frame in which the first alphabet emerged this in addition to the fact that he resided in Egypt for a while from which as the Bible relates he departed with great wealth likewise as noted earlier it was he who was called Abraham the Hebrew and it was he who according to the Jewish tradition was the preserver and transmitter of the Hebrew language after being taught by ever great grandson of Shem it

is also he who has attributed the teachings found in seph the book of formation the quintessential ancient Jewish mystical text delineating the secrets of the Hebrew alphabet which recounts in its very last chapter how our Father Abraham had perceived and understood and had taken down an engraved all these things the Lord most high revealed himself and called him his beloved and made a covenant with him and his seed in Genesis 17 we read the account of how God changed Abraham's name no longer shall your name be Abraham but your name shall be Abraham for I

have made you the father of a multitude of nations in the original Hebrew father of a multitude of Nations is pronounced the word father a in Hebrew is comprised of Al if and bet the first two letters of the Hebrew alphabet also used to denote the entire Hebrew alphabet or alfet in Hebrew the term albet is of course the origin of the English word alphabet thus perhaps the verse can alternatively be interpreted as no longer shall your name be Abraham but your name shall be Abraham for I have given you the alphabet for a multitude

of Nations [Music]