The ancient Hebrew alphabet:
| Letter | Representation |
Name |
Sound |
 |
Head of an ox |
Al |
A |
 |
Tent |
Bet |
B, bh |
 |
Foot |
Gam |
G |
 |
Door |
Dal |
D |
 |
A man with raised arms |
Hey |
H, E |
 |
Tent peg |
Waw |
W, O, U |
 |
Mattock |
Zan |
Z |
 |
Tent wall |
Chets |
Hh |
 |
Basket |
Thet |
Th |
 |
Arm with closed hand |
Yad |
Y, I |
|
|
|
|
 |
Open hand |
Kaph |
K, Kh |
 |
Shepherd's staff |
Lamed |
L |
 |
Water |
Mem |
M |
 |
Seed |
Nun |
N |
 |
Thorn |
Sin |
S |
 |
Eye |
Ghan |
Gh |
 |
Mouth |
Pey |
P, Ph |
 |
A man on his side |
Tsad |
Ts |
 |
Sun on the horizon |
Quph |
Q |
 |
Head |
Rosh |
R |
 |
Two front teeth |
Shin |
Sh |
 |
Crossed sticks |
Taw |
T |
|
This is the Hebrew alphabet with the meaning of the letters and their phonetic value. The Semitic languages are divided into three main groups:
-
Eastern Semitic - primarily Mesopotamia. This branch consists only of only one language: Akkadian. Babylonia was an ancient state in Mesopotamia combining the territories of Sumer and Akkad. Its capital was Babylon. Akkadian sentence order was subject + object + verb (SOV), which sets it apart from most other Semitic languages such as Arabic and Hebrew, which typically have a verb + subject + object (VSO) word order.
- Old Akkadian - 2500 – 1950 BC
- Old Babylonian/Old Assyrian - 1950 – 1530 BC
- Middle Babylonian/Middle Assyrian - 1530 – 1000 BC
- Neo-Babylonian/Neo-Assyrian - 1000 – 600 BC
- Late Babylonian - 600 BC – 100 AD
|
- Northwestern or Western Semitic refers to the Middle East proper, i.e., Lebanon and Syria. This branch includes the Amorite, Ugaritic, Caananite and Aramaic languages. The main Canaanite languages are Phoenician, Punic, Moabite, Edomite, Hebrew and Ammonite. Many Semitic languages, including Akkadian and Hebrew, died out and were supplanted by Aramaic. Greek rivaled Aramaic for dominance in the Middle East until the Arab conquest in the 7th century.
- Southwestern OR Southern Semitic This branch includes the South Arabian languages, Arabic and Ethiopian.
Source: A Bequest Unearthed, Phoenicia and the Phoenicians
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