Nabataean script
Nabataean script | ||
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Script type | ||
Time period | 2nd century BC to 4th century AD | |
Direction | Unicode range | U+10880–U+108AF Final Accepted Script Proposal |
History of the alphabet | ||
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The Nabataean script is an
Nabataean is only known through inscriptions and, more recently, a small number of papyri.[4] It was first deciphered in 1840 by Eduard Friedrich Ferdinand Beer.[4] 6,000 – 7,000 Nabataean inscriptions have been published, of which more than 95% are extremely short inscriptions or graffiti, and the vast majority are undated, post-Nabataean or from outside the core Nabataean territory.[4] A majority of inscriptions considered Nabataean were found in Sinai,[4] and another 4,000 – 7,000 such Sinaitic inscriptions remain unpublished.[5] Prior to the publication of Nabataean papyri, the only substantial corpus of detailed Nabataean text were the 38 funerary inscriptions from Hegra (Mada'in Salih), published by Julius Euting in 1885.[4]
History
The alphabet is descended from the Aramaic alphabet. In turn, a cursive form of Nabataean developed into the Arabic alphabet from the 4th century,[3] which is why Nabataean's letterforms are intermediate between the more northerly Semitic scripts (such as the Aramaic-derived Hebrew) and those of Arabic.
As compared to other Aramaic-derived scripts, Nabataean developed more loops and
Name | Phoenician | Phoneme | Aramaic | Nabataean | Syriac | Arabic | Phoneme |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ʾālep | 𐤀 | ʾ [ʔ] | 𐡀 | ܐ | ﺍ, ء | ʾ [ʔ] | |
bēt | 𐤁 | b [b] | 𐡁 | ܒ | ﺏ | b [b] | |
tāw | 𐤕 | t [ t ]
|
𐡕 | ܬ | ت | t [ t ]
| |
ث | ṯ [θ] | ||||||
gīml | 𐤂 | g [ɡ] | 𐡂 | ܓ | ﺝ | j [d͡ʒ] | |
ḥēt | 𐤇 | ḥ [ħ] | 𐡇 | ܚ | ح | ḥ [ħ] | |
خ | ḵ [x] | ||||||
dālet | 𐤃 | d [ d ]
|
𐡃 | ܕ | د | d [ d ]
| |
ذ | ḏ [ð] | ||||||
rēs, reš | 𐤓 | r [ r ]
|
𐡓 | ܪ | ﺭ | r [ r ]
| |
zayin | 𐤆 | z [z] | 𐡆 | ܙ | ﺯ | z [z] | |
śāmek | 𐤎 | ś [s] | 𐡎 | ܣ | – | – | |
šīn | 𐤔 | š [ʃ] | 𐡔 | ܫ | س, ش | s [s], š [ʃ] | |
ṣādē | 𐤑 | ṣ [sˤ] | 𐡑 | ܨ | ص | ṣ [sˤ] | |
ض | ḍ [dˤ] | ||||||
ṭēt | 𐤈 | ṭ [tˤ] | 𐡈 | ܛ | ط | ṭ [tˤ] | |
ظ | ẓ [ðˤ] | ||||||
ʿayin | 𐤏 | ʿ [ʕ] | 𐡏 | ܥ | ع | ʿ [ʕ] | |
غ
|
ḡ [ɣ] | ||||||
pē | 𐤐 | p [p] | 𐡐 | ܦ | ف | f [f] | |
qōp | 𐤒 | q [q] | 𐡒 | ܩ | ﻕ | q [q] | |
kāp | 𐤊 | k [k] | 𐡊 | ܟ | ﻙ | k [k] | |
lāmed | 𐤋 | l [ l ]
|
𐡋 | ܠ | ﻝ | l [ l ]
| |
mēm | 𐤌 | m [m] | 𐡌 | ܡ | ﻡ | m [m] | |
nūn | 𐤍 | n [ n ]
|
𐡍 | ܢ | ﻥ | n [ n ]
| |
he | 𐤄 | h [h] | 𐡄 | ܗ | ه | h [h] | |
wāw | 𐤅 | w [w] | 𐡅 | ܘ | ﻭ | w [w] | |
yod | 𐤉 | y [j] | 𐡉 | ܝ | ي | y [j] |
- The correspondence between the letters is based on phoneme proximity, since for example Arabic ḍād ⟨𐡑⟩.
- The table is based on the Hijāʾī order of the Arabic alphabet.
- Aramaic is not derived from Syriac but it is a sister script that is still used by many churches across the Middle East, and it shares with Arabic its cursive style.
- See Aramaic alphabet § Letters for a more detailed comparison of letterforms.
Corpuses of inscriptions in Nabataean script
- Julius Euting, Nabatäische Inschriften aus Arabien, Berlin, 1885 (online).
- ISBN 978-3-11-108880-8.
- Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum, 1902 Pars 2, Tomus 1, Fasc 3: Inscriptiones Aramaicae
- Michael E. Stone, 1992. Rock Inscriptions and Graffiti Project: Catalogue of Inscriptions
- Roche, Marie-Jeanne (2019). Inscriptions nabatéennes datées de la fin du IIe siècle avant notre ère au milieu du IVe siècle (in French). Leuven. OCLC 1229107538.)
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Petra inscriptions as of 1902
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Sinai Peninsula inscriptions as of 1902
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Wadi Mukattab inscriptions as of 1902
Unicode
The Nabataean alphabet (U+10880–U+108AF) was added to the Unicode Standard in June 2014 with the release of version 7.0.
Nabataean[1][2] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF) | ||||||||||||||||
0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | A | B | C | D | E | F | |
U+1088x | 𐢀 | 𐢁 | 𐢂 | 𐢃 | 𐢄 | 𐢅 | 𐢆 | 𐢇 | 𐢈 | 𐢉 | 𐢊 | 𐢋 | 𐢌 | 𐢍 | 𐢎 | 𐢏 |
U+1089x | 𐢐 | 𐢑 | 𐢒 | 𐢓 | 𐢔 | 𐢕 | 𐢖 | 𐢗 | 𐢘 | 𐢙 | 𐢚 | 𐢛 | 𐢜 | 𐢝 | 𐢞 | |
U+108Ax | 𐢧 | 𐢨 | 𐢩 | 𐢪 | 𐢫 | 𐢬 | 𐢭 | 𐢮 | 𐢯 | |||||||
Notes |
See also
References
- ^ Himelfarb, Elizabeth J. "First Alphabet Found in Egypt", Archaeology 53, Issue 1 (Jan./Feb. 2000): 21.
- ^ Everson, Michael (2010-12-09). "N3969: Proposal for encoding the Nabataean script in the SMP of the UCS" (PDF). Working Group Document, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2.
- ^ a b Omniglot.
- ^ S2CID 162206051.
Sinai, for example, is a major source of Nabataean inscriptions: the corpus of M. E. Stone contains 3,851 Nabataean items! But most were written by individuals who had no connection with Nabataea itself during the period of the Nabataean kingdom or its immediate aftermath and they may not normally have spoken Aramaic. The texts have generally been thought to have been written long after Nabataea as such disappeared.
- S2CID 214051677.
- ^ Yaʻaḳov Meshorer, "Nabataean coins", Ahva Co-op Press, 1975; 114.
- ^ https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces69784.html Numista
External links
The Nabataean script: a bridge between the Aramaic and Arabic alphabets.