Writing systems

Hebrew, as a spoken language, died out around the 3rd and 4th centuries AD, while its written form was preserved for the sake of its religious use. In the Hebrew language, during its long history, various writing systems have been used and through them the particular and rich cultural and historical development of Hebrew - Hebraic ('ivrit) or (as mentioned in the Bible) yĕhûdît “Judaic” - is reflected.

The oldest alphabet of the Hebrew language is called Paleo-Hebrew and bears many similarities to the ancient Phoenician alphabet. It was used in the kingdoms of Israel (10th - 8th century BCE) and Judah (10th - 6th century BCE). After the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians, the Jews began to increasingly use the Aramaic alphabet in order to write. The variant of the Aramaic alphabet called “square” is the official Hebrew alphabet to this day. At the same time, the square script is used to record other Hebrew languages of the diaspora, such as Yiddish and Ladino.