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Nabataean script

Script used by the Nabataeans from the second century BC onwards

Script used by the Nabataeans from the second century BC onwards

FieldValue
nameNabataean script
typeAbjad
sample[[Image:Nabat_alaph.png15px]] [[Image:Nabat_bat.png15px]] [[Image:Nabat_gamal.png15px]] [[Image:Nabat_dalat.png15px]] [[Image:Nabat_ha.png15px]] [[Image:Nabat_waw.png15px]] [[Image:Nabat_zayin.png15px]] [[Image:Nabat_hha.png15px]] [[Image:Nabat_tta.png15px]] [[Image:Nabat_yat.png15px]] [[Image:Nabat_kaf.png15px]] [[Image:Nabat_lamad.png15px]] [[Image:Nabat_mayim.png15px]] [[Image:Nabat_nun.png15px]] [[Image:Nabat_sa.png15px]] [[Image:Nabat_hamza.png15px]]
languagesNabataean Aramaic
Nabataean Arabic
time2nd century BC to 4th century AD
fam1Egyptian hieroglyphs
fam2Proto-Sinaitic script
fam3Phoenician alphabet
fam4Aramaic alphabet
childrenArabic script
iso15924Nbat
unicodeU+10880–U+108AF
notenone

Nabataean Arabic

Final Accepted Script Proposal

The Nabataean script is an abjad (consonantal alphabet) that was used to write Nabataean Aramaic and Nabataean Arabic from the second century BC onwards. Important inscriptions are found in Petra (in Jordan), the Sinai Peninsula (now part of Egypt), Bosra and Namara (in Syria), and other archaeological sites including Abdah (in Israel) and Mada'in Saleh (Hegra) (in Saudi Arabia).

Nabataean is only known through inscriptions and, more recently, a small number of papyri. It was first deciphered in 1840 by Eduard Friedrich Ferdinand Beer. Prior to the publication of Nabataean papyri, the only substantial corpus of detailed Nabataean text were the 38 funerary inscriptions from Mada'in Salih (Hegra), discovered and published by Charles Montagu Doughty, Charles Huber, Philippe Berger and Julius Euting in 1884-85.

Coin of Aretas IV and Shaqilath

Nabataean Kingdom, Aretas IV and Shaqilath, 9 b. C. – 40 a. D., AE18. On the reverse, an example of Nabataean script: names of Aretas IV (1st line) and Shaqilath (2nd and 3rd line).]]

History

Sinaitic (Nabataean) inscriptions published in 1774 by [[Carsten Niebuhr

The alphabet is descended from the Aramaic alphabet. In turn, a cursive form of Nabataean developed into the Arabic alphabet from the 4th century, which is why Nabataean's letterforms are intermediate between the more northerly Semitic scripts (such as the Aramaic-derived Hebrew) and those of Arabic.

Inscription in the Nabataean script.

As compared to other Aramaic-derived scripts, Nabataean developed more loops and ligatures, likely to increase speed of writing. The ligatures seem to have not been standardized and varied across places and time. There were no spaces between words. Numerals in Nabataean script were built from characters of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 20, and 100.

NamePhoenicianPhonemeAramaicNabataeanSyriacHebrewArabicPhoneme
ʾālep{{scriptPhnx{{huge𐤀}}}}ʾ{{scriptArmi{{huge𐡀}}}}
(final){{scriptSyrc{{hugeܐ}}}}{{scriptHebr{{hugeא}}}}{{scriptArab{{hugeﺍ}}}}
bēt{{scriptPhnx{{huge𐤁}}}}b{{scriptArmi{{huge𐡁}}}}
(final){{scriptSyrc{{hugeܒ}}}}{{scriptHebr{{hugeב}}}}{{scriptArab{{hugeﺏ}}}}
gīmlg{{scriptArmi{{huge𐡂}}}}{{scriptSyrc{{hugeܓ}}}}{{scriptHebr{{hugeג}}}}{{scriptArab{{hugeﺝ}}}}j
dālet{{scriptPhnx{{huge𐤃}}}}d{{scriptArmi{{huge𐡃}}}}{{scriptSyrc{{hugeܕ}}}}{{scriptHebr{{hugeד}}}}{{scriptArab{{hugeد}}}}d
{{scriptArab{{hugeذ}}}}ḏ
he{{scriptPhnx{{huge𐤄}}}}h{{scriptArmi{{huge𐡄}}}}
(final){{scriptSyrc{{hugeܗ}}}}{{scriptHebr{{hugeה}}}}{{scriptArab{{hugeه}}}}
wāw{{scriptPhnx{{huge𐤅}}}}w{{scriptArmi{{huge𐡅}}}}{{scriptSyrc{{hugeܘ}}}}{{scriptHebr{{hugeו}}}}{{scriptArab{{hugeﻭ}}}}w
zayin{{scriptPhnx{{huge𐤆}}}}z{{scriptArmi{{huge𐡆}}}}{{scriptSyrc{{hugeܙ}}}}{{scriptHebr{{hugeז}}}}{{scriptArab{{hugeﺯ}}}}z
ḥēt{{scriptPhnx{{huge𐤇}}}}ḥ{{scriptArmi{{huge𐡇}}}}{{scriptSyrc{{hugeܚ}}}}{{scriptHebr{{hugeח}}}}{{scriptArab{{hugeح}}}}ḥ
{{scriptArab{{hugeخ}}}}ḵ
ṭēt{{scriptPhnx{{huge𐤈}}}}ṭ{{scriptArmi{{huge𐡈}}}}{{scriptSyrc{{hugeܛ}}}}{{scriptHebr{{hugeט}}}}{{scriptArab{{hugeط}}}}ṭ
{{scriptArab{{hugeظ}}}}ẓ
yod{{scriptPhnx{{huge𐤉}}}}y{{scriptArmi{{huge𐡉}}}}
(final){{scriptSyrc{{hugeܝ}}}}{{scriptHebr{{hugeי}}}}{{scriptArab{{hugeي}}}}
kāp{{scriptPhnx{{huge𐤊}}}}k{{scriptArmi{{huge𐡊}}}}
(final){{scriptSyrc{{hugeܟ}}}}{{scriptHebr{{hugeכ}}}} ,{{scriptHebr{{hugeך}}}}{{scriptArab{{hugeﻙ}}}}
lāmed{{scriptPhnx{{huge𐤋}}}}l{{scriptArmi{{huge𐡋}}}}
(final){{scriptSyrc{{hugeܠ}}}}{{scriptHebr{{hugeל}}}}{{scriptArab{{hugeﻝ}}}}
mēm{{scriptPhnx{{huge𐤌}}}}m{{scriptArmi{{huge𐡌}}}}
(final){{scriptSyrc{{hugeܡ}}}}{{scriptHebr{{hugeמ}}}} ,{{scriptHebr{{hugeם}}}}{{scriptArab{{hugeﻡ}}}}
nūn{{scriptPhnx{{huge𐤍}}}}n{{scriptArmi{{huge𐡍}}}}
(final){{scriptSyrc{{hugeܢ}}}}{{scriptHebr{{hugeנ}}}} ,{{scriptHebr{{hugeן}}}}{{scriptArab{{hugeﻥ}}}}
śāmek{{scriptPhnx{{huge𐤎}}}}ś{{scriptArmi{{huge𐡎}}}}{{scriptSyrc{{hugeܣ}}}}{{scriptHebr{{hugeס}}}}{{scriptArab{{hugeس}}}}s
ʿayin{{scriptPhnx{{huge𐤏}}}}ʿ{{scriptArmi{{huge𐡏}}}}{{scriptSyrc{{hugeܥ}}}}{{scriptHebr{{hugeע}}}}{{scriptArab{{hugeع}}}}, {{scriptArab{{hugeء}}}}ʿ
{{scriptArab{{hugeغ}}}}ḡ
pē{{scriptPhnx{{huge𐤐}}}}p{{scriptArmi{{huge𐡐}}}}{{scriptSyrc{{hugeܦ}}}}{{scriptHebr{{hugeפ}}}} ,{{scriptHebr{{hugeף}}}}{{scriptArab{{hugeف}}}}f
ṣādē{{scriptPhnx{{huge𐤑}}}}ṣ{{scriptArmi{{huge𐡑}}}}{{scriptSyrc{{hugeܨ}}}}{{scriptHebr{{hugeצ}}}} ,{{scriptHebr{{hugeץ}}}}{{scriptArab{{hugeص}}}}ṣ
{{scriptArab{{hugeض}}}}ḍ
qōp{{scriptPhnx{{huge𐤒}}}}q{{scriptArmi{{huge𐡒}}}}{{scriptSyrc{{hugeܩ}}}}{{scriptHebr{{hugeק}}}}{{scriptArab{{hugeﻕ}}}}q
rēs, reš{{scriptPhnx{{huge𐤓}}}}r{{scriptArmi{{huge𐡓}}}}{{scriptSyrc{{hugeܪ}}}}{{scriptHebr{{hugeר}}}}{{scriptArab{{hugeﺭ}}}}r
šīn{{scriptPhnx{{huge𐤔}}}}š{{scriptArmi{{huge𐡔}}}}
(final){{scriptSyrc{{hugeܫ}}}}{{scriptHebr{{hugeש}}}}{{scriptArab{{hugeش}}}}
tāw{{scriptPhnx{{huge𐤕}}}}t{{scriptArmi{{huge𐡕}}}}{{scriptSyrc{{hugeܬ}}}}{{scriptHebr{{hugeת}}}}{{scriptArab{{hugeت}}}}t
{{scriptArab{{hugeث}}}}ṯ

Corpora of inscriptions in Nabataean script

  • Julius Euting, Nabatäische Inschriften aus Arabien, Berlin, 1885 (online; plates available here).
  • Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum, 1902 Pars 2, Tomus 1, Fasc 3: Inscriptiones Aramaicae
  • Michael E. Stone, 1992. Rock Inscriptions and Graffiti Project: Catalogue of Inscriptions

File:Nabataean inscriptions in the Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum in Petra.jpg|Petra inscriptions as of 1902 File:Nabataean inscriptions in the Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum in the Sinai Peninsula.jpg|Sinai Peninsula inscriptions as of 1902 File:Nabataean inscriptions in the Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum in Wadi Mukattab.jpg|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.

References

References

  1. Himelfarb, Elizabeth J. "First Alphabet Found in Egypt", Archaeology 53, Issue 1 (Jan./Feb. 2000): 21.
  2. (2010-12-09). "N3969: Proposal for encoding the Nabataean script in the SMP of the UCS". Working Group Document, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2.
  3. [http://www.omniglot.com/writing/nabataean.htm Omniglot].
  4. Healey, John F.. (2011). "On Stone and Papyrus: reflections on Nabataean epigraphy". Informa UK Limited.
  5. Larison, Kristine M.. (2020). "Exodus: Border Crossings in Jewish, Christian and Islamic Texts and Images". De Gruyter.
  6. Yaʻaḳov Meshorer, "Nabataean coins", Ahva Co-op Press, 1975; 114.
  7. https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces69784.html Numista
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