A Brief History of the Hebrew Script
The Proto-Canaanite alphabet, containing 22 symbols each representing a distinct consonant, evolved around the 16th century BCE. In the various regions of Mesopotamia writing was done in a mix of directions--vertical, left to right, right to left, and boustrophedon (alternating directions). Around the end of the 11th century BCE, the right-to-left direction became standard, and the script was then adopted by the Hebrews and the Arameans. The distinct Aramaic script began to develop in the 10th century BCE around the language of the Arameans in Syria and northern Mesopotamia. The language and writing spread from the 7th century BCE onward, when they were adopted by the Assyrian, Babylonian and Persian empires as their official language and script and eventually became the most widely used language and script in western Asia.
The Hebrew script was developed in Israel and Judea and was used until the destruction of the First Temple (586 BCE), when most of the educated population was exiled to Babylon. The descendants of the exiles, who returned to Judea, then a Persian province, some fifty years later, spoke and wrote Aramaic. From the late third century BCE onward, the Jews wrote in a square Hebrew script which they developed from the Aramaic one. While this script was most widely used, the original Hebrew (Palaeo-Hebrew) characters were not completely abandoned. Fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls, found in the Judean desert, are written in the old script, and so are some coins, seal impressions, and jar handles from the Hellenistic period. The Hasmonean kings, and leaders of the revolts against the Romans, in a period stretching from the second century BCE to the second century CE, struck their coins with Hebrew legends and old Hebrew script. The Samaritans, a mixture of Israelites and exiles from many other nations, also maintained the old Hebrew script.
Jewish tradition assigns divinity to Hebrew writing, especially since it is associated with the Torah, the Jewish Holy Scriptures. Which script is, then, holy? Jewish sages came up with a number of theories on the matter, among them the idea that the Torah was given to the Israelites originally in the old Hebrew script and then again in the Aramaic script. The more widely accepted theory suggests that the Torah was written originally in the Aramaic script, but when the Israelites sinned they lost that script, and it was only restored to them when they repented and came back from exile. Scholars have suggested that the religious leadership developed a negative attitude toward the old script because it was associated with the secular/political leadership and with the Samaritans, who were bitter enemies of the Jews.
Hebrew has been written in the square Hebrew script throughout the ages. In modern times attempts have been made to introduce Hebrew writing in Latin characters, but these attempts never gained broad support. Problems associated with displaying Hebrew on the Web, a difficulty because of the non-Latin letters and because of the right-to-left writing direction, have again generated various attempts to "Latinize" the Hebrew script.
Below is an image of the first line from the Siloam Inscription, detailing the completion of a water tunnel, nikba in Hebrew, in Jerusalem during the reign of king Hezekiah (725-697 BCE). The inscription, discovered in Jerusalem in 1800, is written in old Hebrew script. For comparison, the same text is provided underneath it in the square Hebrew script and a modern font, and Latin characters are also included in a right-to-left order (note-- no vowels!). The apostrophe indicates a guttural sound which does not have a parallel Latin character.
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