| Does It Really Matter? | | | | authored in Aramaic rather than Hebrew. The |
| When it comes to Aramaic scripts, most of us | | | | script came about from approximately the 6th to |
| are impressed by the variety, but it's all Greek to | | | | 3rd centuries BC from Old Aramaic. |
| us after that point. Since most people are | | | | Rashi |
| uninformed about scripts, it's easy to think of | | | | The Script Of The Talmud |
| them as simply interchangeable fonts. This isn't | | | | From Wikipedia: The semi-cursive typeface in |
| the case. Each script above represents the | | | | which Rashi's (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki) |
| written hand of a specific place, time, culture and | | | | commentaries are printed both in the Talmud and |
| Aramaic dialect. Just as different Aramaic dialects | | | | Tanakh is often referred to as "Rashi script." This |
| are mutually unintelligible, different Aramaic scripts | | | | does not mean that Rashi himself used such a |
| would perplex the native reader/writer of one | | | | script: the typface is based on a 15th century |
| script. For example, the writer/speaker of | | | | Sephardic semi-cursive hand. What would be called |
| proto-Hebrew/Old Aramaic would probably not | | | | "Rashi script" was employed by early Hebrew |
| recognize Estrangela as the same language at all. | | | | typographers such as the Soncino family and |
| Think of it this way: you can spell out English in | | | | Daniel Bomberg, a Christian printer in Venice, in |
| Cyrillic or even Kanji, but that doesn't make the | | | | their editions of commented texts (such as the |
| result unqualified English (or Japanese for that | | | | Mikraot Gedolot and the Talmud, in which Rashi's |
| matter). Scripts belong to a dialect and vice versa. | | | | commentaries prominently figure) to distinguish |
| Don't be disheartened, this is one of the most | | | | the rabbinic commentary from the text proper, |
| fascinating aspects of Aramaic and the Aramaic | | | | for which a square typeface was used. |
| enthusiasts opportunity to try literary archeology! | | | | Estrangela |
| Old Aramaic, Paleo-Hebrew & Phoenician | | | | The Script of Syriac Christianity |
| The Oldest Aramaic Scripts | | | | The name "Estrangela" comes from the Greek |
| What, all three at once? Yes! Old Aramaic goes | | | | word strongylé which means "rounded" (in |
| back to the point where the three writing | | | | contrast to the square nature of the non-cursive |
| systems diverged, way back in the 14th Century | | | | Hebrew/Assyrian scripts). It was used as early as |
| BC! This is the script dating back to the days of | | | | 200 BCE to write Syriac, a prominent dialect of |
| Moses and Abraham. | | | | Aramaic that, in several forms, survives to this |
| Samaritan | | | | very day. The oldest copies of the Syriac Peshitta |
| Liturgical Script of the Samaritan People | | | | are found in this script. |
| Forming in approximately the 6th century BCE, | | | | Madnhaya |
| Samaritan script came from old Aramaic. It is also | | | | The Scropt Of The Eastern Syriac Church |
| the script that ancient copies of the Samaritan | | | | As Estrangela progressed eastward it took on a |
| Pentateuch were penned and are preserved in | | | | slightly different form. Called Madnhaya |
| today. | | | | (sometimes spelled "Madinkhaya" or |
| Imperial Aramaic | | | | "Madnh%u0323aya") or "Swadaya" (both of which |
| Lingua Franca Of The Neo-Assyrian Empire | | | | mean "Eastern"), this is what modern Eastern |
| As Aramaic progressed into the Imperial language | | | | Neo-Aramaic is written in. |
| of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, the script used to | | | | Serto |
| write it underwent a change into something more | | | | The Script Of The Western Syriac Church |
| cursive. Our best examples of this script come | | | | As Estrangela progressed westward and came to |
| from documents written on papyrus from Egypt. | | | | be written upon wax tablets it slowly evolved into |
| This script was also used during the reign of King | | | | "Serto" (which literally means "line" or "scratch"). |
| Ashoka in his eddicts to spread early Buddhism. | | | | Western Syriac, including modern dialects, are |
| Herodian | | | | written in this form. |
| The Script of Jesus | | | | Beware of Free Fonts |
| Herodian script is a type of handwriting that | | | | For the student of Aramaic, who is much like any |
| became prominent during the reign of Herod. | | | | other student in one respect: broke, free fonts |
| Many of the Dead Sea Scrolls were written in this | | | | seem like a Godsend! Unfortunately, while pretty, |
| script, and this form would have been what was | | | | a number of them are profoundly flawed, to the |
| prominent in Judea during the lifetime of Jesus of | | | | point that a translation written in them might be |
| Nazareth. NOTE: This is the script that was used | | | | altered or become gibberish. For example, the |
| on the authentic portions of the James Ossuary, | | | | popular Rashi font is missing the tau, the Imperial |
| and all of the Aramaic inscriptions in the Lost | | | | hand, in some places called Elephantine, where you |
| Tomb of Jesus. | | | | would expect the tau to be is instead the teyt. In |
| "Hebrew" | | | | either case, a translator that knows their stuff |
| The Script of Later Judaism | | | | can work around the error in the font, or, like |
| The script that most of us know as "Hebrew" | | | | Steve did, edit the font, but the student who is |
| today is actually a script that was adopted during | | | | learning and the individual who's not sure of their |
| the Jewish exile to Babylon. Since the lingua franca | | | | translator's prowess, should be wary. We know of |
| of the Babylonian Empire was Aramaic, the Jewish | | | | one translator using an uncorrected font at this |
| people adopted it as a matter of survival. As a | | | | time. |
| result, parts of the books of Daniel and Ezra were | | | | |