The Ancient Hebrew Language and Alephbet
Chapter Four



    The process of determining the original Hebrew alephbet is similar to the field of archeology where one digs down to hidden depths to determine the origins of an ancient culture. As artifacts are found, they are compared to artifacts of other cultures and other time periods to determine the dates of the culture and their lifestyle. When studying ancient alephbets, one digs down into the depths of time and compares the artifacts of pictographic and non-pictographic letters to determine dates and meaning.

    The reconstruction of the original Hebrew alephbet is accomplished by comparing the various pictographs and names of other alephbets.

    To demonstrate the techniques that I have employed to reconstruct the original Hebrew alephbet, I will use the /d.l.t./dalet, the fourth letter of the Hebrew alephbet, as an example.

The Name

    As noted earlier the original Hebrew vocabulary probably consisted of the parent and child roots with the combination roots being formed at a later time. One could conclude that the names of the Hebrew alephbet were originally formed out of the parent or child roots. Out of the 22 names of the Hebrew letters, 17 have retained the parent or child root to this day, such as /b.y.t/beyt, /k.ph/kawph and /n.v.n/nun. This leaves 5 names in the modern Hebrew alephbet which are combination roots; /a.l.ph/aleph, /g.m.l/gimel, /d.l.t/delet, /l.m.d/lamed and /s.m.c/samech.

    The Arabic alephbet was taken from the Aramaic alephbet which was taken from the Hebrew alephbet. By comparing the names of the Arabic alephbet with the Hebrew alephbet we find that the Arabic name for the Hebrew dalet is /d.l/dal. It is probable, that when the Aramaic language adopted the Hebrew, the original Hebrew name dal had not yet changed to its modern name dalet.

    The Hebrew word /d.l.t/delet means "a door" and is actually a derivative of the word /d.l/dal which means "hang down". The door to the Hebrew's goat hair tent was made of a curtain which "hung down" from a horizontal pole. Both and can mean "a door which hangs down".

    The next step is to compare the meanings of the Hebrew words dal and dalet with the original picture of the Hebrew letter dal/dalet.

The Picture

    A comparison of a few modern D/dal/dalet letters do not reveal a common characteristic of the letters. Figure 11 shows 5 modern D/dal/dalets;

Hebrew
Greek
Latin
Arabic
Samaritan
Ancient D,dal,dalet
letters, I (Fig. 11)

    The 5 letters have remained the same for the past 2,000 years. These letters appear very different from each other, but as we trace their history we find that they all come from one ancient source and the differences are due to the evolution of the letter in different cultures.

Ancient D,dal,dalet letters, II (Fig. 12)

    Figure 12 is a chart showing the various forms of the D/dal/dalet letter in 11 languages spanning 3,000 years40.

    The oldest of the D/dal/dalet letters is believed to a be a fish (letter number 3) and a tent door41 (number 1) by modern day linguists. The Hebrew word for a fish is /d.g/dag and the Hebrew word /d.l.t/delet is a tent door. The picture of the tent door would match the name of the letter, dal/dalet. The picture of the fish was the ancient form of the word dag.

    The Egyptian letter42 , number 1, is identical to letter number 2. As we have stated previously, Hebrew was the first language and alephbet, therefore the Egyptian letter is borrowed from the Hebrew.

    By comparing all of the fonts in the above chart we can see a general evolution of the letter. It begins as a tent door as in letters 1, 2 and 21. This letter was then tilted and the square was simplified to a triangle or half circle as in letters 8, 10, 12, 14, 22 and 24. The extra portion of the line was removed leaving a triangle or half circle as in letters 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 and 23.

    The Aramaic letters 14 and 15 are a vertical tent door with the top cut off. Both the modern Hebrew43 and Arabic letters are a variation of 15.

    Figure 13 is a chart showing the evolution of the letters from its most ancient form to the 5 modern forms used today.

Ancient D,dal,dalet letters, III (Fig. 13)

The Meaning

    To determine the original meaning of the letter dal, we begin by studying all the words which come from the parent and child roots of /d.l/dal.

Hebrew English Common Translation
dal bucket, door, poor, week
dalal hang down
dallah thread, hair
dalah draw water with a bucket
delet door, gate
deliy bucket
daliyyah branch

    The various meanings of these words are; poor, weak, bucket, hair, door, gate and branch. To find the original meaning of the parent root, these words are compared to find what they all have in common. To the modern Greek thinking reader these words seem to have very little in common but not to the ancient Hebrews.

    The common meaning in each word, and the original meaning of the parent root /d.l/dal is "what hangs down and swings back and forth". A door hangs from a pole and is pushed back and forth to enter or exit the tent. A gate is a door that swings back and forth to open and close. A poor man is weak from hunger and hangs his head low and sways back and forth. A bucket hangs and swings from a rope down a well to draw water. Hair and branches hang from a head or tree and sway in the wind.

    Through this process of comparing the name, picture and meanings of the words derived from the root, we have been able to reconstruct the fourth letter of the ancient Hebrew alephbet as follows;

Name: dal
Form:
Meaning: what hangs down and swings back and forth

    Below is a list of the 22 ancient Hebrew letters with its ancient pictographic form, modern Hebrew appearance, modern name, what the picture44 is, and what the letter means45 .

Ancient Modern Name Picture Meanings
aleph The head of a bull Ox, strength, power
beyt The floor plan of a tent Tent, house, within, inside, family
gimel The lower leg and foot Foot, burden, gather, lift, wean
beyt The floor plan of a tent Tent, house, within, inside, family
dalet The tent door Door, entrance, dangle, weak, hang, movement back and forth or in and out
hey A man with arms extended Behold, adore, the, sigh, breathe, exist
vav A peg or nail Peg, and, fasten, hook
zayin A mattock tool, food, cut, nourish, develop, plow, weapon, broad
chet A wall Wall, outside, secular, half, separate
tet A basket Basket, contain, around, conceal
yud An arm and hand Hand, work, do, ability
kaf The palm of the hand Palm, bend, curve, cover, open, subdue, tame
lamed A shepherds staff Staff, teach, learn, yoke, toward, bind
mem Ripples of Water Water, turbulent, mighty, from, blood, juice
nun A plant shoot Seed, continue, perpetual, life, son, heir
samech hand holding a staff Support, take hold, lean on, twist, turn
ayin An eye Eye, see, know, pay attention, depress, watch
pey A mouth Mouth, edge, open, speak, blow
tsade A man lying down Side, lay down, adversity, trouble, hunt, chase
quf A rising and setting sun Shrink, contract, expand, terror, circle, draw together, surround, sun
resh A head of a man Head, man, headship, first, top, beginning, needy
shin Teeth Tooth, sharp, point, pierce, double, cliff, eat, devour, repeat, change, press
tav A cross of sticks Mark, signal, monument, write, signature, path
Ancient Hebrew Pictographic Chart (Fig. 14)


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