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
    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
    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
    The Hebrew word
    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.
    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;
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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.
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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
    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.
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Ancient D,dal,dalet letters, III (Fig. 13) |
    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
Hebrew | English | Common Translation |
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dal | bucket, door, poor, week |
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dalal | hang down |
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dallah | thread, hair |
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dalah | draw water with a bucket |
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delet | door, gate |
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deliy | bucket |
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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
    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 |
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aleph | The head of a bull | Ox, strength, power |
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beyt | The floor plan of a tent | Tent, house, within, inside, family |
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gimel | The lower leg and foot | Foot, burden, gather, lift, wean |
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beyt | The floor plan of a tent | Tent, house, within, inside, family |
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dalet | The tent door | Door, entrance, dangle, weak, hang, movement back and forth or in and out |
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hey | A man with arms extended | Behold, adore, the, sigh, breathe, exist |
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vav | A peg or nail | Peg, and, fasten, hook |
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zayin | A mattock | tool, food, cut, nourish, develop, plow, weapon, broad |
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chet | A wall | Wall, outside, secular, half, separate |
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tet | A basket | Basket, contain, around, conceal |
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yud | An arm and hand | Hand, work, do, ability |
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kaf | The palm of the hand | Palm, bend, curve, cover, open, subdue, tame |
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lamed | A shepherds staff | Staff, teach, learn, yoke, toward, bind |
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mem | Ripples of Water | Water, turbulent, mighty, from, blood, juice |
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nun | A plant shoot | Seed, continue, perpetual, life, son, heir |
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samech | hand holding a staff | Support, take hold, lean on, twist, turn |
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ayin | An eye | Eye, see, know, pay attention, depress, watch |
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pey | A mouth | Mouth, edge, open, speak, blow |
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tsade | A man lying down | Side, lay down, adversity, trouble, hunt, chase |
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quf | A rising and setting sun | Shrink, contract, expand, terror, circle, draw together, surround, sun |
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resh | A head of a man | Head, man, headship, first, top, beginning, needy |
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shin | Teeth | Tooth, sharp, point, pierce, double, cliff, eat, devour, repeat, change, press |
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tav | A cross of sticks | Mark, signal, monument, write, signature, path |
Ancient Hebrew Pictographic Chart (Fig. 14) |
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