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Topics
Ancient Hebrew Alphabet 
Ayin
By Jeff A. Benner
Early Hebrew |
Middle Hebrew |
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Late Hebrew |
Modern Hebrew |
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Ancient Name: | ayin |
Pictograph: | Eye |
Meanings: | Watch, Know, Shade |
Sound: | Silent |
History & Reconstruction
The Ancient picture for this letter is
and is a picture of an eye. This letter represents the ideas of seeing and watching as well as knowledge, as the eye is the window of knowledge.
The name of the letter is ayin, a Semitic word meaning eye. This letter is silent in Modern Hebrew. There is no indication that the ancient Semitic had a sound for this letter as well and appears to have been silent in the past. The Greek language assigned the vowel sound "o" to the letter and may be the origin of the number 0. As Hebrew did not have one letter for the "o" sound the Greeks took this silent letter and converted it into a vowel.
The early Semitic
evolved into the simpler
in the middle Semitic and remained the same into the late Semitic period. This letter evolved into the ע in the Modern Hebrew script. The middle Semitic became the O in Greek and Latin.
Semitic Script Charts
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Related Pages by Jeff A. Benner
 | | Sabbath in Ancient Hebrew (Video) Each letter in the Hebrew alphabet was originally a picture with meaning. In this video we will examine the letters in the Hebrew word shabbat. |