Topics Ancient Hebrew Alphabet

Early Hebrew Middle Hebrew Late Hebrew Modern Hebrew

Most of the pictographs used for this letter are , and . Ancient Semitic letters that were originally oriented in a horizontal plane were tilted to a vertical plane. More than likely this letter was originally written as .

The name of this letter is quph, a parent root. When all of the words derived from this parent root are compared the common theme of a circle or revolution is found. The pictograph of this letter is probably a picture of the sun at the horizon in the sense of a revolution of the sun.

The various meanings of this letter are "sun," "revolution," "circle" and "horizon." This letter can also mean condense as the light gathers at the sun when it is at the horizon. It can also mean time, as the revolution of the sun is used to calculate time. Hebrew, Greek and Arabic agree that the sound for this letter is "q." The Modern Hebrew and Arabic name for this letter is quph, a parent root.

The early pictograph evolved into in the Middle Semitic script and continued to evolve into in the Late Semitic Script. From the middle Semitic script is derived the Modern Hebrew ק). The Middle Semitic script is the origin of the Latin letter Q.

The Ancient Pictographic Alphabet (Article) The original Hebrew alphabet was written with pictures that reveal insights into Hebrew words.

The Paleo-Hebrew Alphabet (Article) The relationship between the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet and the Samaritan alphabet.

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.