A History of Hebrew Part 9: Dating the Semitic Alphabet

A History of Hebrew DVD available through Amazon.Com - www.amazon.com/...
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This is a segment of a much larger video production that I am working on and am looking for feedback (positive and negative) on the layout and content.
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The inscriptions discovered in the past century and a half, have been accurately dated through the advances of archeology.
The original Semitic alphabet with its pictographic letters, can be divided into three periods. The early Semitic alphabet existed between the 20th and 12th centuries BC. However, note that the 20th century date is based on the oldest inscriptions found thus far and it is possible that future discoveries may push the date of the Semitic alphabet back even farther into history. The middle Semitic alphabet, the phoenician and old Hebrew, was in use between the 10th and 4th century BC. The late Semitic alphabet, the square aramaic script, was in use between 5th century BC and into modern times with the modern Hebrew alphabet that is used to this day.
Early Semitic Inscriptions
To date, the Wadi El-Hol inscriptions found in southern Egypt, are the oldest Semitic inscriptions found and date to between the 19th and 20th centuries BC. The Sinaitic inscriptions from the Sinai penninsula date to about the 15th century BC.
Middle Semitic Inscriptions
The Elah Valley Fortress, Tel-Zayit abecedary and the gezer calendar are dated to about the 10th century BC. Between the 12th and 10th centuries BC, the Greek alphabet used the same middle semitic script. The Mesha Stele (or Moabite stone) and the Ammonite inscriptions found in Jordan date to about the 9th century BC. The Siloam inscription from Hezekiah's tunnel and the Tel-Dan inscription which mentions the "house of David," date to about the 8th century BC. The Lachish inscriptions date to the 6th century BC and the Sarcophagus discovered in 1852 in Sidon dates to the 5th century BC.
Late Semitic Inscriptions
The majority of the scrolls from the Dead Sea Caves are written in the late semitic script and date to between the 2nd and 1st centuries BC. A few of the scrolls found in the dead sea caves, such as the Leviticus scroll, uses the middle semitic script showing that the script did not fall out of use completely. The letters from General Simon Bar Kockba in 135 AD during the second Jewish revolt against Rome were written in Hebrew with the late semitic script. The late Semitic script continued to be used for the works of the Talmud, the Masoretic Hebrew Bible as well the printed Hebrew Bibles of today.
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Credits
Narration: Jeff A. Benner
Graphics: Jeff A. Benner
Music: Jason Emory

[@ancienthebreworg]

I think it is most beneficial to learn the pictographic script. For the simple reason that Hebrew is a concrete langauge and this pictographic script is concrete. However, if you want to be able to use the many resources that are available in helping one to learn Hebrew (Bibles, Lexicons, Etc) you will need to know the modern square script as this is what all these resources use. Secondly, the nikkud (vowel pointings) in the modern script are very helpful with pronunciation.

[@ancienthebreworg]

@VictorLepanto One of the very first Hebrew words that I examined the pictographs used to spell the word is satan, which is spelled samech, a picture of a thorn, tet, a picture of a basket and means to surround, and nun, the picture of a seed - the thorn that surrounds the seed. The second word I did was Adam - aleph, an ox head meaning that can mean first, as it is the first letter, dalet meaning door and enter, and mem meaning water or chaos - the first to enter chaos.

[@ancienthebreworg]

@Bimfirestarter This music is the work of Callen Clark who has composed ancient Hebrew music using traditional ancient styled instruments. I love it myself. He has one CD out titled "Verse" and I think he is working on another (Verse II).

[@ancienthebreworg]

Thanks for letting me know about the background music being to loud. Yes, that was a mistake and I will correct it in the second cut. Thank you for the compliment, but I don't think its quite good enough for the History Channel :-)

[@pianolounge]

Very interesting. The whole series sheds new light on the history of Hebrew script. Thanks for the info I much appreciate it. In your opinion which script do you think is the most beneficial to learn if wanting to know the original meanings?

[@RedLev07]

Better... I would say! Really enjoying your videos & research... I'm waiting for my shipment from Amazon with A Mechanical Translation of Genesis, dictionary and dvd's to share!!! :)

[@ancienthebreworg]

@VictorLepanto I have published the Ancient Hebrew Torah, but I would not call this a corrected printing, but it is an attempt to restore the Torah to its original characteristics.

[@AncientHueman]

Jeff A. Benner was the Torah written in Pictograph hieroglyphic Hebrew ? Or the Paleo alephBet?

[@stig-ovemadetoja5086]

These videos are important

[@ancienthebreworg]

Thank you very much and I hope you enjoy the materials :-)

[@drdalet]

Very interesting to hear that the oldest semitic inscription come from southern Egypt. It brings to mind the Lemba israelites in Zimbabwe. Just a critical observation: from 2:00 the music is getting louder (too loud) and is distracting. Perhaps it was just a mistake because otherwise your videos are really very professional and pleasant to watch. And I think you have great material for a History Channel special.

[@jerrysamuels8716]

His videos are interesting. And it is great to hear that the oldest script comes from Egypt, Africa. But he made a mistake. The script is not Shemetic. The script is Hamitic! Because the script came from the Caananites (Canaan, of Ham; not Shem.)

[@ancienthebreworg]

@Gwrgo The dating of ancient artifacts is based on my different techniques including carbon 14 and their insitu location and relationship to other artifacts that can be dated.

[@mrtruthify]

Theodorus (as well as an a vast array of classical Greek writers) has the Athenians originating out of Egypt...........

[@espositogregory]

Man peoples undoubtedly left Egypt’s grasps through time

[@williesimpson6757]

It is fairly concrete that Joseph served as second level ruler to Sesostris I who died in 1875 BC There is some indication that Joseph invented the earliest Hebrew pictographs for his people.. which also follows, that since the narrator states that some of the findings of the earliest Hebrew in the Sinai, dated around 1500s bc So far, it makes sense, to me at least, that with all the canal works parallel to the Nile, and his creation of the huge lake eco system for Egypt, which solved the seasonal drought problem, and made Egypt flourish, that he also developed one of the first picto-character languages. In the 1880s Engineer Francis Cope Whitehead tried to restore the ancient Egyptian feed water lake system in order to solve the Egyptian water problem. (Rulers after Joseph and Sesostris I, had destroyed the eco system. Whitehead tried to get this proven system back to solve the problems. He died in failure) .. But the fact that Joseph did remarkable things, makes me think that paleo Hebrew dates back to 1870s BC. Great presentation. Thank you

[@stevnreed7763]

A 11 years late but a question I have is what would the language at Tower of Babel been spoken.

[@ancienthebreworg]

@CHICostaRican I had to limit how much information I added to this video as it is only an "overview"

[@VictorLepanto]

Is there a "corrected" printing of the Bible (or atleast the Torah) w/ the script in what we can best determine is the original? I would think some valuable insights can be gained from such a text.

[@ancienthebreworg]

A total of four; Alphabet Language Philosophy Transmission

[@ancienthebreworg]

@helltrackrider The idea that the earth is only six thousand years old is based solely on an attempt to date the earth according to genealogies, but the Bible genealogies are not necessarily a complete record of the history of man.

[@ancienthebreworg]

Thanks :-)

[@sbz666283]

@ZeusTelemaxos by looking up the alphabet. lol. whenever any culture adopts anything from another culture it is altered you can follow these alterations to its source. Ancienthebreworg shows in the video the progression letters take as cultures adopt them. like above hebrew is Chaldean script. which follow further down you get into older middle east cultures that existed before Chaldean remember Abraham came from UR of the Chaldees. Abraham was Chaldean it was only after

[@VictorLepanto]

@ancienthebreworg: I am especially struck by how the original tov is a cross. The letter tet is a snake. Thus the cross, tov, is set against the serpent as opposed principles.

[@Bimfirestarter]

I like the music. What's this music from?

[@VictorLepanto]

@ancienthebreworg: Perhaps it is a mistake to imagine the ancients had no capacity for abstraction. In your saying that water is figure for chaos, I am reminded of the treatment that St. Augustine gave for the waters of creation in his City of God. He took it to mean an amorphous, non-solid & thus liquid like substance. He was tying it into his Platonism of course. But maybe this is an indication of the original intention of Moses. Much as "solid gold" forms from liquid molten gold.

[@mrtruthify]

@MrViTopol That is all very interesting. but i know better. Instead.. try playing some Hebrew audio for a Welshman... then watch him explain what is being said to you. Then we can skip the hours of debate. Also.. please see the centuries old Declaration of Abroath by Robert the Bruce, as well as just about any Greek history you like. The white "Euopean" man is in fact Israel. Thanks for the comment.

[@juanmiguelsanchezamat8753]

Shalom

[@mrtruthify]

@ZeusTelemaxos How many would you like? Start with Irish/Scot WELSH. Welsh is the closest language to Hebrew. Our "Alpha-bet".. derives from the Hebrew Aleph-bet. English & German are the next closest languages. Some words remain identical.

[@OCTAVIAakaQueenO]

where can we find it?

[@ancienthebreworg]

LOL :-) That's my favorite channel.

[@sbz666283]

@ZeusTelemaxos abrahams calling from God, and also the land he was given which everyone after abraham is now hebrew. You can find outside sources about the land transactions and other information by the nations that was around at the time. the stories in the torah is backed up by those who existed in that time period even hebrews/ isreals enemies state these things/ there is more proof to those stories then people wish for.

[@keevancrawford6708]

Proto Canaanite alphabet. Canaan was black (Canaanite). Black people was written into the Bible as cursed into slavery by the author 👀. After, Canaan was invaded. Now can we address this deeply rooted racism? Your welcome

[@sbz666283]

@ZeusTelemaxos Hebrew comes from Chaldean which Phoenician and canaanites adopted Hebrew. so did the greeks then rome adopted greek then get adopted further even into english everything he says in the video can be proven over and over again.

[@barthill9578]

greek did not come from phoenician

[@korionterivers9995]

Ha

[@ZeusTelemaxos]

@sbz666283 The Greeks Adopted Hebrew? is that what youre saying? please find ONE non Biblical Archaeologist/Linguist who agrees that the Greeks adopted some of the Hebrew Alphabet and not Phoenician. Biblical archaeologists main cause is to prove biblical genealogy as fact. thus losing All credibility in academia. The stories in the torah are a joke. Not worth the scroll they're written on.

[@jerrysamuels8716]

His point seems to be that The Romans copied The Greeks and The Greeks copied The Hebrews and The Hebrews copied The Phoenicians And The Phoenicians copied The Canaanites and The Canaanites copied The Original script from The Black African Egyptians.

[@korionterivers9995]

Who copied from the Kush or Ethiopic people

[@mrtruthify]

* "ar-yan" AR= mountain, Ya= Yah, name of the God of Israel.......