Scripts



AKKADIAN cuneiform script in Akkadian language. The first documents in Akkadian, a Semitic language, appear around 2450 B.C.; by 2000 B.C., Akkadian has largely replaced Sumerian except in religious literature. After 1850 B.C., Akkadian breaks up in two branches, Assyrian and Babylonian.
ARAB : DIWANI Arab script including signs indicating the vowels.
ARAB : NEKSHI standard Arab script; derived from Nabataean, it emerged in the 4th century A.D.
ARAMAIC Aramaic was the lingua franca of the fertile crescent from about 1000 to 600 B.C.; the Aramaic script, an alphabetical script derived from Phoenician, appeared about 900 B.C..
ARMENIAN an alphabetic script, derived from the Greek, created in the early 5th century A.D., still in use.
ASSYRIAN cuneiform script in Assyrian language, the northern branch of Akkadian. Used from about 2000 B.C. to 612 B.C. (the fall of Ninive).
AVESTAN a script developed in the 3rd century A.D. to codify Zoroastrian hymns; a derivative of Pahlavi.
BABYLONIAN cuneiform script in Babylonian language, the southern branch of Akkadian. Documents in Babylonian script date from about 2000 B.C. to the first century A.D.
BENGALI script related to Devanagari, used in Bangla Desh and adjacent regions of India. It emerged in the 11th century.
BERBER a derivative of the Punic (Phoenician) script, emerged about 600 B.C., used until the 3rd century A.D. in North Africa; hence the association with the Berber population.
BRAHMI an alphabetic script developed in the 5th century B.C. in India, based on West Semitic scripts, very influential on the further development of Indian scripts
BURMESE script used in Myanmar, which until recently was called Burma. Earliest records date from the 11th century.
BYBLOS SCRIPT an alphabetic script used in the middle of the 2nd millenium B.C. in Phoenicia.
COPTIC an alphabetic script based on the Greek, with a few characters taken from the demotic. Coptic emerged in the 2nd century B.C. and by the 5th century A.D. has replaced demotic as Egypt's script for common purpose. In the 14th century, Coptic was replaced by Arabic, and since continues to be used for liturgic Coptic literature.
CUNEIFORM a family of scripts. Cuneiform translates to "wedge shaped". See : Sumerian, Eblaite, Akkadian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Elamite, Hurrian, Hittite, Ugaritic.
CYPRIOT a derivative from Linear A, emerged on Cyprus about 1500 B.C., was used into the 3rd century B.C.
CYRILLIC script used in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Serbia. Named after St. Cyril; in the 12th century it replaced Glagolitic.
DEMOTIC an Egyptian script for general use; it emerged in the 6th century B.C. and was replaced by Coptic in the 5th century A.D. One of the scripts featured on the Rosetta Stone.
DEVANAGARI an alphabetic script based on Brahmi, currently used to write Hindi, Sanskrit and other Indian languages.
EARLY PHOENICIAN a derivative of Proto Canaanite, used, in the form of Punic, until about 200 A.D..
EBLAITE cuneiform script in Eblaite, a Semitic language, used in and around the city of Ebla. Used about 2400 to 2240 B.C., when Ebla was destroyed.
ELAMITE from the middle of the 3rd millennium onward Elamites used a pictographic script. Between the 16th and the 8th century B.C., they wrote Elamite in cuneiform (Old Elamite); language and script were continuously used in the Achaemenid Empire (6th to 4th century B.C.).
ETHIOPIC often called Geez, a derivative of the South Arabic script; it emerged in Ethiopia in the 4th century A.D. and is used there and in Eritrea ever since. Used to write Geez, Amharic, Tigrinya etc., written from left to right.
FUTHARK an alphabetic script believed to be a derivative of Etruscan, used from the 2nd (4th) century A.D. onward in Scandinavia. Also called the Runic script. In Scandinavia used until into the 14th century, on Iceland longer.
GEORGIAN an alphabetic script said to have been created in the 3rd century B.C., still in use.
GLAGOLITIC or Old Church Slavonic. Its creation is credited to St. Cyril. It emerged in the 8th century and was replaced by Cyrillic in the 12th (in Croatia by Latin), although it continued to be used there in liturgic texts intil into the 19th century.
GREEK alphabetic script, derived from Phoenician, emerged in the 8th century B.C.; still in use (Greece, Cyprus)
GUJARATI script used in Gujarat state, India. It emerged in the 12th century A.D.
GURMUKHI script used by Sikhs; created in the 16th century, used to write down texts in Punjabi, Sindhi, Lahnda languages.
HIERATIC a cursive form of Egypt's hieroglyphic script, used for manuscripts. As script for common purpose replaced by Demotic around 500 B.C.
HIEROGLYPHIC developed in Egypt in the 3rd millennium B.C., a script which later was used predominantly for inscriptions. In manuscripts (papyri), the more cursive Hieratic was used.
HITTITE cuneiform script in Hittite, an Indo-European language. 1650-1190 B.C.
HURRIAN cuneiform script in Hurrianlanguage, which is neither Indo-European nor Semitic. Mostly documented as inclusions in Hittite texts, 1400-1190 B.C.
INDUS VALLEY SCRIPT a script used by the Indus Valley Civilization about 2600-1900 B.C. Not yet decoded. Our main sources are very short textstrings on seals.
IVRIT Hebrew script, a derivative of Proto Canaanite, used in Israel. Early Hebrew has been used since the 9th century B.C.
JURCHEN a siniform script used in the Jiang state established by the Jurchen (from Manchuria), 1115-1234. It covered Manchuria and NE China. Based on the Khitan script.
KHAROSTHI an alphabetic script which emerged in NW India in the 3rd century B.C.; it was used to write Buddhist literature. Used also in Afghanistan and Khotan (Sinkiang)
KHITAN a siniform script used by Khitan (Liao), a state located in Manchuria 916-1125. The script was developed in 920 and used until 1191, although Khitan was overthrown by the Jurchen in 1125.
KHMER script used in Cambodia, since the early 7th century A.D.






This page is part of World History at KMLA
Last revised on September 9th 2001