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Hebrew Alphabet
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The Hebrew Alphabet is of no random order. Central to the 22 letter alphabet are two sets of letters. These letter sets make up the words 'Israel' and 'Zion.' This link is an overview of the highlights of the research in an 'easy to understand' format.
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Gematrias: The letters of the Hebrew Alphabet each have a numerical value. The Letter Aleph is equal to 1. The Letter Bais is equal to 2. The Letter Gimel is equal to 3. The Letter Daled is equal to 4. The Letter Heh is equal to 5.
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The Aleph Bet, the Hebrew Alphabet, has 22 letters (five of which appear in a different form at the end of a word) which are all consonants. Hebrew is written from right to left. During the years a system of vowels called nikud were added, but these are mostly seen in school books and prayer books. Newspapers, signs, magazines and most other printed materials in Israel today do not use nikud.
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The Hebrew Alphabet consists of twenty-two letters--eighteen consonants and four letters which serve both as consonants and vowels ([A]lef, hei, vav, yud ). Five letters (kaf, mem, nun, pei, tzadik) take on an additional script-form when positioned at the end of a word. For further explanation see Alef-Beit Significances. Also see: The Mystical Significance of the Hebrew Letters (including an image and audio pronunciation of each letter).
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The Early Aramaic or Proto-Hebrew alphabet was developed sometime during the late 10th or early 9th century BC and replaced Assyrian cuneiform as the main writing system of the Assyrian empire. This alphabet is thought to be the ancestor of a number of Semitic alphabets as well as the Kharosthi alphabet. At the end of the 6th century BC the Early Aramaic alphabet was replaced by the Hebrew square script which is ... known as the Aramaic alphabet.
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After the Babylonian capture of Judah, when most of the nobles were taken into exile, the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet continued to be used by the people who remained to work the fields. One example of such writings are the 6th-century BCE jar handles from Gibeon, on which the names of winegrowers are inscribed. Beginning from the 5th century BCE onward, when the Aramaic language and script became an official means of communication, the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet was preserved mainly for writing the Tanakh by a coterie of erudite scribes, who most likely belonged to the sect of the Sadducees
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