Nabataean

Nabataean is a variety of Western Aramaic that was spoken in and the city of Petra, along the east bank of the Jordan River and on the Sinai Peninsula between about the 3rd century BC and the 4th century AD. It developed from Imperial Aramaic, and was heavily influenced by Arabic, especially by the 4th century AD.

The Nabataean script developed from theAramaic script during the 2nd century BC. Stone inscriptions in the Nabataean abjad have been found in Petra, the capital of the Nabataean kingdom (c. 150 BC to 100 AD) and in Damascus and Medina. During the 5th and century AD theArabic script developed from cursive versions of Nabataean.

Notable features

Type of writing system:abjad / consonant alphabet with no vowel indication
Writing direction: right to left in horizontal lines.
Used to write: Nabataean

Nabataean script and numerals

Note: some letters have final forms, which are shown on the left of the /.

Download the Nabataean script chart (Excel)

Nabtaean script chart supplied by Michael Peter Füstumum.

Sample text

Sample text in Nabataean

Source:http://www.unicode.org/L2/L2010/10473-n3969-nabataean.pdf

Links

Information about the Nabataean language
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nabataean_language
http://www.unicode.org/L2/L2010/10473-n3969-nabataean.pdf

Nabataean fonts
http://journalofbiblicalstudies.org/Links/fonts.htm

Semitic languages

Akkadian,Amharic,Arabic (Algerian),Arabic (Bedawi),Arabic (Chadian),Arabic (Egyptian),Arabic (Gulf),Arabic (Hassaniya),Arabic (Hejazi),Arabic (Lebanese),Arabic (Modern Standard),Arabic (Moroccan),Arabic (Najdi),Arabic (Sudanese),Arabic (Syrian),Aramaic,Argobba,Assyrian / Neo-Assyrian,Canaanite,Chaha,Chaldean Neo-Aramaic,Ge'ez,Hadhramautic,Harari,Hebrew,Himyaritic,Jewish Neo-Aramaic,Maltese,Mandaic,Nabataean,Neo-Mandaic,Phoenician,Punic,Qatabanic,Sabaean,Sabaic,Silt'e,Syriac,Tigre,Tigrinya,Turoyo,Ugaritic,Western Neo-Aramaic

Consonant alphabets (Abjads)

Ancient Berber,Arabic,Aramaic,Chorasmian,Elymaic,Hatran,Hebrew,Manichaean,Nabataean,North Arabian,Pahlavi,Palmyrene,Parthian,Phoenician,Paleo-Hebrew,Proto-Sinaitic / Proto-Canaanite,Psalter,Punic,Sabaean,Samaritan,Sogdian,South Arabian,Syriac,Tifinagh,Ugaritic

Other writing systems

Page last modified: 23.01.25

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