104
Ed Metzler
§
7. The ancient Hebrew alphabet consists
of
the following twenty-two
letters: 1. Alef, 2.
Bet,
3. Gimel, 4.
Dalet, 5. He, 6.
Waw, 7. Zayin,
8.
Chet, 9. Tet, 10.
Yod, 11. Kaf, 12.
Lamed,
13. Mem,
14. Nun, 15.
Samekh, 16. Ayin,
17.
Peh, 18. Tzadi, 19. Kof, 20.
Resh, 21. Shin,
and 22.
Taw.15) The
first step towards a
two-
dimensional arrangement of the
alphabetical order
is dictated by
the prime numbers of 22,
which
are two times eleven.
Hence the 22 letters may
at
first be arranged in
an oblong column of
11
pairs of letters, which
must be consecutive
in keeping
with the alphabetical order of
letters:
––––––––––––––––
15) This alphabetical order of the ancient
Hebrew alphabet is known from
the acrostic compositions in the
Bible, in particular
the Proverbs
of King Solomon 31, 10–31,
and the Lamentations of
Jeremiah
1, 1–22, in which successive verses
begin with the letters
of the
alphabet, furthermore from Psalms
111 and 112 with
con-
secutive pairs of letters to
a verse, as well as Psalm 119 with
units
of eight verses, each
beginning with the same letter. The
complete
alphabetical order
occurs on the Marsiliana
tablet, and on
finds
from Ugarit,
which are not
earlier than the Israelite
monarchy,
see above Note 5. The letters
of the ancient Hebrew
alphabet
have been known
from many inscriptions, since
the Mesha stone
was found
in 1868. The original
shapes of some letters
may be
restored from
proto-Sinaitic inscriptions, e. g.
by raising the horns
of the
bull (Alef), the hands of the
human being (He), by opening
the
roof of the house
(Bet), and placing a dot in
the eye (Ayin).
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