Palmyrene Alphabet

This app can help you get to know the Palmyrene alphabet. Scroll through the letters and study their shapes and sounds. Practice tracing each one until you're familiar-- then quiz yourself on the letters! This writing system was adapted by the Arameans from Phonoecian in the 8th Century BC. Note it is written right-to-left, like most other Semitic writing systems. That is why the first letter is listed on the top right and they go right to left, up to down from Alaph to Taw. The Palmyrene alphabet was a historical Semitic alphabet used to write Palmyrene Aramaic. It was used between 100 BCE and 300 CE in Palmyra in the Syrian desert. The oldest surviving Palmyrene inscription dates to 44 BCE. We provide transliteration equivalents for each letter in Latin, Hebrew, and Arabic scripts (all of which can be used in the quiz).