History of:
📜 **Paleo-Hebrew (Pre-Exilic Script)**
*The original script of the Hebrew people — before exile, before corruption, before vowels.*
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🔹 **I. ORIGIN OF PALEO-HEBREW**
**Date:** Around **1500–1200 BC**
• Derived from the **Proto-Canaanite script**, which itself came from **Proto-Sinaitic**.
• Paleo-Hebrew was not invented by Phoenicians — it developed alongside them.
• Used by **Abraham’s descendants**, adopted by Moses, and used in the **original Torah scrolls**.
✅ **First True Script of the Hebrews**
• No vowels
• No Greek influence
• No rabbinic traditions
• Pure consonantal writing
• Name of Yhwh was written as 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄
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🔹 **II. USAGE THROUGHOUT EARLY ISRAELITE HISTORY**
**1200–586 BC: Widespread Use**
• All sacred scrolls — Torah, Judges, Samuel, Kings — originally written in **Paleo-Hebrew**
• Inscriptions, seals, coins, pottery, and royal documents used it
• Examples:
* **Gezer Calendar** (10th century BC)
* **Siloam Inscription** (8th century BC)
* **Lachish Letters** (6th century BC)
✅ Still used during the days of David, Solomon, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah — all prophets wrote in it.
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🔹 **III. EXILE AND THE BEGINNING OF THE SHIFT**
**586 BC: Babylon Destroys the Temple**
• Judah is exiled to Babylon.
• Aramaic begins to rise as the empire's language.
• Paleo-Hebrew still used by exiles — but pressure to conform begins.
**Important:** Paleo-Hebrew **was not immediately abandoned** — Torah copies still existed in this script, especially among the faithful.
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🔹 **IV. POST-EXILIC SURVIVAL**
**500–300 BC:**
• Ezra and Nehemiah promote the reading of Torah — now using **Ketav Ashuri** (Square Script)
• Paleo-Hebrew fades from public use, but is still used for:
* **Yhwh’s Name (𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄)**
* Sacred inscriptions
* Coins (e.g., Bar Kokhba revolt coins used Paleo-Hebrew centuries later!)
✅ Paleo-Hebrew remained the **holy script** even as Square Script took over.
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🔹 **V. DEAD SEA SCROLLS PROOF**
**250 BC–70 AD:**
• Dead Sea Scrolls contain many texts in Early Square Script — but **sacred names** still written in **Paleo-Hebrew**.
• Shows reverence for the original script.
• Scrolls prove that Paleo-Hebrew was still known and respected — even during Roman occupation.
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🔹 **VI. ERASURE BY ROME AND RABBIS**
**70–135 AD and beyond:**
• Rome destroyed the Temple again.
• Hebrew identity was targeted.
• Rabbinic leaders and Roman power both pushed for standardized Square Script and oral law.
❌ Paleo-Hebrew was branded "archaic" and removed from most use.
❌ Replaced fully by Square Script with vowels by 700–1000 AD under the Masoretes.
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✅ **SUMMARY: PURE TIMELINE OF PALEO-HEBREW**
* 📅 **1500–586 BC:** Primary and sacred script of Israel
* 📅 **586–450 BC:** Still used, under pressure during exile
* 📅 **450–200 BC:** Replaced in public use by Ketav Ashuri, but survives in sacred names
* 📅 **200 BC–135 AD:** Last faithful scribes and sects (Essenes, Netzarim) preserve it
* 📅 **135 AD onward:** Almost erased by Roman and rabbinic systems
* 📅 **Today:** Rediscovered in archaeology — still valid, still pure, still uncorrupted