South Arabian letter

South Arabian script ( ancient South Arabian. 𐩣𐩯𐩬𐩵, ms ³ nd , Arabic. المُسند , al-musnad ) is an ancient script from which the modern Ethiopian script originated.

South Arabic writing separated from the Proto-Canaanite alphabet no later than the 9th century BC. e. It was used for recordings in ancient South Arabian languages ​​in the Sabean kingdom , Kataban , Hadramaut , Main and Himyar , as well as early forms of geez in the pre-Aksum principalities.

One of the first inscriptions on this alphabet dating back to the 9th century BC. e., were made in the province of Akkele Guzai in Eritrea . The inscriptions found in Babylon and in Yemen date back to the 8th century BC. e.

The South Arabian letter finally took shape by 500 BC. e. and was used (including Old North Arabic inscriptions on one of its variants) until the 7th century AD. e., when it was replaced by the Arabic alphabet . In Ethiopia , the Geez alphabet originated from it, which, with additional symbols added in subsequent centuries, is used to write the Amharic language , tigrinya and tiger , as well as other languages ​​- Semitic , Kushite and Nilo-Saharan .

The cursive font “zabur” (“South Arabian minuscule ”) was used by the ancient Yemenis to keep daily notes on wooden planks. Monumental inscriptions, similar to those shown in the illustrations, were carved in the font “musnad” .