ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the difficulties which are presented to the Examiner of Questioned Documents by certain aspects of script writing. Understanding these difficulties may assist examiners in assessing the relative importance of handwriting features or individualities in case work. The chapter summarizes the technical difficulties of writing in any language and cites specific examples from the Hebrew script. Hebrew and Arabic are Semitic languages, written from right to left, and one is therefore likely to find a similarity in the handwriting of a person who has achieved mature graphic expression in both languages. According to the quantity and quality of the characteristics, one can ascertain the degree of the writer’s fluency in Hebrew, and also the degree of his intelligence. As the writer’s level of intelligence decreases, there is a decrease in “group traits”, and an increase in specific, individualized signs which are not typical of Arabic script.
