ABSTRACT
The north-western branch of Semitic, as it appears at the turn of the second and first millennia BC, falls into two main groups, Aramaic and Canaanite. By far the most important member of the latter group is Hebrew, known from a vast literature, central to which is the Old Testament (earliest material c. 1200 BC, latest c. 200 BC). For most of the first millennium BC, Hebrew epigraphic material is written in an Old Hebrew character, which was adapted from the Phoenician alphabet around 1000 BC. Circa 200 BC, however, a cognate form of Phoenician- based script was borrowed from Aramaic, and all subsequent Hebrew writing is in this 'square' character. The Samaritans alone retained the Old Hebrew form (see Samaritan).
