The same square script: א to כ

Lesson 1 of Biblical Aramaic Foundations: First Readings in Daniel and Ezra. Anyone can read this lesson with no account. Every lesson after this one is for students.

The square script and where Aramaic is found

Know that Aramaic uses the Hebrew square script

Biblical Aramaic · Writing

The same square script: א to כ

Know that Aramaic uses the Hebrew square script
Trace the first eleven letters
Copy five short Aramaic words

Biblical Aramaic is written in the same square script as Biblical Hebrew, from right to left, with the same 22 letters, the same five final forms and the same vowel points. If you have taken Biblical Hebrew Foundations, this unit is review, and it is deliberately short: two lessons for the letters, one for the final forms and one for the vowel points.

Aramaic and Hebrew are related languages, much as Spanish and Italian are. The square script itself grew out of the Aramaic script, which Jewish scribes adopted in the centuries after the Babylonian exile; Jewish tradition calls it the Assyrian script. Older Hebrew inscriptions use a different alphabet with the same 22 letters.

Learn or review א (alef), ב (bet), ג (gimel), ד (dalet), ה (he), ו (vav), ז (zayin), ח (het), ט (tet), י (yod) and כ (kaf). The sounds follow the reading pronunciation of the Hebrew course: ב is b with a dot and v without, כ is k with a dot and kh without, and ח is kh, as in Scottish loch.

Watch each stroke model, trace it, then write it from memory. Two letters matter more in Aramaic than you might expect. Alef ends many nouns in the emphatic state, which often means the. Dalet begins the particle דִּי, which or of. You will meet both in almost every verse.

alef

Silent in the reading pronunciation; at the end of many nouns it follows the a of the emphatic ending.

Square script print practice

Square script; target 1 of 11

Watch each stroke travel from its beginning to its end. This square print model offers one useful sequence, rather than a universal handwriting rule.

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Loading the character's stroke guide.

All controls work with a keyboard. If you cannot use a pointer, watch the practice sequence and practice on paper below. Drawing is not required to use the lesson or quizzes.

These original guides practice square (block) print, the script of printed Hebrew Bibles, not modern Hebrew cursive. Hebrew letters have no capital or lowercase forms. Write each letter first, then add any dagesh, shin or sin dot, and finally the vowel points. Write complete words and verses on paper below, from right to left.

4. Write on paper

Paper practice target

Write א three times in separate squares. Write from right to left, starting at the right margin. For words and verses, keep every vowel point, dagesh, shin or sin dot, final form, maqqef and sof pasuq. Use a dark pen or pencil and photograph the page in good light. Keep all three attempts in view.

Choose Camera to take a photo on a supported phone, or File to upload one from a phone or computer. Your device controls camera permission. If camera access is unavailable, use File.

When you choose Assess photo, your photo is sent for AI assessment. This lesson does not save the photo. Include only the practice page.

The photo coach reviews visible character shape, proportions, and spacing, including vowel points, dagesh and shin or sin dots, and final forms in words. A still photo cannot verify stroke order. Practice feedback supports your learning and is not a course grade.

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Games and understanding quiz

Practice here or return between lessons for a short review. Games and quizzes save your best scores, XP and earned trophies to your account. Retrying does not reduce your progress.

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The audio in this course is a computer voice reading the pointed Aramaic with a Hebrew-style reading pronunciation, close to Modern Hebrew. It is an approximation, it can misread a word, and ancient pronunciation differed. Where the voice and the written points disagree, follow the points. Games and quizzes save their scores and Aramaic trophies after you submit them; use the lesson-completion button in the classroom when you are ready to mark the lesson complete.

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