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THE ALPHABET The "Canaanite" main branch of alphabets may be subdivided into two following branches: (1) Early Hebrew, with its three secondary branches, the Moabite, the Edomite, and the Ammonite, and its two offshoots, the Samaritan and the script of the Jewish coins; and (2) Phænician, which can be distinguished into (a) Early Phænician, (b) Phænician proper, and (c) "colonial" Phænician, out of which the Punic and neo-Punic varieties, and probably also the Libyan and Iberian scripts developed: see Fig. 114
EARLY HEBREW ALPHABET (Fig. 114-118)
The alphabet used by the Hebrews in the first half of the first millennium B.C., presents certain peculiar characteristics which induce us to consider it as a particular branch. The term "early Hebrew" is employed in distinction to the "square Hebrew" alphabet, which was the parent of the modern Hebrew script. Early Hebrew is the writing used by Israel roughly in the pre-exilic period, that is, until the sixth century B.C., although some inscriptions may belong to the fifth or the fourth century B.C. Inscriptions
The epigraphical remains of ancient Israel are very scarce. No stela of victory like those of the Egyptian or Mesopotamian monarchs have been preserved, no public documents on a "pillar of stone," such as those of the Greeks or the Romans have reached us. David, Solomon and the other great kings of Israel are known to us only from the Biblical record.
This paucity of early Hebrew inscriptions has been accounted for in various ways. The following are the most acceptable theories: (1) The ancient Hebrews possessed none of that genius for "imperial conquest," for administration on a large scale or for civic order, which inspired the great and numerous monumental inscriptions of the ancient world. (2) Another opinion suggests that there were inscriptions in early Hebrew Palestine, but that these have not been allowed to survive, because, from the standpoint of later Judaism, the religion and the general outlook of
pre-exilic Hebrews was essentially unorthodox. (3) The majority of the inscriptions have been destroyed in the numerous invasions and occupations of Palestine by hostile armies. (4) Until recent times, excavations in Palestine were not conducted in accordance with rigid scientific methods, and many small inscriptions may have been lost for ever. (5) The vast majority of the contemporary documents, and particularly all the literary works, were written upon papyrus, imported from Egypt, or on parchment; in the damp soil of Palestine, however, no papyrus or parchment could be expected to endure to our time. In short, we may suppose that there were many early Hebrew inscriptions, but that the vast majority of them have been destroyed through the agency of men
