Hebrew and Related Ancient Script Styles

As I started to study Hebrew more intensively about three months ago, I also searched on various websites for information, to help me understand the language and it’s origin. There are several ancient script styles and as a mere beginner of Hebrew, I have been learning and practicing to read and write 3 different styles of script simultaneously, foremost Hebrew Block Style but also Hebrew Cursive Script- and Hebrew Rashi Style. It has been time consuming and in the beginning a little confusing, but now I have reached a stage, where I can differentiate between these three script styles and learning is a real pleasure. My Hebrew-English ‘Tanakh’, which I enjoy to use for reading practice, does not have any form of transliteration but yet again the internet has proven to be a very helpful tool, as I have found a website, which displays most of the ‘Tanakh’ verses in transliterations and has been very useful in my learning to read and write this beautiful language. (english)

Hebraeisch und Verwandte Uralte Schriftformen
Als ich vor ungefaehr 3 Monaten mit dem intensiven Studium der Hebraeischen Sprache begann, suchte ich unter verschiedenen  Webseiten nach Informationen, um ein besseres Verstaendnis dieser Sprache und ihres Ursprungs zu erlangen. Es gibt unterschiedliche, uralte Schreibformen und als einfacher Anfaenger der Hebraeischen Sprache, habe ich mir gleichzeitig 3 Schriftformen angeeignet, die ich gegenwaertig zu lesen und zu schreiben uebe, vorwiegend Hebraeische Blockschrift, aber auch Hebraeische Cursive Script- und Rashi Schriftform. Es war sehr zeitaufwendig und anfangs auch etwas verwirrend, aber nun habe ich eine Phase erreicht, wobei ich diese drei Schriftformen deutlich auseinander halten kann und das Lernen ist eine wahre Freude. Mein Hebraeisch-Englischer ‘Tanakh’, den ich vorliebend gern fuer meine Leseuebungen benutze, beinhaltet zwar keine Transliterationen, aber hier wird das Internet wieder einmal zu einem sehr hilfreichen Werkzeug, denn ich habe eine Webseite gefunden, die die Verse des ‘Tanakh’ in Transliterarischer Form aufzeigt, was mir sehr zum Vorteil beim Lesen und Schreiben dieser wunderschoenen Sprache geworden ist. (german)

Excerpts from a very informative Website: Ivri –The Ancient Hebrew Alphabet
Words Have Life
The testimony of Genesis 1 and John 1 is that words become life when those words are uttered by the voice of God. When God was on Sinai, the people not only heard the sound of God, they saw His voice.
Sound Can be Seen. And all the Nation saw the voices and the flames, and the sound of the Shofar, and the mountain smoking, and the nation was afraid, and they trembled, and they stood far away. (Exodus 20: 18)
The Jews have also believed that the alphabet is sacred. Since it is the visible sound of God, I believe that it must testify something about God. So I examined this alphabet after I heard that the last letter was shaped like a cross and the first letter was an animal with horns.
When I researched the Hebrew alphabet, I did not see a cross in any of the letters, but I learned that each letter has a meaning. There are 22 letters in the Hebrew language and about 5 styles of writing these letters. Each letter has a specific numeric value. Since Hebrew is read from right to left, the alphabet is presented in that order.

1. K'tav Ashuri (Assyrian Script). This is the square script currently used to write the sacred text.
   
   » STA"M (Sifrei, Torah, Tefillin, and Mezuzos). This is special style of Ashuri with crowns above some letters that is actually used to write the sacred text in the Mezuzah, Torah and Tefillin.
   
   The evidence is that the Assyrian square script was adopted in the days of Ezra after the Babylonian captivity around 590 BC. It was only at the directive of the Talmud, which was written after 600 AD, that this was designated as the chosen script for biblical writings.
   Other modern styles are related to the Ashuri square script.
   » K'tav Rashi. Rabbinic commentary on a text may be written in this script.
   
   » Printed Book. Most printed books use this script that is basically a style of the Ashuri.
   
   » Cursive. This is the common script. It is a recent innovation which has existed for about 200 years.
   
   In all scripts except Ivri, five letters have a special letter (a final form) that replaces them when they are used at the end of a word. We have colored these letters (Kaf, Mem, Nun, Pe, Tzadi).
2. K'tav Ivri (Ancient Hebrew Script). This is the style of writing that existed during the time of Moses. It does not resemble the current style, but the letters had the design features for which I was searching.
   
3. Other Related Scripts.
   » Phoenician Script. This script may be the root of Hebrew, Aramaic, Samaritan, Arabic, Greek and Latin.
   
   » Aramaic Script. Ivri is similar to the Aramaic script that was prevalent in the region.
   
   » Samaritan Script. This script was used by the northern tribes who returned from captivity.
   
   » Neo-Punic. This language was spoken in Carthage and parts of North Africa as late as the fourth century AD. Three letters have two different forms (Tet, Samekh and Tau).