Nabataean
OriginJordan
Earliest150 BC
TypeAbjad
About Nabataean
The script of the Nabataeans, traders who carved the city of Petra from rose red rock. Developed from Aramaic with distinctive cursive ligatures. Survives in tomb inscriptions and papyri from the Dead Sea region. Direct ancestor of the Arabic script. Persisted for centuries even as Greek took over official use.
More Abjads
Arabic Script
Written right to left. Used for Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Pashto, and over a dozen other lang...
Hebrew Alphabet
Written right to left. 22 consonant letters with no distinct vowel letters in everyday use...
Urdu Script
Essentially the Persian variant of the Arabic script. Written right to left. Has 38 letter...
Persian Script
A modified version of Arabic script with 4 additional letters for Persian sounds. Written ...