Ktav Ashuri

Ktav Ashuri is the traditional name for a special way of writing Hebrew and Aramaic. It is also called the Square script. This name helps people tell it apart from another old style of writing called Paleo-Hebrew.

People in Jewish tradition use Ktav Ashuri for very important things. According to Jewish religious law, special items called tefillin and mezuzot must be written in this script. These items are important for religious practices.

The script gets its name from the ancient Assyrians, a group of people from a long time ago. It has been used for many years and is still important today for writing Hebrew and some Aramaic words.

Name

Ktav Ashuri is the traditional name for the Hebrew alphabet, used to write both Hebrew and Jewish Babylonian Aramaic. It is often called the Square script. The term Ktav Ashuri comes from old Jewish writings called the Talmud. There are two ideas about why it is called Ashuri: either because Jews brought it back from exile in Assyria, or because it was given at Mount Sinai and then forgotten before being rediscovered.

This name shows that the Hebrew alphabet used by Jews comes from the Aramaic alphabet used in Assyria and Babylonia. It is sometimes called the "Assyrian script." This name is different from Libonaa, the name given to the Samaritan alphabet.

History

The Ashuri script is first mentioned in old Jewish writings from the Mishnaic and Talmudic times. It was the formal way of writing used in special Jewish items like sifrei Torah, tefillin, mezuzot, and the Five Megillot.

According to the Talmud, Ezra decided that the sefer Torah should be written using the Aramaic alphabet instead of the older Paleo-Hebrew alphabet. This change allowed the Book of Daniel to be written in Aramaic. Before Ezra, the Torah was written in Paleo-Hebrew (Ktav Ivri), but there are different ideas about when the switch happened. Some believe the Torah was always written in Ktav Ashuri. The Samaritans still use the Paleo-Hebrew style, called the Samaritan script, for their Samaritan Torah.