Old North Arabian Unicode Script

Old North Arabian is a script that was used in the pre-Islamic Arabian Peninsula, primarily in what is now modern-day Saudi Arabia. This script, which dates back to around the 6th century BCE to the 4th century CE, is one of several ancient South Semitic scripts. It was used by various ancient tribes and settlements in northwestern Arabia, particularly by those who left inscriptions on stone surfaces and in desert areas. The script is primarily consonantal, consisting of 28 letters, which share some similarity with the South Arabian scripts and the more widespread Ancient North Arabian scripts. Like many scripts of the region, Old North Arabian was typically written right to left, but inscriptions showing left-to-right and boustrophedon (alternate lines of writing in opposite directions) orientations have also been discovered, highlighting its diverse usage over time.

Inscriptions in Old North Arabian serve as important cultural and historical records, providing insights into the languages, social structures, religious practices, and daily lives of the ancient Arabian people. The surviving texts often include funerary inscriptions, short announcements, and graffiti-like messages, and they are invaluable to linguists and historians studying the area’s past. The script does not have a direct descendant today, and its use gradually declined with the rise of the Nabataean script, which influenced the development of the Arabic script. Official incorporation of Old North Arabian into the Unicode Standard aids in the preservation and digital accessibility of these ancient texts, allowing them to be more widely studied and appreciated in the global historical context.

Below you will find all the characters that are in the 'Old North Arabian' unicode script category. Currently there are 32 characters in this category.