Syriac (Estrangelo variant)

The Syriac alphabet is a writing system used to write the Syriac language from the 1st century AD. Syriac is written from right to left. It is a cursive script with 22 letters, all of which are connected within a word. The alphabet is thought to have been developed from the Aramaic alphabet, with the addition of some letters from the Palmyrene alphabet, which was itself derived from Aramaic. Syriac was the alphabet used to write the Christian Aramaic dialects of Edessa, Osroene and Hatra. The earliest Syriac inscriptions date back to the 1st century AD, but the alphabet was not fully developed until the 4th century. The alphabet went through a number of revisions over the centuries, with the most recent being the Estrangelo variant, which was developed in the 6th century. The Estrangelo variant is the most widely used form of the Syriac alphabet, and is used by the majority of Syriac speakers. It is also the alphabet used in the Syriac Orthodox Church.