Aramaic

==Writing system==
[[File:Syriac Sertâ book script.jpg|thumb|11th century book in [[Syriac alphabet|Syriac Serto]]]]
{{Main|Aramaic alphabet}}

The earliest Aramaic alphabet was based on the [[Phoenician alphabet]]. In time, Aramaic developed its distinctive "square" style. The ancient Israelites and other peoples of [[Canaan]] adopted this alphabet for writing their own languages. Thus, it is better known as the [[Hebrew alphabet]]. This is the writing system used in [[Biblical Aramaic]] and other Jewish writing in Aramaic. The other main writing system used for Aramaic was developed by Christian communities: a cursive form known as the [[Syriac alphabet]]. A highly modified form of the Aramaic alphabet, the [[Mandaic alphabet]], is used by the [[Mandaeism|Mandaeans]].{{sfn|Häberl|2012|pp=725–37}}

In addition to these writing systems, certain derivatives of the Aramaic alphabet were used in ancient times by particular groups: the [[Nabataean alphabet]] in [[Petra]] and the [[Palmyrene alphabet]] in [[Palmyra]]. In modern times, [[Turoyo language|Turoyo]] (see [[#Modern Eastern Aramaic|below]]) has sometimes been written in a [[Latin script]].