Hebrew
HEBREW
A Semitic language whose origin, according to Biblical tradition, is Shem, Noah's second son, whose descendents populated the Middle East. Along with Phoenician, and Ugaritic, Hebrew constitutes the Canaanite branch, an evolved form of the language used by the inhabitants of the Land of Canaan before the arrival of the Israelites. A dead language for many centuries, Hebrew became once more a spoken language due to the efforts of Eliezar ben Yehuda (Yitzhak Perlman) in the nineteenth century. Hebrew is the official language of the State of Israel. The most ancient known Hebrew inscription is from the Gezer calendar of 950 b.c.e.
SEE ALSO Canaan.
More From encyclopedia.com
NEARBY TERMS
Hebrew
