Elymaic letter gimel

Its scholarly transliteration is g. In English, it represents the voiced consonant in “go.”

The Elymaic script grew from Aramaic writing used in the Achaemenid Persian empire’s chancery, its central administrative office. Local administrators adapted it to write the empire’s standard Aramaic. Elymais was an ancient realm in what is now southwestern Iran. Tang-e Chilau graffiti may preserve a transitional stage from the first century BCE or earlier; most surviving stone inscriptions date from the first through third centuries CE.

Why do Elymaic forms vary between sources?

Unicode’s reference glyph follows Tang-e Sarvak stone forms.

Other inscriptions show local or stylistic variation. Large coin legends resemble the stone writing, while some small copper coins use forms closer to Parthian.

Which scripts are related to Elymaic?

Elymaic is an Aramaic-based script related to Parthian and Mandaic. Characenean is related too. Scholars disagree whether Elymaic came before Mandaic, developed alongside it, or descended from it.