Hatran Letter Aleph

In Hatran, aleph is a consonant letter within written words.

Hatran is an abjad: a writing system whose basic letters represent consonants. Scholarly transliteration writes this aleph as ʾ; that mark represents the letter in a Latin-script transcription, not the Hatran glyph itself.

Where did Hatran writing come from?

Hatran developed within the Aramaic family of scripts.

Hatran is a North Mesopotamian Aramaic script used to write the local Hatran dialect. Its earliest dated inscriptions are from 98–97 BCE, and the record continues until Hatra was destroyed circa 241 CE. Inscriptions include graffiti, dedications, memorial and tomb texts, and building records; aleph spells words within them.

Greek–Hatran bilingual inscriptions at Dura-Europos pair Greek with Hatran versions of the same messages, showing use beyond Hatra. Hatran inscriptions also share remembrance formulas with Nabataean, Jewish Aramaic, Old Syriac, and Palmyrene traditions.

Why can 𐣠 have different shapes?

Font design and right-to-left layout affect its appearance.

Hatran is written in horizontal lines from right to left. Unicode's reference drawing is not a prescribed historical form, so typefaces can show different outlines. Some inscriptions join aleph with daleth or qoph, but joining was optional. A box in place of the letter usually means the font lacks Hatran coverage.