Origin from 800 BCE
An abjad of South Arabia, also called Sabaean script or Musnad, developed from Proto-Sinaitic roots and attested in inscriptions from around the ninth century BCE to the seventh century CE. It recorded six extinct Semitic languages of pre-Islamic Yemen, chiefly Sabaean, along with Qatabanian, Hadramautic, Minaean, Himyarite and proto-Ge'ez. It is the direct ancestor of the Ge'ez script, carried across the Red Sea to the Horn of Africa by South Semitic speakers.
Facts
DirectionalityUsually right to left, sometimes left to right or boustrophedon 1 In Use Since (Year)Attested inscriptions run from roughly the ninth century BCE to the seventh century CE. Directionality (class) Classification
Script StatusClassified 'extinct' per this entity's own cited source and standard scholarly consensus on the script's current use; checked 2026-09-27. Connections
Ancestor Of
The Ge'ez script descends from the Ancient South Arabian script, carried across the Red Sea to the Horn of Africa by South Semitic speakers; proto-Ge'ez is itself among the languages the South Arabian script recorded.
Source Omniglot: The Online Encyclopedia of Writing Systems and Languages
Associated With
This source names Ge'ez directly: "Minaean, Himyarite and proto-Ge'ez."
Source Omniglot: The Online Encyclopedia of Writing Systems and Languages
Sources
1. Omniglot: The Online Encyclopedia of Writing Systems and Languages
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