The Nabataean script to copy, letter by letter: the 22 letters of the Nabataean alphabet in order, then the nine final forms and the signs for numbers. It runs from right to left.
Read the full guide
Halfway from Aramaic to Arabic
The script descends from the Aramaic alphabet and wrote two languages, Nabataean Aramaic and Nabataean Arabic. From the 4th century a cursive form of it developed into the Arabic alphabet, so its shapes stand between those of Aramaic-derived scripts such as Hebrew and those of Arabic.
A second shape for nine letters
Nine letters have a final form: 𐢁 Aleph, 𐢃 Beth, 𐢇 He, 𐢍 Yodh, 𐢏 Kaph, 𐢑 Lamedh, 𐢓 Mem, 𐢕 Nun and 𐢝 Shin. They work like the final letters of Hebrew, and each is a character of its own, because where one occurs in a text cannot be predicted.
Six letters match two Arabic letters each: 𐢅 Daleth, 𐢊 Heth, 𐢋 Teth, 𐢗 Ayin, 𐢙 Sadhe and 𐢞 Taw.
A number is a row of the signs for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 20 and 100. The cross-shaped 4 is a variant.
Inscriptions usually leave no space between words. With no font for Nabataean a device shows boxes; the names under the tiles still read.
Questions and answers
How many letters are in the Nabataean alphabet?
22, all of them consonants. With the final forms and the number signs Unicode has 40 characters for the script, in the Nabataean block, U+10880 to U+108AF, since version 7.0 of June 2014.
When was the Nabataean script used?
From the second century BCE, and widely until the fourth century CE. The Namara inscription of that century, believed to be one of the oldest Arabic texts, is written in it. The script was first deciphered in 1840.
Where are Nabataean inscriptions found?
At Petra in Jordan, in the Sinai Peninsula, at Bosra and Namara in Syria, at Abdah in Israel and at Mada'in Saleh, or Hegra, in Saudi Arabia. Some 6,000 to 7,000 have been published, more than 95% of them short inscriptions or graffiti.
How does Nabataean differ from other Aramaic scripts?
It developed more loops and ligatures, likely to make writing faster. The ligatures were not standardized and varied from place to place and over time, so Unicode gives the letters no joining behaviour.
All 40 letters
Letters 22
𐢁Aleph, اU+10881 Nabataean letter aleph. Nabataean block, Unicode 7.0. Letter 1 of 22, named ʾālep. Sound [ʔ], written ʾ in Latin letters. Matches Aramaic 𐡀, Syriac ܐ, Hebrew א and Arabic ا. Its final form is 𐢀.
𐢗Ayin, عU+10897 Nabataean letter ayin. Nabataean block, Unicode 7.0. Letter 16 of 22, named ʿayin. Sound [ʕ], written ʿ in Latin letters. Matches Aramaic 𐡏, Syriac ܥ, Hebrew ע and two Arabic letters: ع [ʕ] and غ [ɣ].
𐢃Beth, بU+10883 Nabataean letter beth. Nabataean block, Unicode 7.0. Letter 2 of 22, named bēt. Sound [b], written b in Latin letters. Matches Aramaic 𐡁, Syriac ܒ, Hebrew ב and Arabic ب. Its final form is 𐢂.
𐢅Daleth, دU+10885 Nabataean letter daleth. Nabataean block, Unicode 7.0. Letter 4 of 22, named dālet. Sound [d], written d in Latin letters. Matches Aramaic 𐡃, Syriac ܕ, Hebrew ד and two Arabic letters: د [d] and ذ [ð].
𐢄Gimel, جU+10884 Nabataean letter gimel. Nabataean block, Unicode 7.0. Letter 3 of 22, named gīml. Sound [ɡ], written g in Latin letters. Matches Aramaic 𐡂, Syriac ܓ, Hebrew ג and Arabic ج, which is [d͡ʒ].
Show all 40 letters (35 more)
Letters, continued
𐢇He, هU+10887 Nabataean letter he. Nabataean block, Unicode 7.0. Letter 5 of 22, named he. Sound [h], written h in Latin letters. Matches Aramaic 𐡄, Syriac ܗ, Hebrew ה and Arabic ه. Its final form is 𐢆.
𐢊Heth, حU+1088A Nabataean letter heth. Nabataean block, Unicode 7.0. Letter 8 of 22, named ḥēt. Sound [ħ], written ḥ in Latin letters. Matches Aramaic 𐡇, Syriac ܚ, Hebrew ח and two Arabic letters: ح [ħ] and خ [x].
𐢏Kaph, كU+1088F Nabataean letter kaph. Nabataean block, Unicode 7.0. Letter 11 of 22, named kāp. Sound [k], written k in Latin letters. Matches Aramaic 𐡊, Syriac ܟ, Hebrew כ (final ך) and Arabic ك. Its final form is 𐢎.
𐢑Lamedh, لU+10891 Nabataean letter lamedh. Nabataean block, Unicode 7.0. Letter 12 of 22, named lāmed. Sound [l], written l in Latin letters. Matches Aramaic 𐡋, Syriac ܠ, Hebrew ל and Arabic ل. Its final form is 𐢐.
𐢓Mem, مU+10893 Nabataean letter mem. Nabataean block, Unicode 7.0. Letter 13 of 22, named mēm. Sound [m], written m in Latin letters. Matches Aramaic 𐡌, Syriac ܡ, Hebrew מ (final ם) and Arabic م. Its final form is 𐢒.
𐢕Nun, نU+10895 Nabataean letter nun. Nabataean block, Unicode 7.0. Letter 14 of 22, named nūn. Sound [n], written n in Latin letters. Matches Aramaic 𐡍, Syriac ܢ, Hebrew נ (final ן) and Arabic ن. Its final form is 𐢔.
𐢘Pe, فU+10898 Nabataean letter pe. Nabataean block, Unicode 7.0. Letter 17 of 22, named pē. Sound [p], written p in Latin letters. Matches Aramaic 𐡐, Syriac ܦ, Hebrew פ (final ף) and Arabic ف, which is [f].
𐢚Qoph, قU+1089A Nabataean letter qoph. Nabataean block, Unicode 7.0. Letter 19 of 22, named qōp. Sound [q], written q in Latin letters. Matches Aramaic 𐡒, Syriac ܩ, Hebrew ק and Arabic ق.
𐢛Resh, رU+1089B Nabataean letter resh. Nabataean block, Unicode 7.0. Letter 20 of 22, named rēs or reš. Sound [r], written r in Latin letters. Matches Aramaic 𐡓, Syriac ܪ, Hebrew ר and Arabic ر.
𐢙Sadhe, صU+10899 Nabataean letter sadhe. Nabataean block, Unicode 7.0. Letter 18 of 22, named ṣādē. Sound [sˤ], written ṣ in Latin letters. Matches Aramaic 𐡑, Syriac ܨ, Hebrew צ (final ץ) and two Arabic letters: ص [sˤ] and ض [dˤ].
𐢖Samekh, سU+10896 Nabataean letter samekh. Nabataean block, Unicode 7.0. Letter 15 of 22, named śāmek. Sound [s], written ś in Latin letters. Matches Aramaic 𐡎, Syriac ܣ, Hebrew ס and Arabic س.
𐢝Shin, شU+1089D Nabataean letter shin. Nabataean block, Unicode 7.0. Letter 21 of 22, named šīn. Sound [ʃ], written š in Latin letters. Matches Aramaic 𐡔, Syriac ܫ, Hebrew ש and Arabic ش. Its final form is 𐢜.
𐢞Taw, تU+1089E Nabataean letter taw. Nabataean block, Unicode 7.0. Letter 22 of 22, named tāw. Sound [t], written t in Latin letters. Matches Aramaic 𐡕, Syriac ܬ, Hebrew ת and two Arabic letters: ت [t] and ث [θ].
𐢋Teth, طU+1088B Nabataean letter teth. Nabataean block, Unicode 7.0. Letter 9 of 22, named ṭēt. Sound [tˤ], written ṭ in Latin letters. Matches Aramaic 𐡈, Syriac ܛ, Hebrew ט and two Arabic letters: ط [tˤ] and ظ [ðˤ].
𐢈Waw, وU+10888 Nabataean letter waw. Nabataean block, Unicode 7.0. Letter 6 of 22, named wāw. Sound [w], written w in Latin letters. Matches Aramaic 𐡅, Syriac ܘ, Hebrew ו and Arabic و.
𐢍Yodh, يU+1088D Nabataean letter yodh. Nabataean block, Unicode 7.0. Letter 10 of 22, named yod. Sound [j], written y in Latin letters. Matches Aramaic 𐡉, Syriac ܝ, Hebrew י and Arabic ي. Its final form is 𐢌.
𐢉Zayin, زU+10889 Nabataean letter zayin. Nabataean block, Unicode 7.0. Letter 7 of 22, named zayin. Sound [z], written z in Latin letters. Matches Aramaic 𐡆, Syriac ܙ, Hebrew ז and Arabic ز.
Final forms 9
𐢀Final alephU+10880 Nabataean letter final aleph. Nabataean block, Unicode 7.0. The final form of 𐢁 Aleph.
𐢂Final bethU+10882 Nabataean letter final beth. Nabataean block, Unicode 7.0. The final form of 𐢃 Beth.
𐢆Final heU+10886 Nabataean letter final he. Nabataean block, Unicode 7.0. The final form of 𐢇 He.
𐢎Final kaphU+1088E Nabataean letter final kaph. Nabataean block, Unicode 7.0. The final form of 𐢏 Kaph.
𐢐Final lamedhU+10890 Nabataean letter final lamedh. Nabataean block, Unicode 7.0. The final form of 𐢑 Lamedh.
𐢒Final memU+10892 Nabataean letter final mem. Nabataean block, Unicode 7.0. The final form of 𐢓 Mem.
𐢔Final nunU+10894 Nabataean letter final nun. Nabataean block, Unicode 7.0. The final form of 𐢕 Nun.
𐢜Final shinU+1089C Nabataean letter final shin. Nabataean block, Unicode 7.0. The final form of 𐢝 Shin.
𐢌Final yodhU+1088C Nabataean letter final yodh. Nabataean block, Unicode 7.0. The final form of 𐢍 Yodh.
Numbers 9
𐢫Cross-shaped 4U+108AB Nabataean cruciform number four. Nabataean block, Unicode 7.0. A cross-shaped variant of the sign for 4.
𐢧Nabataean 1U+108A7 Nabataean number one. Nabataean block, Unicode 7.0. Stands for 1. A number is a row of the signs for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 20 and 100, written from right to left like the words.
𐢨Nabataean 2U+108A8 Nabataean number two. Nabataean block, Unicode 7.0. Stands for 2.
𐢩Nabataean 3U+108A9 Nabataean number three. Nabataean block, Unicode 7.0. Stands for 3.
𐢪Nabataean 4U+108AA Nabataean number four. Nabataean block, Unicode 7.0. Stands for 4.
𐢬Nabataean 5U+108AC Nabataean number five. Nabataean block, Unicode 7.0. Stands for 5.
𐢭Nabataean 10U+108AD Nabataean number ten. Nabataean block, Unicode 7.0. Stands for 10.
𐢮Nabataean 20U+108AE Nabataean number twenty. Nabataean block, Unicode 7.0. Stands for 20.
𐢯Nabataean 100U+108AF Nabataean number one hundred. Nabataean block, Unicode 7.0. Stands for 100.
How this list was compiled: Every character was checked against UnicodeData.txt, version 18.0.0 (https://www.unicode.org/Public/18.0.0/ucd/UnicodeData.txt): the code points and the character names in the notes come from that file, names in sentence case. Block names come from Blocks.txt (https://www.unicode.org/Public/18.0.0/ucd/Blocks.txt) and the Unicode version each character arrived in from DerivedAge.txt (https://www.unicode.org/Public/18.0.0/ucd/DerivedAge.txt), both version 18.0.0. The 22 letters stand in the order of their code points, which is also the order of the comparison chart in Wikipedia's Nabataean script article (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nabataean_script). The name of each letter, its sound, the Latin letter it is written with and the Aramaic, Syriac, Hebrew and Arabic letters in the notes are the ones that chart sets in the letter's row; where it sets two Arabic letters beside one Nabataean letter, both are given with their sounds, and the tile carries the first. An Arabic letter the chart prints in a joined form is given here as the plain letter. A tile name is the letter's Unicode name and that Arabic letter. That the script has 22 consonants, that nine have final forms which are characters of their own, that words and numbers run from right to left and how numbers are built follow section 10.10 of the Unicode Standard, version 17.0 (https://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode17.0.0/core-spec/chapter-10/); the value of each number sign is its numeric value in UnicodeData.txt. The page holds every character of the Nabataean block, U+10880 to U+108AF: 22 letters, 9 final forms and 9 number signs. No locale of CLDR is written in these letters, so there was none to compare. The tile names and the grouping are this site's own. Each character was looked up in the system fonts of a current phone and drawn on a Mac on 2026-10-16 before it was kept, and all that are here drew. All sources were read on 2026-10-16. Licence: own work