South Arabian alphabet


The ancient Yemeni alphabet (Old South Arabian ms3nd; modern Arabic:المُسنَد musnad) branched from the Proto-Sinaitic alphabet in about the 9th century BC. It was used for writing the Old South Arabian languages of the Sabaic, Qatabanic, Hadramautic, Minaic (or Madhabic), Himyaritic, and Ge'ez in Dʿmt. The earliest inscriptions in the alphabet date to the 9th century BC in Akkele Guzay, Eritrea. There are no vowels, instead using the mater lectionis to mark them.