Ge'ez Script

Ge’ez script is a script used in modern-day Eritrea and Ethiopia that dates back to the 1st century CE. Ge’ez was derived from the Ancient South Arabian script from the region around modern-day YemenUnlike a modern alphabet, the script began as an abjad, where only consonant letters are listed, but became an abugida, or a writing system with consonant-vowel sequences written as units, after 350 CE with the influence of Christianity in the region. There are 26 consonants in the Ge’ez script, and Ge’ez uses an alphabetical numeral system.

Ge’ez script was important for many religious practices and was the liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewehedo Church, the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the Eritrean Catholic Church, and the Ethiopian Catholic Church, along with being used by Jewish groups in Ethiopia such as Beta Israel and Haymanot Judaism.