Paleohispanic Scripts - Scripts

Scripts

The Paleohispanic scripts are classified into three major groups: southern, northern, and Greco-Iberian, with differences both in the shapes of the glyphs and in their values.

Inscriptions in the southern scripts have been found mainly in the southern half of the Iberian Peninsula. They represent only 5% of the inscriptions found, and mostly read from right to left (like the Phoenician alphabet). They are:

• the Espanca script (known from a single tablet, and the only attestation of an alphabetical order);
• the Tartessian or Southwestern script, also known as South Lusitanian;
• the Southeastern Iberian script, also known as Meridional.

Inscriptions in the northern scripts have been found mainly in the NE of the Iberian Peninsula. They represent 95% of the inscriptions found, and mostly read from left to right (like the Greek alphabet). They are:

• the Northeastern Iberian script, also known as Levantine;
  • Dual variant
  • Non-dual variant
• the Celtiberian script
  • Western variant
  • Eastern variant.

The Greco-Iberian alphabet was a direct adaptation of the Ionic variety of the Greek alphabet, and only found in a small region on the Mediterranean coast in the modern provinces of Alicante and Murcia.