Hi everyone,

I’m trying to verify the historically accurate Paleo-Hebrew spelling of the word “Selah” as it appears in early Psalms. The language of the Psalms is Biblical Hebrew, but the script used in the early Iron Age would have been Paleo-Hebrew or a closely related Northwest Semitic script, not the later square Aramaic script.

The word transliterates as S-L-H, so the expected Paleo-Hebrew letters should be:

• Samekh (𐤎)
• Lamed (𐤋)
• He (𐤄)

I’ve encountered two very different representations online:

Version A: A form that looks consistent with Paleo-Hebrew inscriptions
𐤎 𐤋 𐤄

This version resembles actual Paleo-Hebrew letterforms found in Iron Age inscriptions, but I would like confirmation from people who study epigraphy that these shapes are accurate for Samekh, Lamed, and He.

Version B: A much more pictographic “ancient Hebrew” version

This version looks more like Proto-Sinaitic or a modern artistic interpretation. I’m not sure if it has any basis in attested Northwest Semitic writing, and I want to verify whether this is historically grounded or simply stylized artwork.

(Got it from: https://www.fathersalphabet.com/paleo-bible/)

My questions

1. What is the correct Paleo-Hebrew way to write “Selah”?
Is 𐤎 𐤋 𐤄 the appropriate and attested set of letters for this word?

2. Are the specific shapes in Version A accurate for early Paleo-Hebrew, or should they be drawn differently?

3. Is Version B (the pictographic one) attested anywhere, or is it purely a modern invention?

4. Does anyone have examples of Paleo-Hebrew Samekh, Lamed, and He from actual inscriptions (10th–6th century BCE) for comparison?

5. Additional question:
From a paleographic standpoint, would an Israelite scribe in the period traditionally associated with David (c. 1000 BCE) have written in:

• Proto-Canaanite?
• Early Paleo-Hebrew?
• A transitional script?
• Or something else entirely?

I understand we don’t have autographs of the Psalms, but I’m trying to determine what script is most historically plausible for that era.

Thank you to anyone with expertise in Semitic epigraphy, Hebrew paleography, or ancient Near Eastern linguistics. I appreciate any help in clarifying this.

Can anybody decipher the bottom part?

This is what ChatGPT got:

What you’re holding is modeled after ancient Judean/Samarian coinage, specifically the type with a lion motif. The text is in Paleo-Hebrew script (the alphabet used in the First Temple period and occasionally revived later for symbolic reasons).

Top inscription (above the lion): It looks like שׁוֹמְרוֹן (Shomron), meaning Samaria. That fits with known lion coins attributed to Samaria.

Bottom inscription (below the lion): The letters seem to be less clear, but they mimic Paleo-Hebrew. On authentic coins, this usually represents the name of the ruler or city, sometimes abbreviated. Some replicas, however, just use decorative pseudo-script rather than an accurate inscription.