GIMMEL

GIMMEL (Heb. ג; גִּמֶּל), third letter of the Hebrew alphabet; its numerical value is therefore 3. The basic shape of this letter consists of two strokes forming an angle: thus in the Proto-Sinaitic \!ejud\_0002\_0007\_0\_img0618 , Proto-Canaanite \!ejud\_0002\_0007\_0\_img0619 . and Proto-Arabian \!ejud\_0002\_0007\_0\_img0620 scripts. In the tenth-century B.C.E. Phoenician script two types occur: \!ejud\_0002\_0007\_0\_img0621 and \!ejud\_0002\_0007\_0\_img0622 . The first type was adopted by the ancient Hebrew and Greek scripts (cf. the gamma \!ejud\_0002\_0007\_0\_img0623 ), while the second one prevailed in the later Phoenician and Aramaic scripts. From the Aramaic \!ejud\_0002\_0007\_0\_img0624 developed the Jewish \!ejud\_0002\_0007\_0\_img0625 , Syriac \!ejud\_0002\_0007\_0\_img0626 , and Arabic \!ejud\_0002\_0007\_0\_img0627 . The modern Hebrew cursive gimmel evolved as follows: \!ejud\_0002\_0007\_0\_img0628 → \!ejud\_0002\_0007\_0\_img0629 → \!ejud\_0002\_0007\_0\_img0630 . See alphabet , Hebrew. (Joseph Naveh)