Two Samaritan letters in the Inscription

copyright 2008 Stephan Huller

By Rory Boid (personal correspondence)

Three lines are adequate in an inscription, but in a ms. or in print there will be four, because there will be a horizontal line at the bottom if the Shin is done elaborately. The three vertical strokes will come out of this line. This is true of both the Jewish form and the Samaritan one. This form is an elaboration of the inscriptional form. The little joining line just crossing the slanty line is to make all the lines touch. I agree it can’t be seen in all the pictures. I think it is there, and I think it fits in with the elaborateness of the Alef. Its presence makes the intention of having two Samaritan letters even more certain, because it makes the Shin match the Alef in style.