Numidian
The first published sketch of the bilingual Ateban Mausoleum inscription of Dougga, Tunisia (Jean Emile Humbert). Left side: Punic language, Phoenician script. Right side: Numidian language, Numidian script.
Image is in the public domain. Author: Jean Emile Humbert. Source: Wikimedia.
Script details
Section titled “Script details”See all script details: code, region, status and more
| Code | x-numidian |
| Script type | unspecified |
| Region | African |
| Status | Historical |
| Direction | vertical (LTR) and horizontal (RTL) |
| Baseline | vertical |
| Case | unknown |
| White space | unspecified |
| Complex behaviors | unspecified |
| OpenType code | unspecified |
| ISO 15924 Number | none |
Script description
Section titled “Script description”The Numidian script was an alphabet used for writing the Berber dialect of the same name in the second century BC.
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It is thought to have derived from the Phoenician abjad.
The Numidian script resembles the Tifinagh script currently employed by the Tuareg, the principal inhabitants of the Saharan interior. However, Tifinagh is written horizontally and Numidian was normally written from bottom to top, in columns from left to right. In some bilingual Numidian and Phoenician inscriptions, the Numidian parts were written from right to left horizontally in the Phoenician manner.
This script is not currently recognized by the ISO 15924 standard
, but is included in Writing Systems Technical Resources for research purposes. If you have any information on this script, please add the information to this site. Your contributions can be a great help in refining and expanding the ISO 15924 standard.
Languages that use this script
Section titled “Languages that use this script”There are no known languages that use this script.
Unicode status
Section titled “Unicode status”The Numidian script is not yet in Unicode. The script has a tentative allocation at U+10960..U+1097F in the Roadmap to the SMP for the Unicode Standard.