Inscriptional Pahlavi

Inscriptional Pahlavi
Inscriptional Pahlavi;
	Inscribed stone block from the c. 293 CE Paikuli inscription
Script type	Abjad
Period	2nd century BC — 6th century AD
Direction	Right-to-left script
Languages	Middle Iranian languages
Related scripts
Parent systems	Aramaic alphabet Pahlavi scripts Inscriptional Pahlavi; ;
ISO 15924
ISO 15924	Phli (131), Inscriptional Pahlavi
Unicode
Unicode alias	Inscriptional Pahlavi
Unicode range	U+10B60–U+10B7F

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Inscriptional Pahlavi is the earliest attested form of Pahlavi scripts, and is evident in clay fragments that have been dated to the reign of Mithridates I (r. 171–138 BC). Other early evidence includes the Pahlavi inscriptions of Parthian coins and the rock inscriptions of Sasanian emperors and other notables, such as Kartir the High Priest.

Letters

Inscriptional Pahlavi used 19 non-joining letters written from right to left, and usually with spaces between words:^[1]^[2]

Name^[A]	Image	Text	Principal phones (IPA; Middle Persian)^[3]	Transliteration^[4]^{: 129(۱۲۹)-130(۱۳۰)}^[5]^{: xi, xii, xiii}^[1]
Name^[A]	Image	Text	Principal phones (IPA; Middle Persian)^[3]	Iranian	Semitic (Aramaic)
Aleph		𐭠‎	[a], [aː]	ʼ or ʾ	A
Beth		𐭡‎	[b], [w]	b	B
Gimel		𐭢‎	[ɡ], [j]	g	G
Daleth		𐭣‎	[d], [j]	d	D
He		𐭤‎	—		-H, E
Waw-		𐭥‎	[w], [o(ː)], [u(ː)]	w	W
-Ayin-			[∅]		O
-Resh			[r]	r	R
Zayin		𐭦‎	[z]	z	Z
Heth		𐭧‎	[h], [x]	h	Ḥ
Teth		𐭨‎	—		Ṭ
Yodh		𐭩‎	[j], [e(ː)], [i(ː)], [d̠͡ʒ]	y, j-	Y
Kaph		𐭪‎	[k], [ɡ]	k	K
Lamedh		𐭫‎	[l], [r]	l	L
Mem-		𐭬‎	[m]	m	M
-Qoph		𐭬‎	—		Q
Nun		𐭭‎	[n]	n	N
Samekh		𐭮‎	[s], [h]	s	S
Pe		𐭯‎	[p], [b], [f]	p	P
Sadhe		𐭰‎	[t̠͡ʃ], [d̠͡ʒ], [z]	ṣ	Ṣ
Shin		𐭱‎	[ʃ]	š	Š
Taw		𐭲‎	[t], [d]	t	T

^
Letter names are based on the corresponding Imperial Aramaic characters^[1]

Numbers

Inscriptional Pahlavi had its own numerals:

Value		1	2	3	4	10	20	100	1000
Sign	Image
Sign	Text	𐭸‎	𐭹‎	𐭺‎	𐭻‎	𐭼‎	𐭽‎	𐭾‎	𐭿‎

Numerals are written right-to-left, the rightmost being the highest—with the exception of multiplication. Numerals add when the one to the left is lower or equal but multiply when it is larger.

Example: 6798 is written as 𐭺𐭺‎𐭿‎𐭻‎𐭺‎𐭾‎𐭽‎𐭽‎𐭽‎𐭽‎𐭼‎𐭻‎𐭻‎‎ ((3 + 3) × 1000 + (4 + 3) × 100 + 20 + 20 + 20 + 20 +10 + 4 + 4).^[1]

Unicode

Inscriptional Pahlavi script was added to the Unicode Standard in October, 2009 with the release of version 5.2.

The Unicode block for Inscriptional Pahlavi is U+10B60–U+10B7F:

Inscriptional Pahlavi^[1]^[2] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	A	B	C	D	E	F
U+10B6x	𐭠	𐭡	𐭢	𐭣	𐭤	𐭥	𐭦	𐭧	𐭨	𐭩	𐭪	𐭫	𐭬	𐭭	𐭮	𐭯
U+10B7x	𐭰	𐭱	𐭲						𐭸	𐭹	𐭺	𐭻	𐭼	𐭽	𐭾	𐭿
Notes 1.^ As of Unicode version 17.0 2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

Gallery

Sasanian coin (dinar) of Ardashir I (r. 224–42)
One side of the Nasrabad fire altar [fa] dedicated to Shapur I for his 243/4 victory over the Romans^[6]
The one Middle Persian ostracon from Dura-Europos listing twenty-seven professions^{[note 1]}^[7]^[8]
Inscription of Shapur II at Taq-e Bostan, including some rudimentary ligatures (letters joined on the baseline)
Drachm of Yazdegerd II (struck ca. 439-447)
A bulla (seal) of Wahrām, an Ērān-spāhbed. It mentions either Husraw I (r. 531–579) or II (591–626)^[9]
6th/7th century relief with the monogram ʼpr,^{[note 2]} which stands for afzūn farr (See Khvarenah)

Notes

^ Examples of listed professions: 𐭭𐭠𐭭𐭯𐭠𐭪‎ nʾnpʾk 'baker', 𐭪𐭯𐭱𐭪𐭫𐭩‎ kpškly 'shoemaker', 𐭪𐭱𐭲𐭪𐭫𐭩‎ kštkly 'plowman', 𐭦𐭩𐭭𐭣𐭠𐭭𐭩𐭪‎ zyndʾnyk 'jailer', 𐭣𐭯𐭩𐭫𐭯𐭲𐭩‎ dpylpty 'chief scribe', and 𐭮𐭠𐭯𐭮𐭲𐭭‎ šʾpstn 'harem keeper'
^ 𐭠𐭯𐭥‎

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Everson, Michael; Pournader, Roozbeh (2007-08-24). "L2/07-207R: Proposal for encoding the Inscriptional Parthian, Inscriptional Pahlavi, and Psalter Pahlavi scripts in the SMP of the UCS" (PDF). pp. 10–11.
^ Livinsky, BA; Guang-Da, Zhang; Samghabadi, R Shabani; Masson, Vadim Mikhaĭlovich (March 1999), Dani, Ahmad Hasan (ed.), History of civilizations of Central Asia, Multiple history, vol. 3. The crossroads of civilizations: A.D. 250 to 750, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, p. 89, ISBN 978-81-208-1540-7.
^ Daniels, Peter T.; Bright, William, eds. (1996). The World's Writing Systems. Oxford University Press, Inc. pp. 518. ISBN 978-0195079937.
^ Nyberg, Henrik S. (1964). A Manual of Pahlavi (2nd ed.). Otto Harrassowitz Verlag.
^ Mackenzie, D. N. (2014-09-25). A Concise Pahlavi Dictionary. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-61396-8.
^ Lerner, Judith A. (2006). "The Seal of a Eunuch in the Sasanian Court" (PDF). Journal of Inner Asian Art and Archaeology. 1: 114, 118. doi:10.1484/J.JIAAA.2.301928. ISSN 1783-9025.
^ "DURA EUROPOS". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 2026-02-14.
^ Brunner, Christopher J.; Frye, R. N. (1972). "The Iranian Epigraphic Remains from Dura-Europos". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 92 (4): 492. doi:10.2307/599959.
^ Gyselen, Rika (2001). The Four Generals of the Sasanian Empire: Some Sigillographic Evidence. Istituto italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente. ISBN 978-88-85320-97-0. LCCN 2002502488. OL 21137013M.

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[cnote_A] 
Letter names are based on the corresponding Imperial Aramaic characters^[1]

[7] Examples of listed professions: 𐭭𐭠𐭭𐭯𐭠𐭪‎ nʾnpʾk 'baker', 𐭪𐭯𐭱𐭪𐭫𐭩‎ kpškly 'shoemaker', 𐭪𐭱𐭲𐭪𐭫𐭩‎ kštkly 'plowman', 𐭦𐭩𐭭𐭣𐭠𐭭𐭩𐭪‎ zyndʾnyk 'jailer', 𐭣𐭯𐭩𐭫𐭯𐭲𐭩‎ dpylpty 'chief scribe', and 𐭮𐭠𐭯𐭮𐭲𐭭‎ šʾpstn 'harem keeper'

[11] 𐭠𐭯𐭥‎

[L207207-1] Everson, Michael; Pournader, Roozbeh (2007-08-24). "L2/07-207R: Proposal for encoding the Inscriptional Parthian, Inscriptional Pahlavi, and Psalter Pahlavi scripts in the SMP of the UCS" (PDF). pp. 10–11.

[2] Livinsky, BA; Guang-Da, Zhang; Samghabadi, R Shabani; Masson, Vadim Mikhaĭlovich (March 1999), Dani, Ahmad Hasan (ed.), History of civilizations of Central Asia, Multiple history, vol. 3. The crossroads of civilizations: A.D. 250 to 750, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, p. 89, ISBN 978-81-208-1540-7.

[WWS-3] Daniels, Peter T.; Bright, William, eds. (1996). The World's Writing Systems. Oxford University Press, Inc. pp. 518. ISBN 978-0195079937.

[4] Nyberg, Henrik S. (1964). A Manual of Pahlavi (2nd ed.). Otto Harrassowitz Verlag.

[5] Mackenzie, D. N. (2014-09-25). A Concise Pahlavi Dictionary. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-61396-8.

[6] Lerner, Judith A. (2006). "The Seal of a Eunuch in the Sasanian Court" (PDF). Journal of Inner Asian Art and Archaeology. 1: 114, 118. doi:10.1484/J.JIAAA.2.301928. ISSN 1783-9025.

[8] "DURA EUROPOS". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 2026-02-14.

[9] Brunner, Christopher J.; Frye, R. N. (1972). "The Iranian Epigraphic Remains from Dura-Europos". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 92 (4): 492. doi:10.2307/599959.

[10] Gyselen, Rika (2001). The Four Generals of the Sasanian Empire: Some Sigillographic Evidence. Istituto italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente. ISBN 978-88-85320-97-0. LCCN 2002502488. OL 21137013M.

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