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

You may need rendering support to display the uncommon Unicode characters in this article correctly.

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.

Reproduction of one of the painted inscriptions (no. 42) from the walls of the Dura-Europos synagogue, presumed to date to the 15th regnal year of the unnamed Šāpūr I (240–70 CE):^[1]

𐭡𐭩𐭥𐭧 𐭯𐭥𐭥𐭥𐭲𐭩𐭭 𐭬𐭣𐭬‎
BYRḤ prwrtyn QDM
𐭱𐭭𐭲 𐭼𐭺𐭹 𐭥𐭩𐭥𐭬 𐭫𐭱𐭭𐭩‎
ŠNT X III II WYWM lšny
𐭠𐭬𐭲 𐭩𐭦𐭣𐭠𐭭𐭲𐭧𐭬𐭯𐭥𐭭𐭡𐭢𐭢‎
ʾMT yzdʾntḥ[m]pr[n]b(g)
𐭣𐭯𐭩𐭥𐭥 𐭦𐭩 𐭲𐭧𐭬𐭩 𐭥𐭫‎
dpywr ZY tḥmy ʿL
𐭦𐭭𐭤 𐭡𐭩𐭲𐭠 𐭩𐭠𐭲𐭥𐭭𐭲 𐭠𐭯𐭱 𐭦𐭭𐭤 𐭭𐭪𐭠𐭫‎
ZNH BYTʾ [YʾTWNt] ʾPš ZNH nkʾl
𐭯𐭮𐭭𐭣𐭩𐭲‎
ps(nd)yt

"(It was the 1st) month of Frawardīn in the year 15 and the (18th) day Rashn when the scribe Yazdān-tahm-farrbay, the strong, [came] to this house, and he liked this picture."

Photo showing the writing in context, written over a figure's himation

Full panel with additional inscriptions

Letters

Inscriptional Pahlavi used 19 non-joining letters written from right to left, and usually with spaces between words:^[2]^[3]

Name^[A]	Image	Text	Principal phones (IPA; Middle Persian)^[4]	Transliteration^[5]^{: 129(۱۲۹)-130(۱۳۰)}^[6]^{: xi, xii, xiii}^[2]
Name^[A]	Image	Text	Principal phones (IPA; Middle Persian)^[4]	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]^[B]	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]^[B]	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.^[2]
^
𐭫‎ is used for [r] more often than 𐭥‎.^[4]

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).^[2]

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

$Sasanian coin (dinar) of Ardashir I (r. 224–42) inscribed: ⤹ 𐭬𐭦𐭣𐭩𐭮𐭭 𐭡𐭢𐭩 \ 𐭠𐭥𐭲𐭧𐭱𐭲𐭥 𐭬𐭫𐭪𐭠‎ mzdysn bgy ʼrthštr MLKA {...}.$
Sasanian coin (dinar) of Ardashir I (r. 224–42) inscribed: ⤹ 𐭬𐭦𐭣𐭩𐭮𐭭 𐭡𐭢𐭩 \ 𐭠𐭥𐭲𐭧𐭱𐭲𐭥 𐭬𐭫𐭪𐭠‎ mzdysn bgy ʼrthštr MLKA {...}.
One side of the Nasrabad fire altar [fa] dedicated to Shapur I for his 243/4 victory over the Romans.^[7]
The one Middle Persian ostracon from Dura-Europos listing twenty-seven professions.^{[note 1]}^[1]^[8]
Inscription of Shapur II at Taq-e Bostan, including some rudimentary ligatures (letters joined on the baseline).
$Drachm of Yazdegerd II (struck ca. 439-447) inscribed: ⤹ 𐭬𐭦𐭣𐭩𐭮𐭭 𐭡𐭢𐭩 \ 𐭪𐭣𐭩 𐭩𐭦𐭣𐭪𐭫𐭲𐭩‎ mzdysn bgy kdy yzdklty /Mazdesn bay Kay Yazdgard/.$
Drachm of Yazdegerd II (struck ca. 439-447) inscribed: ⤹ 𐭬𐭦𐭣𐭩𐭮𐭭 𐭡𐭢𐭩 \ 𐭪𐭣𐭩 𐭩𐭦𐭣𐭪𐭫𐭲𐭩‎ mzdysn bgy kdy yzdklty /Mazdesn bay Kay Yazdgard/.^[9]
A bulla (seal) of Wahrām, an Ērān-spāhbed. It mentions either Husraw I (r. 531–579) or II (591–626).^[10]
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

1 2 "DURA EUROPOS ii. The Inscriptions". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 2026-08-09.
1 2 3 4 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.
1 2 Daniels, Peter T.; Bright, William, eds. (1996). The World's Writing Systems. Oxford University Press, Inc. pp. 515–518. 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.
↑ 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.
↑ "Drachm - Yazdgard II, Sasanian Empire". Numista. Retrieved 2026-06-30.
↑ 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.^[2]

[cnote_B] 
𐭫‎ is used for [r] more often than 𐭥‎.^[4]

[8] 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'

[12] 𐭠𐭯𐭥‎

[Dura-1] 1 2 "DURA EUROPOS ii. The Inscriptions". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 2026-08-09.

[L207207-2] 1 2 3 4 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.

[3] 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-4] 1 2 Daniels, Peter T.; Bright, William, eds. (1996). The World's Writing Systems. Oxford University Press, Inc. pp. 515–518. ISBN 978-0195079937.

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

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

[7] 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.

[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] "Drachm - Yazdgard II, Sasanian Empire". Numista. Retrieved 2026-06-30.

[11] 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.

[1]

[2]

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[B]

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[note 1]

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[note 2]