Obsolete writing systems

Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic writing system that was used to write several languages of the ancient Near East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the 1st century BC. Cuneiform scripts are marked by and named for the characteristic wedge-shaped impressions () which form their signs. Cuneiform is the earliest known writing system and was originally developed to write the Sumerian language of southern Mesopotamia (modern Iraq).

abjad found in Canaanite and Aramaic inscriptions across the Mediterranean from the 11th–2nd centuries BCE

ancient script of Central and South Asia

oldest known Slavic alphabet

semitic alphabet used to write Aramaic languages

Ogham (also ogam and ogom, , Modern Irish: ; , later ) is an Early Medieval alphabet used primarily to write the early Irish language (in the "orthodox" inscriptions, 4th to 6th centuries AD), and later the Old Irish language (scholastic ogham, 6th to 9th centuries). There are roughly 400 surviving orthodox inscriptions on stone monuments throughout Ireland and western Britain, the bulk of which are in southern areas of the Irish province of Munster. The Munster counties of Cork and Kerry contain 60% of all Irish ogham stones. The largest number outside Ireland are in Pembrokeshire, Wales.

ancient syllabary for Mycenaean Greek used ca. 1400 BCE – 1200 BCE

ancient Egyptian script

undeciphered writing system from Crete

Hieratic (; ) is the name given to a cursive writing system used for Ancient Egyptian and the principal script used to write that language from its development in the third millennium BCE until the rise of Demotic in the mid-first millennium BCE. It was primarily written in ink with a reed brush on papyrus.

unicameral alphabet created in the 4th century by Ulfilas for the purpose of translating the Bible to the Gothic language

writing system

Kharosthi script (), also known as the Gandhari script (), was an ancient Indic script originally developed in the Gandhara Region of the north-western Indian subcontinent, between the 5th and 3rd century BCE. Primarily used by the people of Gandhara in various parts of South Asia and Central Asia, Kharosthi remained in use until it died out in its homeland around the 5th century CE. It was also in use in Bactria, the Kushan Empire, Sogdia, and along the Silk Road. There is some evidence it may have survived until the 7th century in Khotan and Niya, both cities in Tarim Basin.

precursor of Chinese characters

alphabetic writing system used by the Hungarians from the Middle Ages

historic Sogdian-based alphabet

Cuneiform consonantal alphabet of 30 letters

abjad used for writing Old South Arabian languages

abjad-based writing systems used for Middle Iranian languages

writing system

alphabet mainly used in Zoroastrian scriptures to transcribe the old Avestan language

writing system

Tibeto-Mongol alphasyllabary/abugida used in China during Yuan Dynasty

Cypriot syllabary writing system

Brahmic writing system

abjad

ancient Javanese abugida

abjad found in Canaanite inscriptions from the region of biblical Israel and Judah used to write Hebrew, later replaced by the modern Hebrew square script

Kaithi (, ), also called Kayathi (), Kayasthi (, ), Kayastani, or Kaite Lipi () in Nepali, is a Brahmic script historically used across parts of Northern and Eastern India. It was prevalent in regions corresponding to modern-day Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Jharkhand. The script was primarily utilized for legal, administrative, and private records and was adapted for a variety of Indo-Aryan languages, including Angika, Awadhi, Bhojpuri, Hindustani, Surjapuri, Maithili, Magahi, and Nagpuri.

mixed ideographic/phonetic writing system for Nahuatl

alphabet used for the Sogdian language of central Asia

syllabary script, undeciphered, used on the island of Cyprus during the late Bronze Age (ca. 1550–1050 BCE)

script used for writing Somali

writing system

group of similar ancient pre-Roman alphabets used on the Italian peninsula (Etruscan, Oscan, Umbrian, South Picene, North Italic, Venetic, etc.)

abugida used for Mongolian

abjad-based writing system associated with the spread of Manichaean religion

writing system of Jurchen people

script used for writing the extinct Tangut language

abugida used to write the Ahom language

unicameral cuneiform semi-syllabary used to write the Old Persian language

undeciphered writing system

Brahmic abugida or family of abuguidas used historically for Western Pahari languages, and as part of recent revival efforts

alphabet used to write the Lycian language

form of Chinese characters standardized and promulgated by the Qin dynasty

alphabet used for writing the Albanian language

alphabetic writing system formerly used by the Caucasian Albanians

ancient writing system from the Iberian peninsula

cuneiform writing of the Elamite language

defunct writing system of Canada's Mi'kmaq First Nation

writing system from Elam

abjad used to write the Palmyrene dialect of Aramaic

alphabet invented by Naum Veqilharxhi in the early 19th century for writing the Albanian language

alphabet used to write the Lydian language

thumb|upright=1.2|A 16th century CE Sanskrit record of Sadasiva Raya in Nandināgarī script engraved on copper plates. Manuscripts and records in Nandināgarī were created and preserved historically by creating inscriptions on metal plates, specially treated palm leaves, slabs of stone and paper.

abugida for the Dogri language

script used to write the Tocharian languages

pictographic writing system for the Sui language

Mahajani is a Laṇḍā mercantile script that was historically used in northern India for writing accounts and financial records in Marwari, Hindi and Punjabi. It is a Brahmic script and is written left-to-right. Mahajani refers to the Hindi word for 'bankers' or 'moneylenders', also known as 'sarrafi' or 'kothival' (merchant).