I found that exploring the original
language words (Phoenician/Paleo-Hebrew,
Greek,
and Hebrew)
in some ancient documents (e.g. the Bible) provided much
insight into the context of the words and culture of the
original authors, and the next step of seeing the words in
their original glyphs also greatly intrigued me. I
was finally able to create what probably is a more
accurate (Phoenician/Paleo-Hebrew) visual depiction of the
logo from Exodus 28:36 (reading right-to-left just as in
the original script):
The full verse reads thus:
“You are to make a plate
of pure gold and engrave on it the way a seal is
engraved: “Holiness to the Lord.” [NET
Bible]
After spending effort to figure out this stuff, I opted to
preserve it on a web page :)
The 'Custom Linux Key' shortcuts were created by:
1) Set the 'Multi_key' via the Linux 'Settings/Keyboard/Layouts/Options/Compose/Position
of Compose key' and set it to 'Right Alt'
2) Created the file '$HOME/.XCompose'
with the following contents:
# base set is
in
'/usr/share/X11/locale/en_US.UTF-8/Compose'
include "%L" # import
the default Compose file for your locale
# GREEK
<Multi_key> <g>
<A> :
"Α" U0391 #
GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA
<Multi_key> <g>
<a> :
"α" U03B1 #
GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA
<Multi_key> <g>
<B> :
"Β" U0392 #
GREEK CAPITAL LETTER BETA
<Multi_key> <g>
<b> :
"β" U03B2 #
GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA
<Multi_key> <g>
<D> :
"Δ" U0394 #
GREEK CAPITAL LETTER DELTA
<Multi_key> <g>
<d> :
"δ" U03B4 #
GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA
<Multi_key> <g>
<E> :
"Ε" U0395 #
GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON
<Multi_key> <g>
<e> :
"ε" U03B5 #
GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON
<Multi_key> <g>
<F> :
"Φ" U03A6 #
GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PHI
<Multi_key> <g>
<f> :
"φ" U03C6 #
GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI
<Multi_key> <g>
<G> :
"Γ" U0393 #
GREEK CAPITAL LETTER GAMMA
<Multi_key> <g>
<g> :
"γ" U03B3 #
GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA
<Multi_key> <g>
<H> :
"Η" U0397 #
GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA
<Multi_key> <g>
<h> :
"η" U03B7 #
GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA
<Multi_key> <g>
<I> :
"Ι" U0399 #
GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA
<Multi_key> <g>
<i> :
"ι" U03B9 #
GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA
<Multi_key> <g>
<J> :
"Θ" U0398 #
GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA
<Multi_key> <g>
<j> :
"θ" U03B8 #
GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA
<Multi_key> <g>
<K> :
"Κ" U039A #
GREEK CAPITAL LETTER KAPPA
<Multi_key> <g>
<k> :
"κ" U03BA #
GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA
<Multi_key> <g>
<L> :
"Λ" U039B #
GREEK CAPITAL LETTER LAMDA
<Multi_key> <g>
<l> :
"λ" U03BB #
GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA
<Multi_key> <g>
<M> :
"Μ" U039C #
GREEK CAPITAL LETTER MU
<Multi_key> <g>
<m> :
"μ" U03BC #
GREEK SMALL LETTER MU
<Multi_key> <g>
<N> :
"Ν" U039D #
GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU
<Multi_key> <g>
<n> :
"ν" U03BD #
GREEK SMALL LETTER NU
<Multi_key> <g>
<O> :
"Ο" U039F #
GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON
<Multi_key> <g>
<o> :
"ο" U03BF #
GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON
<Multi_key> <g>
<P> :
"Π" U03A0 #
GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI
<Multi_key> <g>
<p> :
"π" U03C0 #
GREEK SMALL LETTER PI
<Multi_key> <g>
<Q> :
"Χ" U03A7 #
GREEK CAPITAL LETTER CHI
<Multi_key> <g>
<q> :
"χ" U03C7 #
GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI
<Multi_key> <g>
<R> :
"Ρ" U03A1 #
GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO
<Multi_key> <g>
<r> :
"ρ" U03C1 #
GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO
<Multi_key> <g>
<S> :
"Σ" U03A3 #
GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA
<Multi_key> <g>
<s> :
"σ" U03C3 #
GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA
<Multi_key> <g>
<T> :
"Τ" U03A4 #
GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU
<Multi_key> <g>
<t> :
"τ" U03C4 #
GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU
<Multi_key> <g>
<U> :
"Υ" U03A5 #
GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON
<Multi_key> <g>
<u> :
"υ" U03C5 #
GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON
<Multi_key> <g>
<W> :
"Ω" U03A9 #
GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMEGA
<Multi_key> <g>
<w> :
"ω" U03C9 #
GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA
<Multi_key> <g>
<X> :
"Ξ" U039E #
GREEK CAPITAL LETTER XI
<Multi_key> <g>
<x> :
"ξ" U03BE #
GREEK SMALL LETTER XI
<Multi_key> <g>
<Y> :
"Ψ" U03A8 #
GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PSI
<Multi_key> <g>
<y> :
"ψ" U03C8 #
GREEK SMALL LETTER PSI
<Multi_key> <g>
<Z> :
"Ζ" U0396 #
GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ZETA
<Multi_key> <g>
<z> :
"ζ" U03B6 #
GREEK SMALL LETTER ZETA
# PHOENICIAN
<Multi_key> <p>
<a> :
"𐤀" U10900
# PHOENICIAN LETTER ALF
<Multi_key> <p>
<b> : "𐤁"
U10901 # PHOENICIAN LETTER
BET
<Multi_key> <p>
<g> : "𐤂"
U10902 # PHOENICIAN LETTER
GAML
<Multi_key> <p>
<d> : "𐤃"
U10903 # PHOENICIAN LETTER
DELT
<Multi_key> <p>
<h> : "𐤄"
U10904 # PHOENICIAN LETTER
HE
<Multi_key> <p>
<w> : "𐤅"
U10905 # PHOENICIAN LETTER
WAU
<Multi_key> <p>
<z> : "𐤆"
U10906 # PHOENICIAN LETTER
ZAI
<Multi_key> <p>
<H> : "𐤇"
U10907 # PHOENICIAN LETTER
HET
<Multi_key> <p>
<T> : "𐤈"
U10908 # PHOENICIAN LETTER
TET
<Multi_key> <p>
<y> : "𐤉"
U10909 # PHOENICIAN LETTER
YOD
<Multi_key> <p>
<k> : "𐤊"
U1090A # PHOENICIAN LETTER
KAF
<Multi_key> <p>
<l> : "𐤋"
U1090B # PHOENICIAN LETTER
LAMD
<Multi_key> <p>
<m> : "𐤌"
U1090C # PHOENICIAN LETTER
MEM
<Multi_key> <p>
<n> : "𐤍"
U1090D # PHOENICIAN LETTER
NUN
<Multi_key> <p>
<S> : "𐤎"
U1090E # PHOENICIAN LETTER
SEMK
<Multi_key> <p>
<o> : "𐤏"
U1090F # PHOENICIAN LETTER
AIN
<Multi_key> <p>
<p> : "𐤐"
U10910 # PHOENICIAN LETTER
PE
<Multi_key> <p>
<Z> : "𐤑"
U10911 # PHOENICIAN LETTER
SADE
<Multi_key> <p>
<q> : "𐤒"
U10912 # PHOENICIAN LETTER
QOF
<Multi_key> <p>
<r> : "𐤓"
U10913 # PHOENICIAN LETTER
ROSH
<Multi_key> <p>
<s> : "𐤔"
U10914 # PHOENICIAN LETTER
SHIN
<Multi_key> <p>
<t> : "𐤕"
U10915 # PHOENICIAN LETTER
TAU
<Multi_key> <p>
<1> : "𐤖"
U10916 # PHOENICIAN NUMBER
ONE
<Multi_key> <p>
<2> : "𐤗"
U10917 # PHOENICIAN NUMBER
TEN
#<Multi_key> <p>
<x> : "𐤘"
U10918 # PHOENICIAN NUMBER
TWENTY
#<Multi_key> <p>
<x> : "𐤙"
U10919 # PHOENICIAN NUMBER
ONE
<Multi_key> <p>
<2> : "𐤚"
U1091A # PHOENICIAN NUMBER
TWO
<Multi_key> <p>
<3> : "𐤛"
U1091B # PHOENICIAN NUMBER
THREE
<Multi_key> <p>
<.> : "𐤟"
U1091F # PHOENICIAN WORD
SEPARATOR
# HEBREW
<Multi_key>
<h> <a> :
"א" U05D0 #
Hebrew Letter Alef
<Multi_key>
<h> <b> :
"ב" U05D1 #
Hebrew Letter Bet
<Multi_key>
<h> <g> :
"ג" U05D2 #
Hebrew Letter Gimel
<Multi_key>
<h> <d> :
"ד" U05D3 #
Hebrew Letter Dalet
<Multi_key>
<h> <h> :
"ה" U05D4 #
Hebrew Letter He
<Multi_key>
<h> <w> :
"ו" U05D5 #
Hebrew Letter Vav
<Multi_key>
<h> <z> :
"ז" U05D6 #
Hebrew Letter Zayin
<Multi_key>
<h> <H> :
"ח" U05D7 #
Hebrew Letter Het
<Multi_key>
<h> <T> :
"ט" U05D8 #
Hebrew Letter Tet
<Multi_key>
<h> <y> :
"י" U05D9 #
Hebrew Letter Yod
<Multi_key>
<h> <k> :
"כ" U05DB #
Hebrew Letter Kaf
<Multi_key>
<h> <l> :
"ל" U05DC #
Hebrew Letter Lamed
<Multi_key>
<h> <m> :
"מ" U05DE #
Hebrew Letter Mem
<Multi_key>
<h> <n> :
"נ" U05E0 #
Hebrew Letter Nun
<Multi_key>
<h> <S> :
"ס" U05E1 #
Hebrew Letter Samekh
<Multi_key>
<h> <o> :
"ע" U05E2 #
Hebrew Letter Ayin
<Multi_key>
<h> <P> :
"ף" U05E3 #
Hebrew Letter Final
<Multi_key>
<h> <p> :
"פ" U05E4 #
Hebrew Letter Pe
<Multi_key>
<h> <Z> :
"צ" U05E6 #
Hebrew Letter Tsadi
<Multi_key>
<h> <q> :
"ק" U05E7 #
Hebrew Letter Qof
<Multi_key>
<h> <r> :
"ר" U05E8 #
Hebrew Letter Resh
<Multi_key>
<h> <s> :
"ש" U05E9 #
Hebrew Letter Shin
<Multi_key>
<h> <t> :
"ת" U05EA #
Hebrew Letter Tav
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3) Install 'uim':
sudo apt-get
install uim
4) Add this to '.profile':
# enable using uim
for custom compose key sequences
export
GTK_IM_MODULE="uim"
export
QT_IM_MODULE="uim"
This provides the basic ancient languages key font
shortcuts that I desired. Typing the Unicode code
point values e.g. SHIFT-CTRL + Uxxxx is one way to do
this, but by using the Linux 'Compose' key facility I can
shorten the number of keypresses to 3 keys for the
characters I need (see 'Custom Linux Key' example columns
above).
Using a custom font is another way to do this, but I have
no control over they keyboard layout key mapping, and
haven't yet found a good utility to generate a visual
shortcut keyboard map for a font. However, this web
site is very useful for showing the glyphs inside a font:
Charmap
- Powered by OpenType.js
Another good page that shows all available character sets
currently available under Unicode is this:
Unicode 9.0
Character Code Charts
Here are some great Unicode history pages for the ancient
fonts that I referenced on this page:
Greek
and Coptic
Phoenician
Hebrew
This Wikipedia entry provides a lot of good info and
charts on the history of our alphabet:
History
of the alphabet
P.S. One other advantage to making the configurations
above is the abundance of other useful special characters
that become available, from including the standard '/usr/share/X11/locale/en_US.UTF-8/Compose'
file e.g. foreign language accents,
mathematical/musical/currency symbols,
subscripts/superscripts, etc.. One that I tend to
use a lot is the temperature 'degree' symbol. One
way of invoking this symbol is:
ShiftCtrl + 'u' + '00bo' =
°
With the special keymappings, another method is:
RightAlt + 'o' + 'o' = °
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