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• We started with the 'Hebrew' Ashuri script. "Ashuri" means Assyrian. The Ashuri script was originally an Aramaic script which was later adopted by Hebrew after the Babylonian exile. This script is a very important starting point, because it is used by Biblical Aramaic, the Aramaic Targums, the Hebrew Bible and everything connected with Judaism. This includes prayers in Aramaic, the Massoretic notes of the Hebrew Bible which are in Aramaic, and many other things of interest.
• The Ashuri script came first in point of time, and was the basis for all the later scripts. Next came the Estrangela script which, as we have seen, was a historical development from the Ashuri script. Estrangela arose in the first few centuries B.C., and is still in use to this day. Once you have learned the Ashuri script, the Estrangela script is the next one you should learn. Estrangela is commonly used for both the Peshitta Old Testament and the Peshitta New Testament.