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Hebrew stands among the most ancient languages still in active use today. Its roots closely resemble those of early Phoenician, evolving into a distinct language around the twelfth century BCE. During biblical times, Hebrew served as the primary spoken tongue of the Patriarchs, with the Bible itself composed in this language. Though Aramaic, sharing the same script, supplanted Hebrew as the common spoken language for many centuries, Hebrew persisted as a sacred language for religious ceremonies, literary works, and written correspondence. The revival of Hebrew as a spoken language gained momentum in the late 1800s, achieving formal recognition in 1913 when it was adopted as the primary teaching language in Jewish schools across Palestine. Following the establishment of Israel in 1948, Hebrew (alongside Arabic) was declared one of the nation's official languages.