Hebrew (or עִבְרִית/Ivrit, pronounced [ivˈrit])  is a West Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family. The earliest examples of written Paleo-Hebrew date from the 10th century BCE, in the form of primitive drawings. Hebrew had ceased to be an everyday spoken language by around 200 CE, and survived into the medieval period only as the language of Jewish liturgy and rabbinic literature. Then, in the 19th century, it was revived as a spoken and literary language, and, according to Ethnologue, is now the language of 9 million people worldwide, of whom 7 million are from Israel. Writing system: Hebrew alphabet Official language in: Israel