Mem

This article is about the word Mem. For the abbreviation, see MEM.

Mem
Phoenician
Hebrew	מ,ם
Aramaic
Syriac	ܡܡ
Arabic	ﻣ,ﻡ
Phonemic representation	m
Position in alphabet	13
Numerical value	40
Alphabetic derivatives of the Phoenician

Mem (also spelled Meem or Mim) is the thirteenth letter of many Semitic abjads, including Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew Template:Ivrit and Arabic alphabet Template:ArabDIN Template:Ar. Its value is IPA: [m].

The Phoenician letter gave rise to the Greek Mu (Μ), Etruscan 𐌌, Latin M, and Cyrillic М.

Origins of Mem:

Mem is usually assumed to come from the Egyptian hieroglyphic symbol for water (The hieroglyph n) which had been simplified by the Phoenicians and named after their word for water, mem (mayim in modern Hebrew, mye in modern Arabic).

Mem in Hebrew

Syriac alphabet (200 BCE–present)

ܐ    ܒ    ܓ    ܕ    ܗ    ܘ

ܙ    ܚ    ܛ    ܝ    ܟܟ    ܠ

ܡܡ    ܢܢ    ܣ    ܥ    ܦ

ܨ    ܩ    ܪ    ܫ    ܬ

Hebrew Pronunciation

Mem represents a bilabial nasal, (IPA: [m]), like the English M.

Variations on Written form/Pronunciation

In Hebrew, Mem, like Kaph, Nun, Pe, and Tzadi, has a final form, used at the end of words. Its shape changes from מ to ם. The pronunciation is not changed.

Significance of Mem

In gematria, Mem represents the number 40. Its final form represents 600 but this is rarely used, Tav and Resh (400+200) being used instead.

In the Sefer Yetzirah, the letter Mem is King over Water, Formed Earth in the Universe, Cold in the Year, and the Belly in the Soul.

The final form of Mem is used in the middle of a word only once in the Bible. In Isaiah 9:6, he says:

• לםרבה (לְמַרְבֵּה) הַמִּשְׂרָה וּלְשָׁלוֹם אֵין-קֵץ.
• That the rule may be increased, and of peace there be no end.

As an abbreviation, it stands for metre. In the Israeli army it can also stand for mefaked, commander. In Hebrew religious texts, it can stand for the name of God Makom, the Place.

Mem and Tarot

Mem, as the thirteenth letter of the hebrew alphabet is most often associated with Death, Atu XIII. Alastor Crowley, however, in his Thoth Tarot deck, assigns Nun to the thirteenth card, and Mem to the Hanged Man.