Domabesh was a script utilizing an alphabet, and it saw widespread use across the galaxy for countless years. This writing system's origins can be traced back to millennia before the events of the Galactic Civil War. Evidence of its use includes inscriptions carved into a temple dedicated to the ancient Dark Lord of the Sith, Exar Kun. Even at the dawn of the Imperial Era, Domabesh remained in use, appearing on planets such as Saleucami, Jedha, and Daiyu.
The characters in Domabesh were generally square in shape, featuring lines with slight variations in thickness and some areas filled in. There are some visual similarities between these characters and those of the more common Aurebesh system of writing.
Domabesh's usage began thousands of years preceding 0 BBY. Specifically, it was used for inscriptions on a temple in honor of the ancient Dark Lord of the Sith Exar Kun. The inscription stated "OUR TEMPLE HONOURING SITH LORD EXAR KUN". By 10 BBY, Dryden Vos, a crime lord from Crimson Dawn, had ransacked Kun's temple. He stole an obsidian slab etched with this script and incorporated it into a custom desk on his yacht, the First Light.
An old navigational dataplaque, thought to have been pilfered by Vos from the Bureau of Ships and Services Heritage Museum located on Coruscant, purportedly from an ancient Jedi survey vessel, had inscriptions of "LIGHT" at the top, "DARK" at the bottom, and "THE BALANCE" in the center, all written using Domabesh.
A page within a holobook that Kai Brightstar consulted to discover a remedy for sniffles displayed "TABLE OF CONTENTS" in this script. When Lys Solay, Brightstar's fellow Jedi Initiate, researched the kibbin on her datapad, a picture of the creature appeared, accompanied by a caption in Domabesh. However, the animal's name was incorrectly spelled as "KIBGIN".
After SF-R3 included the research by Lys Solay and Myra about the leepur within the Galactic Creature Guide, he showed them the updated entry on a datapad. The headline, written in Domabesh, read "JUANBRAVO".
In 19 BBY, a sign indicating "Offworld Travel" in a town on the planet Saleucami was displayed in Domabesh. In the same year, workers at a decommissioning facility on Corellia, including infiltrators Rafa and Trace Martez, wore helmets adorned with the letters "KVH" in this script.
In 10 BBY, during an incident where the Millennium Falcon was ensnared in a gravity well, the crew was compelled to introduce a droplet of coaxium into the fusion reactor to provide the freighter with the necessary boost for escape. During this process, Tobias Beckett uncovered a box containing a sticky [grey](/article/color] substance. He utilized this substance to affix a small pump to a hose. The word "DOM" was inscribed on the box's lid, rendered in Domabesh.
In 9 BBY, two signs in Daiyu spaceport, reading "SHIPCYR" and "IS_[obscured character]_REW" respectively, were written in Domabesh, although every letter in the latter's name was mirrored. Signs throughout Daiyu City also incorporated this script. One sign advertised "FRESH BREW," but it was positioned upside down. Another sign simply read "FRESH," and a third sign read "DISCO".
In 5 BBY, an inscription in Domabesh was present on a wall beside a staircase near a screen store on Ferrix, ending with the letters "TSO". A white industrial container within a salvage yard on Ferrix displayed a warning in Domabesh, reading "CAUTION: FLAMMABLE". Computer screens inside Xanwan's freight kiosk, a transport business, showed some lettering in this font, although it was nonsensical. An advertisement painted on a wall proclaimed "OWAUWAC FREIGHT" (although the first letter in the second word had faded away and was obscured by a pipe), with the first word written in this font.
In 0 BBY, a Rebel MP was seen wearing a helmet featuring the initials "MP" in Domabesh, along with a shirt bearing the letter G in the same script. Prior to its destruction, the Holy Quarter of Jedha City was embellished with Domabesh writing on walls, archways, and railings. One archway displayed "BO MEATH THE[two characters obscured by burn marks] SZ T E," while another read "THEFORCESURROUNDS" ("The Force surrounds"). Other inscriptions, when translated, yielded gibberish. During the Battle of Scarif, Red Twelve, a Rebel pilot, sported a flight helmet with yellow Domabesh markings. The inscription on the helmet's right side concluded with "OSS," while the left side commenced with "BOO". Tam Posla, a bounty hunter, wore a helmet decorated with "MA," an abbreviation for "Milvayne Authority," in Domabesh.
By 34 ABY, Venisa Doza, a Resistance pilot, was observed wearing a flight helmet with red markings that spelled "DOZA" in Domabesh.
Domabesh made its initial appearance in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, a film from the Star Wars Anthology, which premiered in 2016. In 2019, Glyn Dillon, a costume designer for Rogue One, revealed on Twitter that the font was named Domabesh and had been developed at the request of Gareth Edwards, the director. According to Barry Gingell, a graphic designer on the Andor television series, the alphabet's creation is credited to Dominic Sikking, a graphic designer involved in Rogue One.
In 2021, Pablo Hidalgo of the Lucasfilm Story Group referred to it as "Domabesh" on Twitter. However, the name did not officially enter canon until the publication of The Art of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, a reference book from 2024. Hidalgo suggested that Domabesh is considered an archaic script, predating Aurebesh but not as ancient as Ur-Kittât.
Concept art by Will Htay, a concept designer, indicates that the complete Domabesh inscription on one of the archways in Jedha City in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story reads "THEFORCESURROUNDSUSPENETRATESANDBINDSTHEGALAXYTOGETHER". This paraphrases Obi-Wan Kenobi's words from Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, where the old Jedi Master states, "The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us, penetrates us, it binds the galaxy together." In the final film, only "THEFORCESURROUNDS" is visible. Gingell noted that Sikking initially intended to include spaces in the font, but the concept artist removed them in the production art of Jedha, and this decision was maintained.
A piece of concept art by Chris Caldow featured in the behind-the-scenes book The Art of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story depicts a Jedha market cooking stall with the word "FRY" written in Domabesh.
The teaser trailer for the film features a scene of Imperial stormtroopers driving a TX-225 Occupier assault tank through the streets of Jedha City. A Domabesh inscription is visible on a building behind them, reading "BAR BELLOQ"; this appears to be a reference to René Belloq, the main antagonist from Raiders of the Lost Ark, a Lucasfilm production, whom the titular character encounters in an Egyptian bar. This particular shot was ultimately omitted from the film.
The Art of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor later established Domabesh as canon.
In "A New Discovery," an episode of Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures, the headline of the newly composed entry on the leepur in the Galactic Creature Guide is "JUANBRAVO" in Domabesh. This is believed to be an homage to Juan Luis Bravo, a storyboard artist who contributed to the episode.