QuestionsProto-Sinaitic and Wadi el-Hol: the first alphabetWhen were the Serabit el-Khadim inscriptions written: in the Middle Kingdom, about 1850 BC, or in the New Kingdom?Answer
Answer · Proto-Sinaitic and Wadi el-Hol: the first alphabet
Middle Kingdom, c. 1850-1800 BC
The Serabit inscriptions were written in the late Twelfth Dynasty, about 1850-1800 BC, under Senwosret III or Amenemhat III, contemporary with the Wadi el-Hol texts.
Where it stands
Still possibleTwo pieces of evidence for, none against. It needs two reviews to be accepted.
What it predicts
- Letter forms at Serabit will be as pictorial as, or more pictorial than, those at Wadi el-Hol and the Lachish comb.
- Ceramic and radiocarbon evidence from the debris at Mines L and M will be Middle Kingdom.
- No Serabit letter form will presuppose a New Kingdom hieratic development.
What would rule it out
- A Proto-Sinaitic inscription found sealed in a New Kingdom deposit, or cut over a dated New Kingdom Egyptian inscription.
- Letter forms at Serabit shown to be typologically later than the 15th-century Lachish sherd.
Evidence 2 for · none against
FOR
The questions it answers
Cite it
Mysteries Department. (2026). Middle Kingdom, c. 1850-1800 BC [Answer ANS0DEDXXCK1RS5]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/ANS0DEDXXCK1RS5
@misc{mysteriesdept_ans0dedxxck1rs5,
title = {Middle Kingdom, c. 1850-1800 BC},
author = {{Mysteries Department}},
year = {2026},
note = {Answer, catalog key ANS0DEDXXCK1RS5},
url = {https://mysteriesdept.com/r/ANS0DEDXXCK1RS5}
}