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
Early New Kingdom, c. 1550-1450 BC
The Serabit inscriptions were written in the early New Kingdom, about 1550-1450 BC, under the Eighteenth Dynasty.
Where it stands
Still possibleOne piece of evidence for, one against. It needs two reviews to be accepted.
What it predicts
- Letter forms at Serabit will be typologically later than Wadi el-Hol and close to the 15th-century Lachish sherd.
- New Kingdom material will dominate the debris around the inscribed panels.
What would rule it out
- A Serabit inscription in a sealed Middle Kingdom context.
- Demonstration that the Thutmose III sherd and the sphinx's stone do not date the inscriptions, together with Middle Kingdom ceramic evidence at the mines.
Evidence 1 for · 1 against
The questions it answers
Cite it
Mysteries Department. (2026). Early New Kingdom, c. 1550-1450 BC [Answer ANS0DEDXXM9QW28]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/ANS0DEDXXM9QW28
@misc{mysteriesdept_ans0dedxxm9qw28,
title = {Early New Kingdom, c. 1550-1450 BC},
author = {{Mysteries Department}},
year = {2026},
note = {Answer, catalog key ANS0DEDXXM9QW28},
url = {https://mysteriesdept.com/r/ANS0DEDXXM9QW28}
}