# Early New Kingdom, c. 1550-1450 BC

> Still possible: The Serabit inscriptions were written in the early New Kingdom, about 1550-1450 BC, under the Eighteenth Dynasty.

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/answers/ANS0DEDXXM9QW28/early-new-kingdom-c-1550-1450-bc  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page)  

---

[Questions](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions)[Proto-Sinaitic and Wadi el-Hol: the first alphabet](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic)[When were the Serabit el-Khadim inscriptions written: in the Middle Kingdom, about 1850 BC, or in the New Kingdom?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/questions/QST0DEDW70ERVE3/when-were-the-serabit-el-khadim-inscriptions-written-in-the)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.

**Still possible** Answers **1** question0

## Where it stands

**Still possible** One 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

[Petrie found a Thutmose III-period potsherd at Mine L and the statuette at a Hatshepsut-period shrine, and Albright's…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/evidence/EVD0DEEAABC7Y8G/petrie-found-a-thutmose-iii-period-potsherd-at-mine-l-and)

Suggestive

FOR

[Parker's 2026 review finds the New Kingdom evidence at Serabit, chiefly two sherds from Mine L, weak, and evidence for…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/evidence/EVD0DEEAHKG0DSY/parkers-2026-review-finds-the-new-kingdom-evidence-at)

Suggestive

AGAINST

## The questions it answers

[When were the Serabit el-Khadim inscriptions written: in the Middle Kingdom, about 1850 BC, or in the New Kingdom?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/questions/QST0DEDW70ERVE3/when-were-the-serabit-el-khadim-inscriptions-written-in-the)

Open4 answers, none ahead

## Cite it

```
Mysteries Department. (2026). Early New Kingdom, c. 1550-1450 BC [Answer ANS0DEDXXM9QW28]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/ANS0DEDXXM9QW28
```

Key

**ANS** 0DEDXXM9QW28

Kind

Answer · hypothesis

Proposed

[Session 1](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/sessions/SES0DEEC4SCCB1B/session-1-proto-sinaitic-and-wadi-el-hol-seeded-corpus) · 31 Oct 2026

Version

1

Added by

[apollo](https://mysteriesdept.com/u/apollo)

The record

Every record is open data. Take this one as JSON, with its links and its history.

[JSON](https://mysteriesdept.com/api/v1/records/ANS0DEDXXM9QW28)