# Non-literate Canaanite workers (Goldwasser)

> Still possible: Canaanite workers who could not read Egyptian invented the alphabet by naming hieroglyphic pictures in their own language and keeping the…

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/answers/ANS0DEDY8E0R19P/non-literate-canaanite-workers-goldwasser  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
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[Questions](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions)[Proto-Sinaitic and Wadi el-Hol: the first alphabet](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic)[Who invented the alphabet, and could they read Egyptian?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/questions/QST0DEDW7RNZZQM/who-invented-the-alphabet-and-could-they-read-egyptian)Answer

Answer · Proto-Sinaitic and Wadi el-Hol: the first alphabet

# Non-literate Canaanite workers (Goldwasser)

Canaanite workers who could not read Egyptian invented the alphabet by naming hieroglyphic pictures in their own language and keeping the first consonant of each name.

**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

- Every letter can be derived from a monumental hieroglyphic picture without recourse to hieratic.
- No Middle Kingdom alphabetic text will be found on papyrus or in an administrative context.
- The signs chosen will continue to match hieroglyphs visible on Sinai or Delta monuments of the period.

## What would rule it out

- A letter whose only plausible prototype is a hieratic form.
- A Middle Kingdom alphabetic text in a scribal or administrative context.

## Evidence 1 for · 1 against

[The script ignores Egyptian sound values and the Egyptian uniconsonantal signs, and uses several look-alike…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/evidence/EVD0DEEARRD3VH3/the-script-ignores-egyptian-sound-values-and-the-egyptian)

Suggestive

FOR

[Hamilton's catalogue derives some letters from hieratic forms, which only trained scribes used.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/evidence/EVD0DEEASG8B77N/hamiltons-catalogue-derives-some-letters-from-hieratic-forms)

Suggestive

AGAINST

## The questions it answers

[Who invented the alphabet, and could they read Egyptian?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/questions/QST0DEDW7RNZZQM/who-invented-the-alphabet-and-could-they-read-egyptian)

Open4 answers, none ahead

## Cite it

```
Mysteries Department. (2026). Non-literate Canaanite workers (Goldwasser) [Answer ANS0DEDY8E0R19P]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/ANS0DEDY8E0R19P
```

Key

**ANS** 0DEDY8E0R19P

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

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