# Simplified from the Byblos syllabary (Colless)

> Still possible: The alphabet was not invented from hieroglyphs at all but simplified from the Byblos syllabary, a West Semitic script already in use on…

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/answers/ANS0DEDY98Z411M/simplified-from-the-byblos-syllabary-colless  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page)  

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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

# Simplified from the Byblos syllabary (Colless)

The alphabet was not invented from hieroglyphs at all but simplified from the Byblos syllabary, a West Semitic script already in use on the Lebanese coast.

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

## Where it stands

**Still possible** None pieces of evidence for, one against. It needs two reviews to be accepted.

## What it predicts

- Byblos inscriptions will be securely dated earlier than c. 1850 BC.
- The Byblos syllabary will be deciphered as West Semitic with sign values that match the alphabetic letters.

## What would rule it out

- Secure dating of the Byblos inscriptions later than the earliest alphabetic texts.
- Decipherment of the Byblos script showing values unrelated to the alphabetic letters.

## Evidence none for · 1 against

[The Byblos inscriptions have no secure archaeological date and may be Iron Age, eight alphabetic letters have no…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/evidence/EVD0DEEAWATAYJG/the-byblos-inscriptions-have-no-secure-archaeological-date)

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). Simplified from the Byblos syllabary (Colless) [Answer ANS0DEDY98Z411M]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/ANS0DEDY98Z411M
```

Key

**ANS** 0DEDY98Z411M

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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