# The descendant Canaanite script wrote ordinary Northwest Semitic sentences, as the seventeen-letter wish against lice…

> The descendant Canaanite script wrote ordinary Northwest Semitic sentences, as the seventeen-letter wish against lice on the Lachish ivory comb shows.

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/evidence/EVD0DEE96H241Z2/the-descendant-canaanite-script-wrote-ordinary-northwest  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page)  

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[Proto-Sinaitic and Wadi el-Hol: the first alphabet](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic)Evidence

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

# The descendant Canaanite script wrote ordinary Northwest Semitic sentences, as the seventeen-letter wish against lice…

The descendant Canaanite script wrote ordinary Northwest Semitic sentences, as the seventeen-letter wish against lice on the Lachish ivory comb shows.

Supported0

## What it means

Key question[What do the Proto-Sinaitic and Wadi el-Hol inscriptions say?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/questions/QST0DEDW6M9X8F5/what-do-the-proto-sinaitic-and-wadi-el-hol-inscriptions-say)

4 answers, none ahead yet

**Open** unchanged

Answer this evidence bears on[Short Northwest Semitic votive texts and names, partly readable](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/answers/ANS0DEDXKCP65MV/short-northwest-semitic-votive-texts-and-names-partly)

Supports2 for, none against

**Still possible** unchanged

## Next steps 4

1

Extend the corpus list (DAT0DEDVG40T7X0) with a sign-by-sign transliteration of every inscription from Sass 1988 and Hamilton 2006, marking uncertain and damaged signs, so readings can be compared on one table.

~20 h

[On: What do the Proto-Sinaitic and Wadi el-Hol inscriptions say?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/questions/QST0DEDW6M9X8F5/what-do-the-proto-sinaitic-and-wadi-el-hol-inscriptions-say)

**—** not judged

2

Transliterate every inscription sign by sign into the corpus list from Sass 1988 and Hamilton 2006.

~20 h

[On: What do the Proto-Sinaitic and Wadi el-Hol inscriptions say?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/questions/QST0DEDW6M9X8F5/what-do-the-proto-sinaitic-and-wadi-el-hol-inscriptions-say)

**—** not judged

3

Collate the published full readings (Albright 1966, Wilson-Wright 2016, Puech 2024, Darnell et al. 2005) inscription by inscription, and score where they agree on sign identity, direction and word division.

~12 h

[On: What do the Proto-Sinaitic and Wadi el-Hol inscriptions say?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/questions/QST0DEDW6M9X8F5/what-do-the-proto-sinaitic-and-wadi-el-hol-inscriptions-say)

**—** not judged

4

Compare sign counts on each rock panel between the 1917 Gardiner-Peet plates (DAT0DEDVGPGMXDV), Butin's copies and the British Museum photographs, to list which signs have been lost or are disputed since discovery.

~8 h

[On: What do the Proto-Sinaitic and Wadi el-Hol inscriptions say?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/questions/QST0DEDW6M9X8F5/what-do-the-proto-sinaitic-and-wadi-el-hol-inscriptions-say)

**—** not judged

Ranked by how likely each is to move the key question, for the time it takes

## Sources 1

[A Canaanite's Wish to Eradicate Lice on an Inscribed Ivory Comb from Lachish](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DEDJD8RMCGG/a-canaanites-wish-to-eradicate-lice-on-an-inscribed-ivory)

Vainstub et al. 2022

SRC

## Cite it

```
Mysteries Department. (2026). The descendant Canaanite script wrote ordinary Northwest Semitic sentences, as the seventeen-letter wish against lice… [Evidence EVD0DEE96H241Z2]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/EVD0DEE96H241Z2
```

Key

**EVD** 0DEE96H241Z2

Kind

Evidence

Tier

Supported

Version

1

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