# The Hebrew readings require sign values the descendant scripts do not support and a Hebrew distinct from Canaanite…

> The Hebrew readings require sign values the descendant scripts do not support and a Hebrew distinct from Canaanite about a thousand years before Hebrew…

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/evidence/EVD0DEE9705MWHB/the-hebrew-readings-require-sign-values-the-descendant  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page)  

---

[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 Hebrew readings require sign values the descendant scripts do not support and a Hebrew distinct from Canaanite…

The Hebrew readings require sign values the descendant scripts do not support and a Hebrew distinct from Canaanite about a thousand years before Hebrew is attested.

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[Hebrew texts naming biblical figures (Petrovich)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/answers/ANS0DEDXKS1R2QP/hebrew-texts-naming-biblical-figures-petrovich)

Counts againstnone for, 1 against

**Still possible** was No evidence yet

## 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 2

[On the Origin of Alphabetic Writing](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DEDJB27NQRV/on-the-origin-of-alphabetic-writing)

Wilson-Wright 2019

SRC

[The World's Oldest Alphabet: Hebrew as the Language of the Proto-Consonantal Script](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DEDMG48ZSV8/the-worlds-oldest-alphabet-hebrew-as-the-language-of-the)

Petrovich 2016

SRC

## Cite it

```
Mysteries Department. (2026). The Hebrew readings require sign values the descendant scripts do not support and a Hebrew distinct from Canaanite… [Evidence EVD0DEE9705MWHB]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/EVD0DEE9705MWHB
```

Key

**EVD** 0DEE9705MWHB

Kind

Evidence

Tier

Supported

Version

1

Added by

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