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

Hamilton's palaeography allows use of the script at Serabit over several centuries, which would make a single date for…

Hamilton's palaeography allows use of the script at Serabit over several centuries, which would make a single date for the corpus wrong.

Speculative0

What it means

Key questionWhen were the Serabit el-Khadim inscriptions written: in the Middle Kingdom, about 1850 BC, or in the New Kingdom?

4 answers, none ahead yet

Openunchanged

Answer this evidence bears onNone of these.

Bears onnone for, none against

Still possiblewas No evidence yet

Sources 2

The Origins of the West Semitic Alphabet in Egyptian Scripts

Hamilton 2006

SRC

The Proto-Sinaitic Inscriptions at Serabit el-Khadim in Their Archaeological Context. Part II: Arguments for a Late Date Reviewed

Parker 2026

SRC

Cite it

Mysteries Department. (2026). Hamilton's palaeography allows use of the script at Serabit over several centuries, which would make a single date for… [Evidence EVD0DEEAQWPJRTB]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/EVD0DEEAQWPJRTB

@misc{mysteriesdept_evd0deeaqwpjrtb,
  title     = {Hamilton's palaeography allows use of the script at Serabit over several centuries, which would make a single date for…},
  author    = {{Mysteries Department}},
  year      = {2026},
  note      = {Evidence, catalog key EVD0DEEAQWPJRTB},
  url       = {https://mysteriesdept.com/r/EVD0DEEAQWPJRTB}
}