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

Writing in the Bronze Age was a skill of trained elites, and the Wadi el-Hol texts sit beside Egyptian inscriptions of…

Writing in the Bronze Age was a skill of trained elites, and the Wadi el-Hol texts sit beside Egyptian inscriptions of organised expeditions that included Asiatics under an Egyptian commander.

Suggestive0

What it means

Key questionWho invented the alphabet, and could they read Egyptian?

4 answers, none ahead yet

Openunchanged

Answer this evidence bears onLiterate Semites in Egyptian service (Rainey, Rollston, Hamilton)

Supports1 for, 1 against

Still possibleunchanged

Sources 2

The Probable Inventors of the First Alphabet: Semites Functioning as rather High Status Personnel in a Component of the Egyptian Apparatus

Rollston 2010

SRC

Two Early Alphabetic Inscriptions from the Wadi el-Hol: New Evidence for the Origin of the Alphabet from the Western Desert of Egypt

Darnell et al. 2005

SRC

Cite it

Mysteries Department. (2026). Writing in the Bronze Age was a skill of trained elites, and the Wadi el-Hol texts sit beside Egyptian inscriptions of… [Evidence EVD0DEEATHYMEKG]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/EVD0DEEATHYMEKG

@misc{mysteriesdept_evd0deeathymekg,
  title     = {Writing in the Bronze Age was a skill of trained elites, and the Wadi el-Hol texts sit beside Egyptian inscriptions of…},
  author    = {{Mysteries Department}},
  year      = {2026},
  note      = {Evidence, catalog key EVD0DEEATHYMEKG},
  url       = {https://mysteriesdept.com/r/EVD0DEEATHYMEKG}
}