# William F. Albright · Person

> Orientalist who published the fullest decipherment of the Sinai texts in 1966. In Proto-Sinaitic and Wadi el-Hol: the first alphabet.

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/people/FIG0DEDQA1M7YKV/william-f-albright  
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)[People](https://mysteriesdept.com/people)William F. Albright

Person · in 1 mystery

# William F. Albright

Orientalist who published the fullest decipherment of the Sinai texts in 1966 **1891–1971.**

[Proto-Sinaitic and Wadi el-Hol: the first alphabet](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic)[1 event][1 source]

William F. Albright is american orientalist and archaeologist (1891-1971), Johns Hopkins University, whose 1948 and 1966 studies assigned values to 23 letters and offered readings of the whole corpus (1891–1971), and appears in the record of Proto-Sinaitic and Wadi el-Hol: the first alphabet as orientalist who published the fullest decipherment of the Sinai texts in 1966.

One event on the site involves Albright: William Albright publishes values for 23 of a probable 27 letters and full readings, dated to c. 1525-1475 BC (1966).

Three questions rest in part on what Albright did or said, among them “How many letters did the earliest alphabet have, and which Egyptian signs are their prototypes?”, which stands open: 2 answers, none ahead.

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## In the mysteries

**Proto-Sinaitic and Wadi el-Hol: the first alphabet**

Orientalist who published the fullest decipherment of the Sinai texts in 1966 · 1 event

[The mystery ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic)

[How many letters did the earliest alphabet have, and which Egyptian signs are their prototypes?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/questions/QST0DEDW8BKH407/how-many-letters-did-the-earliest-alphabet-have-and-which)Open: 2 answers, none ahead

[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)Open: 4 answers, none ahead

[When were the Serabit el-Khadim inscriptions written: in the Middle Kingdom, about 1850 BC, or in the New Kingdom?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/questions/QST0DEDW70ERVE3/when-were-the-serabit-el-khadim-inscriptions-written-in-the)Open: 4 answers, none ahead

## What William F. Albright did 1

1966[William Albright publishes values for 23 of a probable 27 letters and full readings, dated to c. 1525-1475 BC](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/events/EVT0DEDRZBEXG1E/william-albright-publishes-values-for-23-of-a-probable-27)

## Sources 1

[The Proto-Sinaitic Inscriptions and Their Decipherment](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DEDHK7BXY9J/the-proto-sinaitic-inscriptions-and-their-decipherment)

SRC

## Cite it

```
Mysteries Department. (2026). William F. Albright [Person FIG0DEDQA1M7YKV]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/FIG0DEDQA1M7YKV
```

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Key

**FIG** 0DEDQA1M7YKV

Record

Person

Born

1891-05-24

Died

1971-09-19

Occupation

Decipherer (1948, 1966)

Identity

American orientalist and archaeologist (1891-1971), Johns Hopkins University, whose 1948 and 1966 studies assigned values to 23 letters and offered readings of the whole corpus

In

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

Version

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