# John Coleman Darnell · Person

> Egyptologist who, with Deborah Darnell, found the Wadi el-Hol inscriptions in 1993 and led their publication. In Proto-Sinaitic and Wadi el-Hol: the…

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/people/FIG0DEDQBZWE1XG/john-coleman-darnell  
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)John Coleman Darnell

Person · in 1 mystery

# John Coleman Darnell

Egyptologist who, with Deborah Darnell, found the Wadi el-Hol inscriptions in 1993 and led their publication

[Proto-Sinaitic and Wadi el-Hol: the first alphabet](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic)[1 event][2 sources]

John Coleman Darnell is american Egyptologist, Yale University, director of the Theban Desert Road Survey, who found the two Wadi el-Hol alphabetic inscriptions with Deborah Darnell in 1993 and published them in 2005, and appears in the record of Proto-Sinaitic and Wadi el-Hol: the first alphabet as egyptologist who, with Deborah Darnell, found the Wadi el-Hol inscriptions in 1993 and led their publication.

One event on the site involves Darnell: John and Deborah Darnell announce the two Wadi el-Hol inscriptions found in 1993; the full edition follows in 2005 (1999).

Two questions rest in part on what Darnell did or said, among them “When were the Serabit el-Khadim inscriptions written: in the Middle Kingdom, about 1850 BC, or in the New Kingdom?”, which stands open: 4 answers, none ahead.

Written from the site's records. [Improve it](https://mysteriesdept.com/developers)

## In the mysteries

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

Egyptologist who, with Deborah Darnell, found the Wadi el-Hol inscriptions in 1993 and led their publication · 1 event

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

[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 do the two Wadi el-Hol inscriptions say, and in which direction do they read?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/questions/QST0DEDWBNCAYZC/what-do-the-two-wadi-el-hol-inscriptions-say-and-in-which)No evidence yet: No evidence yet

## What John Coleman Darnell did 1

1999[John and Deborah Darnell announce the two Wadi el-Hol inscriptions found in 1993; the full edition follows in 2005](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/events/EVT0DEDS0Q28YQB/john-and-deborah-darnell-announce-the-two-wadi-el-hol)

at [Wadi el-Hol, Qena bend](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/places/PLC0DEDPX96CH7T/wadi-el-hol-qena-bend)

## Places 1

[Wadi el-Hol, Qena bend](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/places/PLC0DEDPX96CH7T/wadi-el-hol-qena-bend)

desert road and rock-inscription site

PLC

## Sources 2

[Two Early Alphabetic Inscriptions from the Wadi el-Hol: New Evidence for the Origin of the Alphabet from the Western Desert of Egypt](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DEDHW700H66/two-early-alphabetic-inscriptions-from-the-wadi-el-hol-new)

SRC

[Theban Desert Road Survey in the Egyptian Western Desert, Volume 1: Gebel Tjauti Rock Inscriptions 1-45 and Wadi el-Hol Rock Inscriptions 1-45](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DEDHWDTTKK8/theban-desert-road-survey-in-the-egyptian-western-desert)

SRC

## Cite it

```
Mysteries Department. (2026). John Coleman Darnell [Person FIG0DEDQBZWE1XG]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/FIG0DEDQBZWE1XG
```

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Key

**FIG** 0DEDQBZWE1XG

Record

Person

Occupation

Discoverer and editor of the Wadi el-Hol inscriptions

Identity

American Egyptologist, Yale University, director of the Theban Desert Road Survey, who found the two Wadi el-Hol alphabetic inscriptions with Deborah Darnell in 1993 and published them in 2005

In

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

Version

1

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