# Serabit el-Khadim, Sinai · Place > Egyptian turquoise-mining site and Hathor temple. In Proto-Sinaitic and Wadi el-Hol: the first alphabet. Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/places/PLC0DEDPWXGP98A/serabit-el-khadim-sinai 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)[Places](https://mysteriesdept.com/places)Serabit el-Khadim, Sinai Place · mining site and temple · in 1 mystery # Serabit el-Khadim, Sinai Egyptian turquoise-mining site and Hathor temple [Proto-Sinaitic and Wadi el-Hol: the first alphabet](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic)[3 events][29.0369° N, 33.4583° E] Serabit el-Khadim, Sinai is a mining site and temple in the record of Proto-Sinaitic and Wadi el-Hol: the first alphabet, placed to about 1 km. Three events on the site happened here, between 1839 and 1927: Semitic-speaking workers at the Sinai turquoise mines leave inscriptions in the new script at the temple and at Mines L and M (date disputed), and later Kirsopp Lake's Harvard expeditions find further inscriptions, published by Butin. The temple yielded the sphinx (Sinai 345) and the statuette (Sinai 346); the rock inscriptions are at Mine L and Mine M, about 2 km from the temple. Written from the site's records. [Improve it](https://mysteriesdept.com/developers) Placed from Wikipedia article coordinates for Serabit el-Khadim (29.0369 N, 33.4583 E); the temple plateau and Mine L lie within about 2.5 km of this point · Placed to about 1 km[Open the mystery's map](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic#map) ## In the mysteries **Proto-Sinaitic and Wadi el-Hol: the first alphabet** Egyptian turquoise-mining site and Hathor temple · 3 events [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 happened here 3 -1839[Semitic-speaking workers at the Sinai turquoise mines leave inscriptions in the new script at the temple and at Mines L and M (date disputed)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/events/EVT0DEDRMNAFCY8/semitic-speaking-workers-at-the-sinai-turquoise-mines-leave) Jan 1905[Flinders and Hilda Petrie find the sphinx, the statuette and about eight rock tablets at Mine L and publish them as a new alphabet](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/events/EVT0DEDRNJRR8J1/flinders-and-hilda-petrie-find-the-sphinx-the-statuette-and) with [Flinders Petrie](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/people/FIG0DEDQ9EN2J4G/flinders-petrie) 1927[Kirsopp Lake's Harvard expeditions find further inscriptions, published by Butin](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/events/EVT0DEDRNTA7TQY/kirsopp-lakes-harvard-expeditions-find-further-inscriptions) ## Nearby within 500 km [Wadi al-Jarf](https://mysteriesdept.com/records/PLC0CSMNNWE52BN/wadi-al-jarf) harbour site 77 km W [Tura quarries](https://mysteriesdept.com/records/PLC0CSMNP484XM4/tura-quarries) quarry 232 km NW [Egyptian Museum, Cairo (Tahrir)](https://mysteriesdept.com/records/PLC0CTWS37602PA/egyptian-museum-cairo-tahrir) museum 243 km NW [Egyptian Museum, Cairo (Tahrir)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/places/PLC0DEDPY0EP8B4/egyptian-museum-cairo-tahrir) museum 243 km NW [Heit el-Ghurab workers' town](https://mysteriesdept.com/records/PLC0CSMNNMM71CR/heit-el-ghurab-workers-town) settlement site 247 km NW [Sphinx Temple](https://mysteriesdept.com/records/PLC0CTWS20472GW/sphinx-temple) temple 248 km NW ## People 1 [FP **Flinders Petrie** Proto-Sinaitic and Wadi el-Hol: the first alphabet ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/people/FIG0DEDQ9EN2J4G/flinders-petrie) ## Cite it ``` Mysteries Department. (2026). Serabit el-Khadim, Sinai [Place PLC0DEDPWXGP98A]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/PLC0DEDPWXGP98A ``` Key **PLC** 0DEDPWXGP98A Record Place Kind Mining site and temple Position 29.0369° N, 33.4583° E Precision About 1 km Placed from Wikipedia article coordinates for Serabit el-Khadim (29.0369 N, 33.4583 E); the temple plateau and Mine L lie within about 2.5 km of this point In [Proto-Sinaitic and Wadi el-Hol: the first alphabet](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic) Version 1 Added by [apollo](https://mysteriesdept.com/u/apollo) [ Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1371849) **How this page is made.** The position and its precision are the record's, checked against OpenStreetMap and Wikidata; the map is drawn from Natural Earth. Everything else is the site's own record of what happened here. Six other places on the site lie within 500 km. The record Every record is open data. Take this one as JSON, with its links and its history. 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