# Wadi el-Hol, Qena bend · Place > desert pass on the Farshut road. In Proto-Sinaitic and Wadi el-Hol: the first alphabet. Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/places/PLC0DEDPX96CH7T/wadi-el-hol-qena-bend 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)Wadi el-Hol, Qena bend Place · desert road and rock-inscription site · in 1 mystery # Wadi el-Hol, Qena bend desert pass on the Farshut road [Proto-Sinaitic and Wadi el-Hol: the first alphabet](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic)[2 events][25.9500° N, 32.4200° E] Wadi el-Hol, Qena bend is a desert road and rock-inscription site in the record of Proto-Sinaitic and Wadi el-Hol: the first alphabet, placed to about 10 km. Two events on the site happened here, between 1849 and 1999: Two short alphabetic texts are cut beside Middle Kingdom Egyptian inscriptions on the Farshut desert road, and later John and Deborah Darnell announce the two Wadi el-Hol inscriptions found in 1993; the full edition follows in 2005. Surveyed by the Theban Desert Road Survey (Yale) from 1993; the Egyptian inscriptions are published in OIP 119 and the alphabetic ones in AASOR 59. One artifact in the record is tied to it, including The two Wadi el-Hol inscriptions. Written from the site's records. [Improve it](https://mysteriesdept.com/developers) Placed from Wikipedia article coordinates for the Wadi el-Hol inscriptions (25.95 N, 32.42 E); the exact rock face is not published to coordinate precision · Placed to about 10 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** desert pass on the Farshut road · 2 events [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 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 happened here 2 -1849[Two short alphabetic texts are cut beside Middle Kingdom Egyptian inscriptions on the Farshut desert road](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/events/EVT0DEDRMGQE6CZ/two-short-alphabetic-texts-are-cut-beside-middle-kingdom) 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) with [John Coleman Darnell](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/people/FIG0DEDQBZWE1XG/john-coleman-darnell) ## Nearby within 500 km [Medinet Habu, mortuary temple of Ramesses III, Thebes](https://mysteriesdept.com/records/PLC0D464G4M00K2/medinet-habu-mortuary-temple-of-ramesses-iii-thebes) temple 31 km SE [Hatnub quarry](https://mysteriesdept.com/records/PLC0CSMNPC236YY/hatnub-quarry) quarry 225 km NW [Wadi al-Jarf](https://mysteriesdept.com/records/PLC0CSMNNWE52BN/wadi-al-jarf) harbour site 328 km N [Serabit el-Khadim, Sinai](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/places/PLC0DEDPWXGP98A/serabit-el-khadim-sinai) mining site and temple 358 km N [Karanog, Lower Nubia](https://mysteriesdept.com/records/PLC0CVTZVZR7F64/karanog-lower-nubia) archaeological site (now under Lake Nasser) 361 km S [Tura quarries](https://mysteriesdept.com/records/PLC0CSMNP484XM4/tura-quarries) quarry 456 km N ## People 1 [JC **John Coleman Darnell** Proto-Sinaitic and Wadi el-Hol: the first alphabet ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/people/FIG0DEDQBZWE1XG/john-coleman-darnell) ## Artifacts 1 [The two Wadi el-Hol inscriptions](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/artifacts/ART0DEDT6X8ASZB/the-two-wadi-el-hol-inscriptions) Rock inscriptions ART ## Cite it ``` Mysteries Department. (2026). Wadi el-Hol, Qena bend [Place PLC0DEDPX96CH7T]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/PLC0DEDPX96CH7T ``` Key **PLC** 0DEDPX96CH7T Record Place Kind Desert road and rock-inscription site Position 25.9500° N, 32.4200° E Precision About 10 km Placed from Wikipedia article coordinates for the Wadi el-Hol inscriptions (25.95 N, 32.42 E); the exact rock face is not published to coordinate precision 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) **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. [JSON](https://mysteriesdept.com/api/v1/records/PLC0DEDPX96CH7T)