Who invented the alphabet, and could they read Egyptian?
Four answers, none aheadNone is ahead yet. See what would settle it.
Where it stands
Four answers have been proposed. None is ahead on the evidence yet. Four are still possible. Of the one narrower question under it, none is answered yet.
Why it matters
Goldwasser argues that Canaanite workers who could not read Egyptian named hieroglyphic pictures in their own language, which explains the ignored Egyptian sound values and the several look-alike signs used for one letter[1][2]. Rainey and Rollston answer that writing was an elite skill and the inventors knew Egyptian script; Hamilton's catalogue finds some hieratic prototypes, and Colless derives the letters from the Byblos syllabary instead[3][4][5][6].
Answers 4
History
- John Coleman Darnell et al.: writing in the Bronze Age was a skill of trained elites, and the Wadi el-Hol texts sit beside Egyptian inscriptions of…For: Literate Semites in Egyptian service (Rainey, Rollston, Hamilton)
- Gordon J. Hamilton: hamilton's catalogue derives some letters from hieratic forms, which only trained scribes used.Against: Non-literate Canaanite workers (Goldwasser)
- Orly Goldwasser: the script ignores Egyptian sound values and the Egyptian uniconsonantal signs, and uses several look-alike…For: Non-literate Canaanite workers (Goldwasser)
- Orly Goldwasser: no cursive, papyrus or administrative alphabetic text of the Middle Kingdom or early New Kingdom has been found; the…Against: Literate Semites in Egyptian service (Rainey, Rollston, Hamilton)
- Christopher A. Rollston: writing in the Bronze Age was a skill of trained elites, and the Wadi el-Hol texts sit beside Egyptian inscriptions of…For: Literate Semites in Egyptian service (Rainey, Rollston, Hamilton)
- Orly Goldwasser: no cursive, papyrus or administrative alphabetic text of the Middle Kingdom or early New Kingdom has been found; the…Against: Literate Semites in Egyptian service (Rainey, Rollston, Hamilton)
- Orly Goldwasser: hamilton's catalogue derives some letters from hieratic forms, which only trained scribes used.Against: Non-literate Canaanite workers (Goldwasser)
- Orly Goldwasser: the script ignores Egyptian sound values and the Egyptian uniconsonantal signs, and uses several look-alike…For: Non-literate Canaanite workers (Goldwasser)
- Brian E. Colless: the Byblos inscriptions have no secure archaeological date and may be Iron Age, eight alphabetic letters have no…Against: Simplified from the Byblos syllabary (Colless)
- Benjamin Sass: the Byblos inscriptions have no secure archaeological date and may be Iron Age, eight alphabetic letters have no…Against: Simplified from the Byblos syllabary (Colless)
- Aren M. Wilson-Wright: the Byblos inscriptions have no secure archaeological date and may be Iron Age, eight alphabetic letters have no…Against: Simplified from the Byblos syllabary (Colless)
- Seth L. Sanders: the script ignores Egyptian sound values and the Egyptian uniconsonantal signs, and uses several look-alike…For: Non-literate Canaanite workers (Goldwasser)
- Session 1: raised the question, proposed four answers and worked on one of its sub-questions