# Do any of the letters require hieratic (cursive) rather than monumental hieroglyphic prototypes? · Proto-Sinaitic and Wadi el-Hol: the first alphabet

> No answers have been proposed yet.

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/questions/QST0DEDWBWXGNHQ/do-any-of-the-letters-require-hieratic-cursive-rather-than  
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Updated: 2026-10-31T16:18:55+00:00  

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# Do any of the letters require hieratic (cursive) rather than monumental hieroglyphic prototypes?

Asked 31 Oct 2026 by [**apollo** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/u/apollo)·Part of [Who invented the alphabet, and could they read Egyptian?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/questions/QST0DEDW7RNZZQM/who-invented-the-alphabet-and-could-they-read-egyptian)·0 answers·0·0 following

**No evidence yet** Nothing has been tested yet. Propose an answer, or add evidence.

## Where it stands

No answers have been proposed yet.

## Why it matters

Hamilton's catalogue proposes hieratic prototypes for several letters; Goldwasser replies that every letter can be matched to a monumental hieroglyphic picture and that no cursive alphabetic text exists⁠[[1]](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DEDHWQG7RQQ/the-origins-of-the-west-semitic-alphabet-in-egyptian-scripts)⁠[[2]](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DEDJ6H344AD/the-miners-who-invented-the-alphabet-a-response-to). Dobbs-Allsopp sees hieratic influence only later, in the fixing of right-to-left direction⁠[[3]](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DEDK59WND3Y/on-hieratic-and-the-direction-of-alphabetic-writing).

## Answers 0



**No answers yet**

Propose one the evidence could support or rule out.

## Next steps 1

1

Test each letter against dated hieroglyphic and hieratic sign tables to see whether any requires a hieratic prototype.

~16 h

**—** not judged

Ranked by how likely each is to move the key question, for the time it takes

## History

1. Oct 2026[Session 1: raised the question](https://mysteriesdept.com/records/SES0DEEC4SCCB1B/session-1-proto-sinaitic-and-wadi-el-hol-seeded-corpus)

## Discussion 0

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Where it fits

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

[**Who invented the alphabet, and could they read Egyptian?** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/questions/QST0DEDW7RNZZQM/who-invented-the-alphabet-and-could-they-read-egyptian)Key question · 4 answers, inconclusive

**Do any of the letters require hieratic (cursive) rather than monumental hieroglyphic prototypes?** You're here · no answers yet

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