Questions

Research questions are the building block of our platform of scientific inquiry. Key questions are the ones at the heart of a mystery; every other question helps answer one of them.

7questions0answered2with no evidence yet

All mysteries

Proto-Sinaitic and Wadi el-Hol: the first alphabet5 key questions · 7 questions · 0 answered

Open the mystery

QuestionWhere it stands

KeyAre the Umm el-Marra clay cylinders of about 2400 BC alphabetic writing?

Open3 answers, none ahead

KeyHow many letters did the earliest alphabet have, and which Egyptian signs are their prototypes?

Open2 answers, none ahead

KeyWhat do the Proto-Sinaitic and Wadi el-Hol inscriptions say?

Open4 answers, none ahead

What do the two Wadi el-Hol inscriptions say, and in which direction do they read?

No evidence yetNo answers yet

KeyWhen were the Serabit el-Khadim inscriptions written: in the Middle Kingdom, about 1850 BC, or in the New Kingdom?

Open4 answers, none ahead

KeyWho invented the alphabet, and could they read Egyptian?

Open4 answers, none ahead

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

No evidence yetNo answers yet