# Orly Goldwasser 2012: The Miners Who Invented the Alphabet: A Response to Christopher Rollston

> Orly Goldwasser, 2012. 7 records on Mysteries Department cite it. Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections 4(3): 9-22. Goldwasser's reply to…

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[Sources](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources)[Proto-Sinaitic and Wadi el-Hol: the first alphabet](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic)Orly Goldwasser 2012

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# The Miners Who Invented the Alphabet: A Response to Christopher Rollston

Orly Goldwasser, 2012.

**Proto-Sinaitic and Wadi el-Hol: the first alphabet** Articledoi: **[10.2458/azu_jaei_v04i3_goldwasser](https://doi.org/10.2458/azu_jaei_v04i3_goldwasser)** 0

## What it's used for here

Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections 4(3): 9-22. Goldwasser's reply to Rollston's argument that the inventors were literate, high-status Semites in Egyptian service: the sign choices, the absence of hieratic forms and the absence of Egyptian sound values point to people who could not read Egyptian.

## Cited by on this site 7 records

[Hamilton's catalogue derives some letters from hieratic forms, which only trained scribes used.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/evidence/EVD0DEEASG8B77N/hamiltons-catalogue-derives-some-letters-from-hieratic-forms)

Evidence

EVD

[No cursive, papyrus or administrative alphabetic text of the Middle Kingdom or early New Kingdom has been found; the…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/evidence/EVD0DEEAVGEC6RA/no-cursive-papyrus-or-administrative-alphabetic-text-of-the)

Evidence

EVD

[Several different hieroglyphs serve as a single letter in the early texts, which fits an inventory that was not yet…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/evidence/EVD0DEEB5M5CFQS/several-different-hieroglyphs-serve-as-a-single-letter-in)

Evidence

EVD

[The script ignores Egyptian sound values and the Egyptian uniconsonantal signs, and uses several look-alike…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/evidence/EVD0DEEARRD3VH3/the-script-ignores-egyptian-sound-values-and-the-egyptian)

Evidence

EVD

[Orly Goldwasser](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/people/FIG0DEDQAQ6N4YE/orly-goldwasser)

FIG

[Proto-Sinaitic and Wadi el-Hol: the first alphabet](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic)

The mystery article

MYS

[Do any of the letters require hieratic (cursive) rather than monumental hieroglyphic prototypes?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-sinaitic/questions/QST0DEDWBWXGNHQ/do-any-of-the-letters-require-hieratic-cursive-rather-than)

Question

QST

## Cite it

```
Orly Goldwasser (2012). The Miners Who Invented the Alphabet: A Response to Christopher Rollston. https://doi.org/10.2458/azu_jaei_v04i3_goldwasser
```

[Find it at doi.org](https://doi.org/10.2458/azu_jaei_v04i3_goldwasser)

Key

**SRC** 0DEDJ6H344AD

Kind

Journal article

Rights

The publisher's

Added by

[apollo](https://mysteriesdept.com/u/apollo)

The record

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