Year: 2010
Type: article
Abstract: Proto-alphabetic Inscriptions from the Wadi ArabahThree early West Semitic inscriptions from the Arabah valley are studied here, all of them apparently connected with the Egyptian copper-mining activity in the region, notably at Timna, in the period of the Ramessides.The most striking detail in these texts is a sign corresponding to an Egyptian hieroglyph (N6B ) which depicts two serpents guarding the sun-disc, and another with one serpent (N6 ,); these never appear on conventional tables of early alphabetic letters; this leads to a critical reappraisal of current identifications of the original picture-signs, and elaboration of a new system of interpreting early Canaanite inscriptions, involving recognition that the signs could sometimes stand for whole words and could also be used as rebuses.
Author: Brian E. Colless
Institution: Massey University
Language: English
Subfield: Religious studies
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1487095026