The Origins of the West Semitic Alphabet in Egyptian Scripts

465 Pages·2006·7.58 MB·English

by  Gordon J. Hamilton

The Origins of
the West Semitic
Alphabet in
Egyptian Scripts
BY
Gordon J. Hamilton
The Catholic Biblical Quarterly Monograph Series 40
The Catholic Biblical Quarterly
Monograph Series
40
EDITORIAL BOARD
Mark S. Smith, Chairperson
Lawrence E. Boadt, C.S.P. Richard J. Clifford, S.J.
John J. Collins Frederick W. Danker
Robert A. Di Vito Daniel J. Harrington, S.J.
Ralph W. Klein Léo Laberge, O.M.I.
Bruce J. Malina Pheme Perkins
Eugene C. Ulrich Ronald D. Witherup, S.S.
The Origins of the
West Semitic Alphabet
in Egyptian Scripts
BY
Gordon J. Hamilton
The Catholic Biblical Quarterly
Monograph Series
40
© 2006 The Catholic Biblical Association of America,
Washington, DC 20064
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any
form or by any means without permission in writing from
the Catholic Biblical Association of America.
Produced in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hamilton, Gordon J. (Gordon James), 1951-
The origins of the West Semitic alphabet in Egyptian scripts / by
Gordon J. Hamilton.
p. cm. — (The Catholic Biblical quarterly. Monograph series ; 40)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-915170-40-X (alk. paper)
1. Semitic languages, West—Alphabet. 2. Egyptian language—Writing, Hieratic.
3. Egyptian language—Writing, Hieroglyphic. 4. Proto-Canaanite script. I. Title.
II. Series.
PJ4107.H36 2006
492'.0411—dc22
2006017360
For two young friends,
Jake and Josh Beale,
who are having their own encounters with the alphabet
and
In memoriam
Romain F. Butin, S. M.
1871–1937
Semitist,
The Catholic University of America
“Who can plant a papyrus stalk upon a mountain?”
Sinuhe B 122(Redford 1992: 87)
Contents
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS (cid:127) xvii
CHRONOLOGY (cid:127) xxiii
ABBREVIATIONS (cid:127) xxv
CHAPTER1: Introduction
I. The Aims of This Monograph (cid:127) 1
II. Terms (cid:127) 2
A. Alphabet and Alphabetic (cid:127) 2
B. Pictographs and Linear Forms (cid:127) 4
C. Proto-Canaanite and Old Canaanite (cid:127) 4
III. The Egyptian Prototypes of the Alphabetic Letter Forms (cid:127) 5
A. The Search for Graphic Prototypes (cid:127) 7
B. Characteristics of Hieroglyphic and Hieratic (cid:127) 7
C. When Consonantal Alphabetic Writing Began (cid:127) 11
D. The Drawings of Egyptian Signs Used in This Study (cid:127) 12
IV. The Proto-Canaanite Letter Forms and Stances (cid:127) 15
A. Establishing the Typologically Earliest Letter Forms (cid:127) 15
B. Charting the Stances of Letters (cid:127) 17
vii
viii · Contents
C. The Drawings of Proto- and Old Canaanite Letters
Used in This Study (cid:127) 18
V. The Acrophonic Letter Names (cid:127) 21
A. The Partial List of Clipped Names from Ugarit (cid:127) 22
B. The Ethiopic Letter Names (cid:127) 23
C. The Greek Letter Names (cid:127) 23
D. The Hebrew Letter Names (cid:127) 24
E. A Late Babylonian School Tablet and the
Aramaic Letter Names (cid:127) 24
F. The Names in Classical Arabic (cid:127) 25
VI. The Format for Titles and Usage of Names
in Chapters 2and 3 (cid:127) 26
VII. The Two Orders of the Letters (cid:127) 26
CHAPTER2: A Reconstruction of the Proto-Canaanite Alphabet (cid:127) 29
I. <alep, *<alp-, “(Profiled Head of an) Ox” (cid:127) 29
A. Egyptian Antecedents of <aµlep (cid:127) 29
B. Proto-Canaanite Forms of <aµlep (cid:127) 32
C. The Early Development of Linear Forms of <aµlep (cid:127) 33
D. Stances of Early and Developed <aµlep (cid:127) 36
E. Letter Name (cid:127) 37
F. The Small Discrepancy between the Name and
Images of <aµlep (cid:127) 38
II. bêt, *bêt-, “House” (cid:127) 38
A. Egyptian Antecedents of bêt (cid:127) 38
B. Egyptian Forms of O1/O1B, “House” (cid:127) 39
C. Proto-Canaanite Derivatives of O1/O1B (cid:127) 42
D. Egyptian Forms of O4/O4B (cid:127) 44
E. Proto- and Old Canaanite Derivatives of O4/O4B (cid:127) 46
F. Unclassified bêts (cid:127)48
G. Stances of Proto- and Old Canaanitebêt (cid:127) 49
H.Letter Name (cid:127) 50
I. The Small Discrepancy between the Name *bêt-
and the Prototype O4/O4B (cid:127) 51
Contents · ix
III. gîmel, *gaml-/*giml-, “Throw-stick” (cid:127) 53
A. The Egyptian Antecedents of gîmel (cid:127) 53
B. No Early Attestations of gîmel (cid:127) 55
C.Stances (cid:127) 56
D.Letter Name (cid:127) 56
IV. h…arm, *h…arm-, *“Wick” (cid:127) 57
A.Egyptian Antecedents ofh…arm (cid:127) 57
B.Proto-Canaanite Forms of h…arm (cid:127) 59
C.Stance of h…arm (cid:127) 59
D.Letter Name (cid:127) 60
V. daµlet , *dalt-/*dilt-, “Door”
and _____, [*dag-], [“Fish”] (cid:127) 61
A.The Early Development of d (cid:127) 61
B.Egyptian Antecedents ofdaµlet (cid:127) 63
C.Proto-Canaanite Forms ofdaµlet (cid:127) 65
D.Stances ofdaµlet (cid:127) 66
E.Egyptian Antecedents of *dag- (cid:127) 66
F. Proto-Canaanite Forms of “Fish” (cid:127) 69
G.Unclassified Proto-Canaanite “Fish” (cid:127) 73
H.Stances of *dag- (cid:127) 73
I. Letter Names (cid:127) 74
VI. hê, *hoµy, *hi<, “Ah!”, “Ha!”, “Here!” (cid:127) 76
A. Egyptian Antecedents ofhê (cid:127) 76
B. Egyptian Forms of A28, “Man with
Both Arms Raised” (cid:127) 76
C. Proto-Canaanite Derivatives of A28 (cid:127) 79
D. Unclassified Forms ofhê (cid:127) 81
E. Stances (cid:127) 83
F. Letter Names (cid:127) 84
VII. waµw, *waw-, [“Mace”] (cid:127) 86
A. Egyptian Antecedents ofwaµw (cid:127) 86
B. Proto-Canaanite Forms ofwaµw (cid:127) 88
C. Stances (cid:127) 90
D. Letter Name (cid:127) 90