Two Early Alphabetic Inscriptions from the Wadi el-Ḥôl: New Evidence for the Origin of the Alphabet from the Western Desert of Egypt

58 Pages·2005·8.79 MB·English

by  John Coleman Darnell et al.

Two Early Alphabetic Inscriptions
from the Wadi el-Hol
New Evidence for the of the
Origin Alphabet
from the WesternD esert of
Egypt
JOHN COLEMAND ARNELL F. W. DOBBS-ALLSOPP
Yale University PrincetonT heological Seminary
MARILYNJ . LUNDBERG P. KYLEM CCARTER BRUCE ZUCKERMAN
WSR, University of The Johns Hopkins University of Southern
SouthernC alifornia University California
with the assistance of
COLLEENM ANASSA
Yale University
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments 67
List of Figures 69
List of Plates 71
The Wadi el-HOl 73
The Early AlphabeticI nscriptions 75
The HorizontalI nscription( Wadi el-H6l Early AlphabeticI nscription1 ) 76
The Vertical Inscription( Wadi el-H61E arly AlphabeticI nscription2 ) 83
Deciphermenta nd AlphabeticQ uality 85
Dating the Inscriptions 86
Conclusion 90
Notes 92
Appendix:T he Inscriptionso f Bebi and His Associates in the Wadi el-H6l 102
References 107
Plates 115
65
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The fieldwork that led to the discovery of these inscriptionsw as carriedo ut undert he auspices of
the SupremeC ouncil for Antiquitiesi n Egypt, andw e thankt hato rganizationa nd all fromt he Egyptian
antiquitiess ervice, police, and military,w ho have accompaniedt he ThebanD esert Road Survey and
aided in the recordingo f this material.W e specifically would like to thankD r. Zahi Hawass, General
Secretaryo f the SupremeC ouncilf or Antiquities;D r. GaballaA li Gaballa,f ormerG eneralS ecretaryo f
the SCA; Dr. SabriA bd el-Aziz, GeneralD irectoro f PharaonicA ntiquities;D r. Mohammede s-Saghir,
formerG eneralD irectoro f PharaonicA ntiquities;M r. Attia Radwan,G eneralD irectorf or Desert An-
tiquities;D r. Mohammede l-Bialy, formerG eneralD irectoro f QurnaA ntiquites;M r. Hussein Afiuni,
General Director of Antiquities for Qena and the Red Sea, and last but not least, InspectorR amadan
Ahmed Ali and InspectorA bd el-FatahA bd el-Qadr, and Officer Ashraf Hassaneine l-Ashmawi and
Officer Madawan. J. C. Darnell gratefully acknowledges the financial support received from the
National Endowmentf or the Humanities( an independentF ederal agency), the Simpson Endowment
for Egyptology at Yale University, the American and Swiss brancheso f the Michela Schiff Giorgini
Foundation;h e also thanks Anthony Leahy, Patricia Spencer, and the Egypt Exploration Society,
London. Dobbs-Allsopp's participationi n the 1999 photographice xpedition to the Wadi el-H61 was
financially supportedb y a SBL ResearchG ranta nd an A. Whitney Griswold Faculty ResearchG rant
(Yale University).Z uckermana ndL undbergi, n collaborationw ith JohnM . Melzian,w ere supportedb y
the West Semitic ResearchP roject (University of SouthernC alifornia)a nd especially The Ahmanson
Foundationf or the photographice xpedition in 1999.
The first announcemento f these inscriptions appearedi n J. C. Damell and D. Damell, "The
Luxor-Farshut Desert Road Survey," OIAR (1994-95) 46-47: "We also discovered and copied two
inscriptionsw ritteni n the Proto-Sinaitics cript."T he vertical inscriptiona ppearsi n one of Winkler's
photographs now stored in the office of the Egypt Exploration Society in London. No one appears
to have recognized the significance of the inscriptions, and a search through the records of the Mond
expedition (also stored at the Egypt Exploration Society office) failed to reveal any discussion or even
mention of such an inscription.J . C. Damell first presentedt hese inscriptionst o the public at the Brit-
ish Museum (at the invitation of Vivian Davies, Keeper of Egyptian Antiquities), in a lecture with the
title, "New Discoveries in the Western Desert: the World's Oldest Alphabetic Inscriptions," on July
12, 1999. A generalp resentationb y the authorso f the presentv olume followed at a joint session of the
Annual Meetings of the Society for Biblical Literature and the American Schools of Oriental Research,
entitled "The Early Alphabetic Inscriptions in the Wadi el-Hol: the Oldest Alphabetic Inscriptions, and
the Egyptian Origins of the Alphabet,"o n November 22, 1999. Subsequentp reliminaryp resentations
of these materialsi nclude Dobbs-Allsopp," TheW adi el-H1l and AlphabeticO rigins"( general lecture
and graduates eminara t the University of Wisconsin, Madison,c o-sponsoredb y the MadisonB iblical
Archaeology Society; May i,
2002).
67
JOHN COLEMAND ARNELL ET AL.
The authors wish to extend a special word of thanks to Gordon J. Hamilton of Huron University
College, who has been a constant conversation partner over the last several years and who has gener-
ously shared with us his own ongoing research on the paleography of early alphabetic writing.
Epigraphic Note
All carved texts have an aspect of depth to the incised lines; since an epigraphic drawing exists in
only two dimensions, the epigrapher has the choice of representing either the outer edges of the carved
lines, the deepest portion of the lines, or an amalgam of the two. All rock inscriptions made as incised
lines thus have upper, outer edges of the cut and a lower base cut. The bottom, deeper cut represents
where the carving tool exerted the greatest pressure on the stone and is typically more representative
of the original intent of the author. The author of the early alphabetic inscriptions was carving a linear
script and any variation in thickness of the individual lines is almost certainly accidental. In order to
record the greatest amount of information with the maximum of clarity, we present for each inscription
a copy of the base line of the carving (figs. 2:a, 16:a) as well as a drawing of the upper, outer edges
of the cut (figs. 2:b, 16:b). The drawings of the deepest portions of the carving should naturally take
precedence in paleographicc onsiderations,a nd it is these we presenti n the paleographicc harts.
Most of the photographsi n the presentp ublicationr esult from the assistanceo f Bruce Zuckerman
and MarilynJ . Lundberg.D ue to the uneven naturals urfaces on which rock inscriptionsa re carved, a
certaina mounto f foreshorteninga nd otherd istortionsa rei nevitablei n the photographsT. hus, we must
caution against any paleographic commentary based solely on the photographs. The facsimile drawings
included in this volume are based on careful tracing and collation in the presence of the original inscrip-
tions, and represent the most accurate possible rendering of the inscriptions in two dimensions.
LIST OF FIGURES
Fig. 1. Map of the Qena Bend (from J. C. Damell 2002a: pl. i). 74
Fig. 2. Wadi el-Hol Alphabetic Inscriptioni ; the HorizontalI nscription.a ) facsimile of the 75
base of the incised lines; b) facsimile of the outer edges of the incised lines.
Fig. 3. Humanh ead a (D1). a) Moller 1927a: no. 79, Abusir and Elephantinee xamples;b ) 76
James 1962:I/16 and VII/15.
Fig. 4. Cobra Sign (Ilo). a) M6ller 1927a: no. 250, Hatnub example (25,5); b) Roccati 78
1970: 50; c) Arnold et al. 1990: i1, N 24.2,1.2.
Fig. 5. Horned Viper - (19); Zaba 1974:p l. 13. 78
Fig. 6. Hieroglyphic examples of vertically oriented signs. a) Hall 1912:p l. 39, no. 226, 1. 8; 78
b) Obsomer 1993:104 and 122;c ) Simpson 1974:p l. 22; d) Boeser 19go: pl. 3; e) Limme
1979: 18 (Djari Stela); f) Hintze and Reineke 1989: lol, no. 302.
Fig. 7. Seated man ~ (Ai). a) Fischer 1968: 80; b) Fischer 1964: 107; c) Fischer 1964: 109; 79
d) J. C. Damell 200oo2a: pl. 19; e) Zaba 1974: no. A-1; f) Ziba 1974: no. 195 (two seated
men); g) Zaba 1974:n o. 6oA (fig. 118); h) Ziba 1974: no. 222 (fig. 358).
Fig. 8. Seated man signs from the Old Kingdom. a) "prospector figure" X (Hintze 79
and Reineke 1989: 258-59, nos. 599, 598, and 597; b) man with pouring vessel i
(Dobrev1996: 118;p aleography, A6B).
Fig. 9. Seated soldier | (Aiz). a) normal hieratic appearance( M6ller 1927a:4 , no. 44); 79
b) Sainte Fare Gamot 1937: pl. 14, fig. 2, 1. 6; c) Goedicke 1988: 2a, Sharuna and
Elephantine examples; d) Lopez 1966: 24-25 and 28; e) Goyon 1957: 180, no. 64,1. 2;
f) Zaba 1974: no. 170 (fig. 292).
Fig. lo. Comparisono f soldier and seated child t (A17). a)Jamesl962:IX/landXVI/1;b) 80
Roccati 1970: 47; c) Edel 1980: nos. 199 and 588; d) Marciniak 1974:1 8o, 9,5; 3,16; 67,2.
Fig. ii. Seated noble p (A51). a) Simpson 1965: 49; b) Edel 1980: pls. 3-8 (select 80
examples).
69
Fig. 12. Interchangeo f standinga nd seated signs in Middle Kingdomh ieratica nd hieroglyphic 80
texts. a) Standingo fficial j (A21) written as seated man holding staff (Zaba 1974:
no. 56,1. 5, figs. 110-11; no. 126, fig. 234); b) Seated man with hand to mouth ! (A2)
writtena s standingm an with handt o mouth { (A84; Fischer1 9687 7,n . 325);c ) Seated
man with hand to mouth ( (A2) written as standingm an with hand to mouth
(A84; Fischer 1976: 153-54); d) Seated man grasping stick alternates with standing
man grasping stick as determinative of sts (Fischer 1968 77, n. 325).
Fig. 13. "Seated" appearance of standing signs in Old Kingdom hieratic (Posener-Krieger and 80
De Cenival 1968: paleography, pl. 1). a) Striking man ~ (A24); b) Exultant man
(A28); c) Dancing man J (A32).
Fig. 14. Comer sign l] (038; M6ller 1927a:4 5, no. 478). 81
Fig. 15. Sun disk () (N5). a) Verner 1992: LXV; b) James 1962: 7 (1/14); c) Arnold et al. 1990: 82
88, W59; d) Zaba 1974: palaeography (N5), nos. 105-106, 103.
Fig. 16. Wadi el-Hol Alphabetic Inscription 2; the Vertical Inscription. a) facsimile of the base 83
of the incised lines; b) facsimile of the outer edges of the incised lines.
Fig. 17. Eye sign <-G (D4). a) Edel 1990: pl. 10, no. 583 (126); b) Hintze and Reineke 1989: 85
171,n o. 449; c) Hintze and Reineke 1989: 139, no. 392; d) Hintze and Reineke 1989: 158,
no. 426; e) M6ller 1927a: 7, no. 82 (Prisse, Illahun, and Sinuhe examples).
Fig. 18. Horizontallyo rientedm ace , (T3); Gardinere t al. 1952, pl. 6. 85
Fig. 19. Tent pole sign === or (029). a) M6ller 1927a: 34, no. 363 (Prisse, Illahun, and 85
Sinuhe examples); b) Zaba 1974: no. 148,1. 3; c) J. C. Darell 2002a: no. 21, 1. 1; d)
Hintze and Reineke 1989: 160, no. 429, 1. 1; e) Hintze and Reineke 1989: 219, no. 524,
1. 3; f) Zaba 1974: no. 158.
Fig. 20. Inscriptiono f Bebi from the Wadi el-Hol. 88
Fig. 21. Transcriptiono f the Inscriptiono f Bebi. 88
Fig. 22. Inscriptionm entioning" Nebet-Kepenet"f rom the Wadi el-Hol. 89
Fig. 23. Inscriptiono f Bebi from the Wadi el-Hol. 102
Fig. 24. Transcriptiono f the Inscriptiono f Bebi. 102
Fig. 25. Inscriptionm entioningt he associates of Bebi. 105
Fig. 26. Transcriptiono f the inscriptiono f the associates of Bebi. 105
Fig. 27. Inscriptiono f the Priest Kheperkare. 106
70
LIST OF PLATES
P1.I .1. Wadi el-HIOSl ections B (left face of spur) and C (right face of spur) in center left
and the Pinnacle of Gebel Roma' in upperr ight. 115
P1.1 .2. Wadi el-Ho1 Section C on the WesternF ace of the Spur. 115
P1.I I. Section C in the Wadi el-H81; boxes indicate the location of Early Alphabetic
InscriptionN o. 1 (HorizontalI nscription)t o the left andN o. 2 (VerticalI nscription)
to the right. 116
P1.I II. Wadi el-H61E arly AlphabeticI nscriptionN o. 1 (HorizontalI nscription). 117
P1.I V. Wadi el-Ho6E1 arly AlphabeticI nscriptionN o. 1 (HorizontalI nscription). 118
P1.V .1. The head sign; sign 1.1. 119
P1. V.2. Head signs; signs 1.16 and 2.4. 119
P1. VI.1. The courtyard-styledh ouse sign; sign 1.2. 120
P1.V I.2. The seated man sign; sign 1.7. 120
P1.V I.3. The seated man sign; sign 1.11. 120
P1.V I.4. The possible sun sign; sign 1.13. 120
P1.V I.5. The "twistedf lax" sign; sign 1.15. 120
P1.V II. Wadi el-HOlE6 arly AlphabeticI nscriptionN o. 2 (Vertical Inscription). 121
P1.V III. Wadi el-Hol Early AlphabeticI nscriptionN o. 2 (Vertical Inscription). 122
P1.I X.1. The "hobble"s igns; signs 2.2 and 2.10. 123
P1.I X.2. The seated man sign; sign 2.5. 123
P1.I X.3. Detail of the first three lines of the hieratic inscriptionm entioningt he "Generalo f
the Asiatics, Bebi." 123
P1.X . Paleographic chart of the two Wadi el-Ho61E arly Alphabetic Inscriptions (signs
reproducedt o scale). 124
71
Two Early Alphabetic Inscriptions
from the Wadi el-Hol
New Evidence for the of the
Origin Alphabet
from the Western Desert of Egypt
by John ColemanD arnell, F. W. Dobbs-Allsopp,M arilynJ .
Lundberg,P . Kyle McCartera nd Bruce Zuckerman
with the assistance of Colleen Manassa
he EgyptianW esternD esert,n ow a virtu- early alphabeticw ritings.5T his initial publication
ally desertedw asteland,o nce teemed with of the Wadi el-Hol early alphabetici nscriptions
economic and military activity. Much of presents a description and paleographica nalysis
the pharaonic desert traffic transiting through of these inscriptions,a n assessment of their date
the Western Desert concentratedo n a series of (in conjunctionw ith otherE gyptiani nscriptionsa t
tracks linking the Upper Egyptian Thebaid with the Wadi el-Hol), and some preliminaryt houghts
points much farthert o the west and south. On the about their significance for understanding the
main Thebanr oad into the WesternD esert, at the origins of the alphabet.6
midpoint of the portion of this route crossing the
desert filling the Qena Bend of the Nile, is the THE WADI EL-HOL
Wadie l-Ho61a, s ite of hundredso f rocki nscriptions
and depictions,a nd the location of majora rchaeo- The Wadi el-H 61s ite is located approximately
logical deposits of stratifiedc aravansaryd ebris.1 halfway between Luxor (ancient W3s.t;T hebes)
AlthoughT . Graya nd H. Winklerp hotographeda and Hou (ancient Hw.t-shm) along the so-called
few inscriptions at the site during the 1930S, and M. FarshutR oad-a trackc rossing the tongue of the
Drower was able to examine rubbingso f some of WesternD esert filling the Qena Bend of the Nile
the inscriptionsa t the same time,2t he vast major- (fig. i). The Wadi el-IH6 site occupies one of the
ity of the material and its significance remained strategically and economically importantp asses
unknown until the Theban Desert Road Survey through which desert roads ascend and descend
rediscovered the site and placed it in the proper the high desertp lateau-"the narrowd oors of the
context of the pharaonicr oad system.3U nlike the desert"o f the ancientE gyptians,o ften the objects
other textual inscriptionsa t the Wadi el-H61,4t he of police patrolsa ndt he sites of militaryg arrisons.
two rock inscriptionsp ublishedh ere (discovered As a result of the military and economic impor-
during the 1994-95 field season of the Theban Des- tance of the routes through the Western Desert,
ertR oad Survey) aren ot legible Egyptian.R ather, much of the rich archaeological and epigraphic
they appear to be alphabetic in nature and are evidence from these desert sites dates to periods
directlyc omparablet o the small corpus of known of instability and conflict in the Nile Valley; al-
73
74 JOHN COLEMAND ARNELL ET AL.
NILE
\
RIVER EIGHTHN OME /
-? /
/
Abydos
SIXTHN OME
ToO aseso fW esterDn esert Hou
QENAB END ROAD
Gebel Khozam
FOURTHN OME
?oBodr
I
N1iv4~~~ )(Approximate)
I I
0 10km
Fig. i. Map of the Qena Bend (from J. C. Darnell 2002a:p l. i).
though inscriptions at the Wadi el-Hol6r ange in or ascendeda t the Wadie l-.H1lo n his (or her)7w ay
datef romt he earliestP redynastict hrought he early to any one of these locations, he (or she) would
Islamic periods, the great bulk of the inscriptions have passed a stratumo f soft limestone, fractured
date between the early Middle Kingdom (mid-lnth into large, flat surfaces ideal for carving-prob-
Dynasty) andt he beginningo f the New Kingdom, ably with the ubiquitousf lint nodulest hatl ittert he
approximately 2050-1550 B.C.E.A large number of desert surface.8T he rock inscriptionsa nd depic-
the dated inscriptions belong to the late 12tha nd tions carveda t the Wadi el-H1 rangef rom hastily
early 13thD ynasties. executeds ketchest o nameso f individualsa ndt heir
Despite the isolation and general barrenness relations, to elaboratelyc arved literaryt exts.9I n
of its contemporarys etting, the Wadi el-Hl1 was addition to a site of intense economic activity,10
not a remote and secluded site duringt he height of the Wadi el-HOl was also a center for religious
pharaonica ntiquity,b ut rathert he bustling center observance, mostly centered on the worship of
of a greatd eserth ighway, connectingT hebes with the goddess Hathor,a s evidenced by the "spend-
Hou andA bydos in the north,a ndw ith the oases of ing the day on holiday" inscriptions,11d epictions
Khargaa nd Dakhla in the WesternD esert. As an of the goddess in her bovine manifestation,a nd
ancientt ravelera long the FarshfitR oad descended representationso f musical celebrants.12
TWO EARLY ALPHABETICI NSCRIPTIONSF ROM THE WADI EL-HOL 75
Q
a I I 5 cm
Fig. 2. Wadi el-.HolA lphabetic Inscription 1; the Horizontal Inscription. a) facsimile of the base of the incised lines; b)
facsimile of the outer edges of the incised lines.
Due to the strategic location of the Wadi el- inscriptionsr ecoveredm ost especially from Sinai
H61,m any of the inscriptionsr elatet o soldiersa nd (the so-called "Proto-Sinaitic"in scriptionsf rom
military activity. By the reign of AmenemhatI II, Serabit el-Khadim and its environs).18T hey are
Thebant roopsa ppeart o have garrisonedt he Wadi located towardt he left portiono f Section C in the
el-H61,13a nd the deserto utpostc ontinuedt o serve Wadi el-HO1( pls. I.1-II; the site itself contains
as a military base into the Second Intermediate four major concentrationso f rock inscriptions),
Period,14g uardingt he back door to Thebes, while the section of the site closest to the main ascending
giving access to the Thebanb ase at Abydos'5a nd and descending track, with a general southwest-
a Theban outpost between the Nile and Kharga erly exposure.T he Egyptiani nscriptionss patially
Oasis.16 Through the late second millennium, closest to the early alphabetici nscriptionsa re the
the Wadi el-H61 and its associated tracks were names of Egyptian scribes, apparentlyo f Middle
a thoroughfaref or military units, often supple- Kingdomd ate, but none of these are so close as to
mented with foreign auxiliaries, who in times of suggest some definite association of the inscrip-
peace ensureds afe passage for travelers-be they tions. The surfaceso n which the Wadie l-Ho6e1a rly
traders,p ilgrims, or priests-and in times of war alphabetici nscriptionsw ere carved are otherwise
used those same routes for strategicm aneuvers.17 uninscribed,f lat facets of soft limestone in fairly
It is into this complex conjunctiono f activities in prominentl ocations. The lines forming the signs
a militarizeds etting that the two early alphabetic of these two inscriptionsa re relatively thin, most
inscriptionsf it. of no more than 1/4 millimeter thickness (.013 mi-
crons); the thickest line in eitheri nscriptioni s the
THE EARLYA LPHABETIC horizontal of the second mark sign (taw) in the
INSCRIPTIONS verticali nscription( Wadi el-Hol1E arlyA lphabetic
Inscription2 ), a line of almost 1 millimetert hick-
These two inscriptionsd o not write any recog- ness (.04 microns).
nizable form of Egyptian,i n eitherN ormalschrift The texts appeart o readf romr ightt o left. Un-
or cryptography,a nd palaeographicallyt he signs like Egyptiant exts,19m ost of the signs-compare
belong to the small corpus of early alphabetic the ox head (1.12) and seated man (2.5)-face in