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The Problem with Reading the Word ‘Hebrew’ in Sinai 115: An Egyptologist’s Response

23 November 2016

Reading the Word ‘Hebrew’ in Sinai 115: An Egyptologist’s Response
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A Guest Post by Prof. Dr. Thomas Schneider
University of British Columbia
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As part of Douglas Petrovich’s proposal that the Early Alphabetic Inscriptions (e.g., Serabit el-Khadem, Wadi el-Hol) are Hebrew, he has proposed (as putatively supporting evidence) to read a word in one of the Egyptian inscriptions (namely: Sinai 115) from Serabit el-Khadem as the word for “Hebrew.” This, however, is just not correct. Here are some of the reasons:

(1) the correct reading is in two lines: Jpn, son of Jrw. Petrovich combines J and p from line one with r from line 2.

(2) Egyptian /j/ is used to render Semitic aleph, never an ayin (and one would need an ayin here to have the word “Hebrew”).

(3) Similarly, in the 12th dynasty, Egyptian /r/ is never a transcription of Semitic /r/, but of /l/ and /d/.

(4) Also, /p/ is a regular rendering of Semitic /p/ and not /b/, although this is less objectionable.

(5) Ultimately, therefore, Petrovich’s proposed reading of this word as “Hebrew” is not possible.

Respectfully,

Dr. Thomas Schneider

Archaeology, Bible, Epigraphy

11 Comments to “The Problem with Reading the Word ‘Hebrew’ in Sinai 115: An Egyptologist’s Response”

  1. […] via The Problem with Reading the Word ‘Hebrew’ in Sinai 115: An Egyptologist’s Response — Rollst… […]

  2. Beware the archaeologist or epigrapher who finds what he/she is seeking….

  3. […] Thomas Schneider, from the University of British Columbia, wrote a blog post outlining his issues with the proposed […]

  4. […] Thomas Schneider, from the University of British Columbia, wrote a blog post outlining his issues with the proposed […]

  5. […] Thomas Schneider, from the College of British Columbia, wrote a weblog put up outlining his points with the proposed […]

  6. […] Thomas Schneider, from a University of British Columbia, wrote a blog post surveying his issues with a due […]

  7. […] The Problem with Reading the Word ‘Hebrew’ in Sinai 115: An Egyptologist’s Respons… Subscribe RSS Search for: […]

  8. […] uma crítica da descoberta de Petrovich, feita por um Egiptólogo alemão Thomas Schneider acesse: Rollston Epigraphy, assim como uma resposta feita por Petrovich a Schneider acesse: Academia.Edu. Outra crítica feita […]

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  10. […] seja menos censurável. Schneider finaliza que a palavra “hebreu” não é possível. Clique aqui para ver a […]

  11. […] the guest post on Rollston’s blog by the Egyptologist Thomas Schneider is important (here), as is the fact that Petrovich’s Egyptian teacher, my U of T colleague Prof. Ron Leprohon, has […]

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