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1/ Near the end of the 19th c. the Egyptologist Flinders Petrie decided to take a break & went with his wife, Hilda, on vacation, & this lead to an important discovery affecting us to ths day. Today on #Archaeology_Online we'll find out what it was. A #thread. >>
@nickfshort
@nickfshort
2/ >> Petrie & his wife spent time in the desert and the beaches of southern Sinai, and stopped when they saw interesting places. In one place, the site of Serabit el-Khadim, Hilda recognized something that had never been seen before. >>
* Hilda Petrie.
* Hilda Petrie.
3/ >> Serabit el-Khadim was a site where remains of mining activity were found. The site was known from the 18th century, but only at the end of the 19th century was it discovered by researchers. It was Hilda whoi first saw the strange marks on stones at the site. >>
4/ >> Petrie excavated the site & discovered the ancient mines, as well as a shrine for Hathor, the Egyptian goddess. Hilda worked in the excavations in her regular role as illustrator. In the temple, more of what Hilda first saw was discovered. >>
* Markings on the leg.
* Markings on the leg.
5/ >> These were strange markings that looked like a kind of writing that was never seen before. Later this script was dubbed "Proto-Sinaitic script", which is actually the first alphabetic writing system in history. >>
* The first inscription with Proto-Sinaitic script.
* The first inscription with Proto-Sinaitic script.
6/ >> The inscription was born out of the Egyptian hieroglyphics in the Middle Bronze Age (between the 20th and 16th centuries BC) and was used mainly by the Canaanite slaves/Prisoners of War at Serabit el-Khadim. >>
7/ >> This writing system is one of the most important discoveries in history, it explains the development of all the western alphabetical writing systems you think of.
Here is an example of the letter A in Phoenician writing evolving into the Latin A. >>
Here is an example of the letter A in Phoenician writing evolving into the Latin A. >>
8/ >> Hilda Petrie contribution to Petrie's excavations was always important, as an illustrator she had great responsibility for documenting the excavations & finds. Without her sharp eye on that trip we might not have known about the Proto-Sinaitic script today.
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