Serabit Sphinx with Semitic Inscription
A small sphinx labeled in both Egyptian and the first alphabet: 'beloved of Baalat'
Found 1905 — W. M. Flinders Petrie
Where Temple of Hathor, Serabit el-Khadim, Sinai (United Kingdom)
Dates from c. 1800–1500 BCE · Middle Kingdom–Second Intermediate Period · Sojourn
Now at British Museum, London (EA 41748)
How Serabit Sphinx with Semitic Inscription was found
Found in the Hathor temple at Serabit el-Khadim during Petrie's survey; the paired inscriptions became the key to Gardiner's 1916 decipherment.
What it is
A red sandstone sphinx about 24 cm long. Between the paws is an Egyptian text 'beloved of Hathor, [lady] of turquoise'; along the side runs the same idea in early alphabetic signs, read as 'beloved of Baalat' (the Lady).
Why it matters for the Bible
This is the 'Rosetta Stone' of the alphabet: because Egyptian and Semitic say the same thing, Gardiner could read the Semitic letters. It also shows Semitic workers calling the Egyptian goddess Hathor by their own title Baalat, a glimpse of the mixed religious world the Torah later warns Israel against.
The Hebrew word: bah-ah-LAH
בַּעֲלָה
בַּעֲלָה is pronounced bah-ah-LAH and means mistress, lady (feminine of Baal); here a goddess title (Strong's H1172).
Places
- Sinai — סִינַי (see-NAI) — wilderness of the covenant
Events
Israel's exposure to Egyptian and Canaanite gods
Serabit Sphinx with Semitic Inscription in Scripture
Exodus 3:1 First mention of Sinai in Scripture.
Exodus 20:3-4 No other gods, no carved images; Semitic workers in Sinai were dedicating sphinxes to a goddess in the very region of the giving of the commandments.
Joshua 24:14 Yehoshua recalls the gods served 'in Egypt'; the sphinx shows Semites in Egyptian service honoring such gods.
Questions people ask
What is Serabit Sphinx with Semitic Inscription?
A red sandstone sphinx about 24 cm long. Between the paws is an Egyptian text 'beloved of Hathor, [lady] of turquoise'; along the side runs the same idea in early alphabetic signs, read as 'beloved of Baalat' (the Lady).
When was Serabit Sphinx with Semitic Inscription discovered?
It was found in 1905 by W. M. Flinders Petrie, at Temple of Hathor, Serabit el-Khadim, Sinai.
Where is Serabit Sphinx with Semitic Inscription today?
British Museum, London (EA 41748).
Which Bible verses does Serabit Sphinx with Semitic Inscription relate to?
Exodus 3:1, Exodus 20:3-4, Joshua 24:14.
Related discoveries
- כָּתַבProto-Sinaitic Inscriptions, Serabit el-KhadimSemitic workers in Sinai writing the world's first alphabet
- סֵפֶרWadi el-Hol InscriptionsThe earliest alphabetic writing, left by Semites on a desert road in Egypt itself
- סֵפֶרTel Zayit AbecedaryThe oldest complete alphabet from a Judahite site
- אָלֶף־בֵּיתIzbet Sartah Abecedary OstraconA schoolboy's alphabet from an Israelite village near Ebenezer
- כִּנִּיםLachish Ivory Comb: The Earliest Canaanite SentenceA 3,700-year-old lice comb inscribed 'May this tusk root out the lice of the hair and the beard'
- כְּרוּבAhiram SarcophagusA Byblos king's coffin with the earliest full Phoenician alphabet
Sources
- British Museum collection: EA 41748
- Gardiner, 'The Egyptian Origin of the Semitic Alphabet', JEA 3 (1916)
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