"The early alphabet developed in association with Western Asiatic (Canaanite) miners in Sinai (or, at least, was taken up by them) during the Middle Kingdom in the eighteenth century BC. We suggest that early alphabetic writing spread to the Southern Levant during the late Middle Bronze Age (with the Lachish Dagger probably being the earliest attested example), and was in use by at least the mid fifteenth century BC at Tel Lachish."

Höflmayer, F., Misgav, H., Webster, L., & Streit, K. (2021). Early alphabetic writing in the ancient Near East: The ‘missing link’ from Tel Lachish. Antiquity, 95(381), 705-719. doi: https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2020.157 #OpenAccess #OA #Journal #Article #BronzeAge #Writing #Archaeology #Antiquity #Epigraphy #History #Histodon #Histodons @archaeodons @histodon @histodons