THE SINAI INSCRIPTIONS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19696, 23 July 1927, Page 8

THE SINAI INSCRIPTIONS.

SIDELIGHT ON THE BIBLE. ;. '. • V v;' ...''•. ' ___ . ' >'s- ' - "... • TANTALISING DISCOVERY ' BY DR. H. EANSTON. ' ' In a recent issue of the New JZealand Herald reietence is made to the inscrip- . lions lately deposited in : the, Museum. .Of all the new archaeological finds this is one of the most tantalising to Biblical students, flinders Petrie, 'discovered them in 1904-5 oh the Sinai peninsula at ornear Serabrt-el-Hadem, "some of them in the ruins of. the temple of ; Hathor, others engraved on - the rocks about a mile and a-half 1 west. They were in a strange, unknown script whicfi. Petrie was unable to decipher. ' ; Interest was-aroused, "but not till 1923 was a translation -and , Exposition ' achieved. This was due to Prof. Hubert Grimme, of the University of Munstev, ■ who has proved while the script lias been. aerived from the hieratic alpha-, bet of the Egyptians, the language is pure Hebrew. * Hence the Sinaiauc alphabet becomes the oldest known Semitic alphabet in existence, and in. all probability will throw much light on the origin ot " the Phoenician and, as: a; result, of the Greek and our own alphabet. One of these inscription is of nrst-rate importance for the Biblical scholar. . Grimme's translation'is as follows(-1) lam M... of Batshepsut the partner f of .» Amon . . . (2) Overseer of the mining workmen . . . (3) The head of the temple of Ma s ana and of Yahii in Sinai. (4) Thou, the beloved of Baalath, Hatshepsut, the partner; of Amon; (5) Thou hast been good to me, thou has withdrawn i me from the Nile; (6) and thou hashesj tablished me over the shrine of M ... (7) which, is ppon Sinai. ; . ■ According to Petrie and others, this Comes from the time pf Queen Hatanepsut and Ihothmes 111., 8.C., lbOl-i'W/, or 14'79. Note some of the words. "Sinai" is the place associated with the early history of the Hebrews, whose language is that of the inscriptions. "Yahu"' is an ;': old spelling of Vahweh (Jehovah). An Egyptian queen or princess is addressed. She has been the benefactor of the originator of the inscription, in fact, had withdrawn him. from the Nile... Who. is M . . .'■ Ho.w unfortunate it is that-the writing stops just at that point! Is M . . ,to be identified with Moses? Grimme thinks so, and boldly comes to the conclusion that the inscription is that of Moses himself, and Hatsliepsut the princess who saved him from the Nile, i'hus the full story of Moses and Pharaoh's daughter seems to be accredited. . But the careful student will for the present hold his judgment in suspense. xiie letters read as "Moses" are the iast 'S I part' of a long compound name. Many scholars think it aroitrary to read the Hebrew leader's name, and most give "Manasseh;" Not only so, but;line .rive may be translated (with Volter): "thou has transferred mo from the Nile—waters of eriforced labour.'* The name -"Manasseh," by the way, is on three others-of these inscriptions, which, however, Volter identifies with 'Moses. 'lt must be kept in mind ! that the stone is worn with age, and. many of ; the signs confidently identified by Grimme and Volter 'are almost, and to some archaeologists quite, illegible. While Grimme is certain of some 82 letters, A. H. Gardner," the British decipherer,' is. sure of about 30 onlyNevertheless, at tho very least the sfones seem to prove these results. (1) Wo have now the oldest Semitic script, and it is alphabetical and of Egyptian origin. (2) A type of Hebrew then existed not '.-'very different from that of the Old Testament. (3) The . Hebrews were on the peninsula of Sinai at about the time the Old Testament places them there. (4) If Grimme is right in his translations of lines one and five, then the story of Moses is confirmed; but ii (so Volter) line five refers to forced labour, then the tradition about the Egyptian slavery is confirmed. (5)1 Hebrew God "Yahweh"' is associated with Sinai just as in the Biblical narratives. But it is still earlv days for a complete decipherment, tran.->laticri and exposition. The careful scholar will not think the last word has been spoken. in the meantime the Biblical archaeologists era alerV ' •