The Origins of the West Semitic Alphabet in Egyptian Scripts (Catholic Biblical Quarterly)

the long version

The term "Old Negev" script refers to unique archaic (2nd to 1st millennium BC) West Semitic inscriptions found initially on rock surfaces and pottery fragments in the region located between the boarders of Egypt, Israel and the Jordan today. Specifically, a corpus of more than 140 panels have been identified in the deserts and the steppes between the Edomite Escarpment and the Aravah of Jordan and Israel, and extending through the central Negev (Nahal Avadot, Har Karkom) and the Northern Sinai regions. A few have also been discovered in materials from Lachish, Bet Shemish, Jerusalem and Shechem. This distinctive script was first identified and classified by Brigham Young University Professor Emeritus James R. Harris, Ed. D. (Brigham Young University). He was assisted in this work by Dann W Hone M.A. (Jerusalem University College), an administrator with the Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies (Brigham Young University) and instructor of Ancient Scripture at B.Y.U. - Book site.