Researchers have potentially uncovered the oldest written references to Moses ever found, according to Michael S. Bar-Ron, an American-Israeli epigraphist. The inscriptions, dating back between 1800 and 1600 B.C., were discovered at Serabit el-Khadim, an ancient turquoise mining site in the Sinai Desert. These Protosinaitic etchings, which were first identified in the early 1900s, are now being reexamined by Bar-Ron under his graduate thesis focused on Mosaic-type leadership in the region at the time.
Bar-Ron’s analysis suggests the inscriptions include phrases such as ‘Zot M’Moshe,’ which is interpreted as ‘This is from Moses,’ and ‘Ne’um Moshe,’ meaning ‘Declaration of Moses.’ These findings, if verified, would represent the earliest written mention of Moses outside the Bible, dating back over a thousand years before the earliest biblical texts were composed. The inscriptions also reference El, a deity linked to the Abrahamic God, while censuring the worship of the ancient goddess Ba`alat, which is believed to have been the deity venerated at a temple found at the same site.
Some of the etchings, according to Bar-Ron, appear to reflect opposition to the worship of Ba`alat among Semitic laborers who worked in the Sinai during the Middle Bronze Age. He posits that the inscriptions contain phrases like ‘BŠ,’ meaning ‘for shame’ or ‘this is shameful,’ and ‘nimosh,’ which may translate to ‘let us leave’ or ‘remove ourselves.’ The inscriptions suggest a possible ideological resistance or conflict involving religious practices of the time.
The process of translating these ancient etchings took nearly a decade, with Bar-Ron noting that the effort was driven by principles from the field’s leading scholars and informed by his colleagues’ research. While Bar-Ron believes the ‘Moses’ inscriptions might share a common author, he also underscores the importance of peer review and the broader context of the full set of inscriptions discovered at the site. He notes that his conclusions are based on a comprehensive analysis of the Proto-Sinaitic inscriptions rather than isolated findings, which strengthens the credibility of his interpretations.
Recent archaeological endeavors have increasingly focused on uncovering evidence of Moses, with several groundbreaking discoveries in the past few years. Last year, an ancient sword from the era of the Book of Exodus was found in Egypt, and a French expert identified ancient propaganda extolling the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses II, who may have potentially challenged Moses. These findings, while not directly connected to the Serabit el-Khadim inscriptions, contribute to a broader narrative about the cultural and religious landscape of the ancient Near East.
Bar-Ron emphasized that his findings will undergo peer review, a process he acknowledges is crucial for validating the significance of such historical revelations. While he views the ‘Zot M’Moshe’ and ‘Ne’um Moshe’ inscriptions as a nonessential addition to his broader thesis on Mosaic leadership, he recognizes their potential impact on redefining historical understanding of Moses and the religious context of the ancient world.