The results of the Survey of Sinai only concern us here so far as they
relate to discoveries of ruins and relics of the past.
The mining district of the peninsula of Sinai became subject to
Egyptian rule at a very early time--probably some 3200 years before the
Christian era--and the sculptured records of their occupation spread
over a period of some 2000 years. On tablets at the mouth of one of the
caves at Maghárah, King Senefru and his successor Cheops (who built the
Great Pyramid) are represented, the one conquering a shepherd of the
East, the other striking to the earth an Asiatic foe. “On the opposite
cliffs” (says Major Palmer) “are the remains of the ancient settlement,
comprising the dwellings of the miners, who probably were prisoners
of war, and the barracks of their military guards. Flint and stone
implements, such as arrow-heads and spear-heads, flint chisels and
knives, and rude hammer-heads of green-stone, are found amongst these
ruins.”
At Sarábit el Khádim, ten or twelve miles further inland, where a new
field of mining was discovered about the time that Maghárah began to
show signs of exhaustion, there are ruins of two temples, built of
well-cut stone, without mortar, the walls and vestibule being covered
with Egyptian scenes.
But we are chiefly concerned to know whether any traces eremain of
the Israelitish Sojourn, and especially any of a character to throw
additional light on Scripture. Of course a wandering people, dwelling
in tents, would not leave evidence of their passage in buried cities;
and what we have rather to look for is deserted camps. One such camp
at least is reasonably identified now as Kibroth Hattaavah, where the
people were fed with quails (Num. xi. 33). The Scripture narrative
says that they journeyed thence to Hazeroth, and abode there. About
thirty miles north-east of Jebel Musa, at a spot called _Erweis el
Ebeirig_, are some old stone remains to which a legend attaches
which very strikingly recalls the Scripture statement, and may very
possibly contain some grain of truth. “These ruins” (say the Arabs)
“are the remains of a large pilgrim or Hajj caravan, which in remote
ages stopped here on the way to Hazeroth, and was afterwards lost
in the Tih, and never again heard of.” Hazeroth, the name of which
still survives in ’Ain Hudherah, is fifteen miles further on towards
’Akabah. The Bádiet et Tih is by interpretation the wilderness of the
wanderings, and is a sort of peninsula of higher ground which projects
down into the Sinai desert from the north. Major Palmer tells us that
the ruins at Erweis el Ebeirig form a class by themselves, differing
from all other ancient remains hitherto found in the peninsula. Though
there are a few stone houses, the remains consist chiefly of a great
number of small enclosures of stone, mostly circular, and extending
over several square miles of country. The stones are not set on end;
their arrangement is not unlike that which may be seen on spots where
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account