through by the great canal between Migdol and the sea over against Baal-Zephon (Exod. xiv, 2).

There were three localities at which special investigations were carried out by Petrie, namely, the Wady Nasb, Maghareh and Serabit el Khadem. The search for ancient Egyptian monuments in the vicinity of Jebel Musâ (the traditional Mount Sinai) was entrusted to Mr. C. T. Currelly, without any important results beyond those previously recorded by earlier observers. This mountain, which takes such a prominent position in the history of the Exodus, had apparently been left unnoticed, and perhaps unvisited, by the Egyptian monarchs during their occupation of the country. As far as we know, it contains neither gold, copper, nor turquoise. The Wady Nasb was a place of great importance owing to the occurrence of copper ore, which has been worked by Egyptian miners from very ancient times. It was visited by Mr. H. Bauerman some years ago, who made a discovery very interesting to geologists. This discovery consists of a terrace of Carboniferous Limestone rich in marine fossils (Q.J.G.S., xxv, p. 17). Some years

afterwards (1883) it was visited by the party sent out by the Palestine Exploration Fund, and we brought away a considerable number of fossils, of which a list is given in the Geological Memoir.* Up to this time no Carboniferous strata had been recognised, and their discovery enabled the writer to determine the existence of two great sandstone formations, namely, that newer than the limestone, which is of Lower Cretaceous age and known as the " Nubian Sandstone," and that on which the limestone rests, and which is therefore in all probability of early Carboniferous age, and named by the writer "the Desert Sandstone." To this older formation the great red sandstone beds of Serabit and Magharah are probably referable. The masses of slag from the copper mines at Wady Nasb show the extent of the ancient works; and, through the aid of Mr. Lintorn Simmons, Professor Petrie was able to find a rock inscription dating from the 20th year of the reign of Amenemhat III. (3300 B.C.); under whose authority the mines were doubtless worked. The copper vein probably owes its origin to a large fault bringing up the ancient schistose and granitic rocks; and to the same agency the important spring of water around which the camels encamp and get their supplies is probably also to be attributed.‡

As Professor Petrie was not in search of minerals but of * Phys. Geol. Arabia Petræa, etc., pub. by P.F.S., pp. 48, 49. + Ibid., p. 44 et seq.

+

Mount Seir, ch. iv, p. 41.

inscriptions, there was not much to detain his party at Wady Nasb, and he was satisfied with a stay of one day. Proceeding to the Wady Maghareh, important discoveries were awaiting them in the form of tablets dating from Semerkhet of the Ist Dynasty, 5291 years B.C., and onwards; being the memorial works executed during the expeditions of successive kings when opening mines in search of the precious turquoise. This mineral occurs in the Carboniferous Sandstone, consisting of a solid mass of horizontal strata three miles wide, set in between the granite of Wady Sidreh on the south and that of Tartir el Dhami on the north. The rocks of this district are very ancient, probably of Archæan age. From the photographic pictures it is seen to be a ridge of rugged heights culminating in a peak 3,531 feet above the sea. Farther to the south, at a distance of 25 miles, rises the serrated ridge of Gebel Serbal, perhaps the most striking of all the Sinaitic mountains, reaching to 6,734 feet above the Gulf of Suez, visible from on board the ships when sailing down the Gulf of Suez, and is often mistaken for Mount Sinai (G. Musa). Further towards the S.E. is Mount Sinai itself, amidst a group of heights, some exceeding it in elevation, such as G. Katharina-Zebir (8,551 feet).*

The turquoise occurs in thin veins, generally under a stratum of "iron-stone," situated near the top of the formation, and this is also the level of the tablets, seven in number, connected with the mines; except that of Semerkhet, which is 400 feet above the valley floor, while the others are at a level of 170 feet.† The ages of the tablets range downwards to that of Tahutmes III. of the XVIIIth Dynasty (1481-1449 B.C.). The author gives us elaborate accounts of the excavations, and of the huts for the miners placed at the edge of a cliff 200 feet high and protected by blocks of stone against the wind, or possibly against the intrusion of wild beasts, such as hyenas and jackals, which still inhabit this region. Of the tablets, the most striking are those of Semerkhet (Plates 45, 46, and 47). In this last the King is represented as smiting with his mace an unhappy Bedaway chief, who crouches at his feet and tries to defend himself with his right arm-in vain! The King carries a dagger in his girdle, and is preceded by two figures, one of whom is the general of the expedition. The tablet is cut out of a face of sandstone, the figures shown in relief; and considering the great age of this

* "Researches," Fig. 36.

Iron-stone varies from ferruginous sandstone up to pure fibrous hæmatite in various localities.

work of art (over 7,000 years), it is in a state of marvellous preservation and seems to have been scarcely injured by weather action. Happily the face of the rock is here inaccessible, and records the conquest of Sinai by a King of the Ist Dynasty of the Egyptian monarchy. The tablet just described is the only one remaining at Maghareh, the others having been removed to Cairo-some in a broken and defaced condition due to а lamentable episode which the author records with just indignation. It appears that previously to the visit of Professor Petrie's party, a company had been formed to develop the turquoise mines and had received a concession from the Government at Cairo. No care seems to have been taken by the department which gave the concession to prevent injury to the monuments, and (to use the words of the author)" ignorant engineers destroyed what was, in the European market of museums, worth far more than all the turquoises which they extracted. He then goes on to detail the damage which was done by these modern Vandals to monuments remaining after thousands of years of freedom from injury: "The Khufu sculptures were smashed up; the Assa inscriptions were destroyed or buried; the Pepy inscriptions were annihilated, as were also those of Amenemhat; the Sneferu scene was brutally defaced with a hammer, and the only portrait of Sueferu has been destroyed. The Sahura scene and the Men-ken-hor tablet have both been partly blasted away, and pieces have been knocked off the tablet of Ra-n-user." Thus have European workmen of the 19th century, A.D., under the protection of the Egyptian Government, wantonly destroyed works of art which have descended to us intact through thousands of years;-the loss of which is irreparable!

The next important locality, and the richest in historic records, visited during this memorable expedition is the valley of Serabit el Khadem, situated some miles to the north of Maghareh and visited' by the members of the Expedition of 1883. As in the case of the latter, the mines of turquoise were worked in the same sandstone formation, and to a very thorough extent by means of galleries opening out at the face of the cliffs and carried far into the solid mass beyond. Excellent pictures of these galleries are given in Figs. 72 and 73.

Before commencing operations at Serabit, Professor Petrie made a trigonometrical survey of the valleys with their included terraces by means of the sextant and prismatic compass and plotted the work on the spot. The area surveyed is about one and a half miles from east to west, and three miles from north

to south, and is bounded by the Wady Serabit on the east and that of Bateh on the west. This locality is remarkable, not only for the turquoise mines, but also for numerous stela and memorial stones or "Bethels "* which it contains, and especially for the temple containing the shrines of the goddess Hat-hor, "Mistress of Turquoise," of whom we have a bust representation in Figs. 130 and 132. A much later head, represented in Fig. 140, is said by the author truly to be one of the most baffling of faces! Amongst the monumental treasures of Serabit is the statuette of Queen Thyi, the consort of the magnificent monarch Amenhotep III. of the XVIIIth Dynasty (1414-1383 B.C.). Petrie pays a high tribute to the noble character of the features and the beauty of execution of the statuette itself, and says that it is one of the most striking portraits ever carved by an Egyptian (p. 126) She is shown wearing a crown of gold, carrying in its centre her cartouche, by which she has been unmistakably identified.

The restoration in plan of the temple of Serabit el Khadem is one of the most remarkable achievements of this expedition. We have this restoration presented to us in three distinct pictures (Figs. models 93, 94 and Map 4), the last being an architectural plan on a scale of 20 feet to the inch. Here we have the earliest shrine, consisting of the sacred cave of Hat-Hor in the highest point of the platform, of an age apparently as early as Sneferu, 4750 B.C. From this the temple grew outwards until it reached a total length of 230 feet, and ultimately consisted of a sanctuary, two chambers ("greater and smaller Hanafiyeh”), the court, pylon, shrine of the Kings and cubicles for sleepers. The walls are frequently covered by inscriptions, and the whole surrounded by enclosures of broken rock and rubble. The shrine of the Kings lay outside the walls of the temple on the north side, and on this side was a line of stelæ, or sacred upright stones, so-called "Bethels," to which we shall refer again. At the entrance there formerly stocd two tall stelæ, the northern one of Ramessu II. (1300-1234 B.C.), the southern one of Set-Nekht (1203 B.C.); the former was complete, though cracked from top to base, when the Expedition of the Palestine Exploration Fund took their photographs.‡

* Referring to the pillar set up by Jacob, Gen. xxviii, 19. + Fig. 133.

This was the first expedition under the late Sir Charles W. Wilson. Those acquainted with the temples of the Valley of the Nile will recognise the resemblance of the plan of the Temple of Luxor to that of Serabit el Khadem. See Dr. Budge's handbook of The Nile, p. 284, in which the plan of the Luxor Temple is given.

We have referred to the light which some of the discoveries are calculated to throw upon Old Testament history, and Professor Petrie draws attention to the familiar account of Jacob's dream and the stone which he set up for a pillar as a memorial of God's presence. In Gen. xxviii, 10-19, we read, And Jacob rose up early in the morning and took the stone that he had put for his pillow, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it, and he called the name of that place Bethel" (The House of God). The district of Serabit el Khadem is replete with such Bethels-single pillars, some surrounded with a circle of stones, others standing by themselves. In some cases they are sculptured with hieroglyphics, in others they are plain. In these memorial stones Petrie recognises representatives of Jacob's monument, as it is clear from their surroundings that they had a religious object and bearing-and he refers to illustrations drawn from other countries, chiefly Oriental, with a Semitic system of religion. Numerous plates illustrate the frequency of these Bethels in the Sinaitic region.* The author thus sums up the character of the worship at Serabit el Khadem, p. 192: We have before us a Semitic caveshrine older than the Mosaic system. We see in it a great goddess, probably Ishtar, worshipped alone, and later on associated with a god. Her ritual was that of burnt sacrifices and incense offerings; many ablutions were required of the worshipper; sacred conical stones were dedicated in her temple, and oracular dreams were sought, and memorial stones (Bethels) were erected where the devotees slept. The essential features of Semitic worship are here shown in earlier use than in any other instance, and we see how much of Mosaism was a carrying on of older ritual; how that movement was a Monotheistic reformation of existing rites, and how the paganism of the Jews was but the popular retention of more than was granted in the state religion.'

It was no part of Professor Petrie's object in visiting the Sinaitic peninsula to "follow the track of the Israelites," but it is personally gratifying to myself that he appears in general agreement with the views of Wilson, Palmer, and the members of the Palestine Exploration Fund Expedition (1883-4) as stated in the narrative of that Expedition.† I am unable, however, to

On the name Bethel see Mr. Tuckwell's remarks in the discussion : it seems an error to call the stone a "Bethel."

+Mount Seir, Sinai and Western Palestine, ch. vi. p. 51. The opinion of Professor Palmer, supported by Sir Charles Wilson, ought to be quite conclusive on the subject.