Open Collections

Thompson, Shane M.

Database of Religious History (DRH)

An interesting site in the Sinai frequented by both Semitic and Egyptian populations with evidence for worship of both Egyptian and Semitic deities. It is most interesting for three factors: 1) it's existence as a turquoise mine, 2) its temple to Hathor which exists for multiple centuries, is renovated, and eventually contains an addition to Sopedu, and 3) the existence of Proto-Sinaitic alphabetic inscriptions related to Semitic peoples and deities. The Hathor temple is initially built in the Middle Kingdom, presumably over an original cave dedicated to Hathor. Hathor eventually becomes associated with turquoise, as seen by her epithets in inscriptions at the site. Perhaps due to this development, significant additions to the temple were undertaken during the Late Bronze Age under the reigns of Thutmose III, Hatshepsut, Amenhotep II, Thutmose IV, and Amenhotep III, while inscriptions bearing the names of Ramesses II, Ramesses IV, and Ramesses VI convey their interest in the site. For historical reconstructions, Hathor’s name is also important as it gradually loses the foreign land determinative. As I have argued elsewhere, a shift of assumption occurs in that the Egyptians at the site are no longer worshipping in a foreign land. Instead, the land has ideologically become a part of Egypt. Simply put, the foreign land determinative is no longer used because the Egyptians no longer consider Serabit el-Khadem to be part of a foreign land. The religious importance of the site may predate Egyptian presence, with the site perhaps initially connected to a Semitic deity. The numerous hieroglyphic inscriptions at the site do little to clarify the picture. The possible existence of an earlier Semitic cult, likely dedicated to Baalat, arises from a small corpus of ~40 Proto-Sinaitic inscriptions, dating roughly to 1700-1400 BCE and presumably inscribed by the native Semitic workers at the site, of which at least 5 contain the name of the goddess. These inscriptions were originally published by Alan Gardiner in 1916, and the interpretation of bʿlt as Baalat has largely remained accepted. The content of the inscriptions, however, does little to clarify the nature of Semitic worship at the site. The inscriptions are short and dedicatory in nature, although they do convey that other Semitic deities, such as Teššub, were also worshipped at the site.

Other

eng

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0438242

Non UBC

Unreviewed

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/