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A History of Sinai

Chapter 2: FOREWORD
By Lina Eckenstein
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Archaeology & AnthropologyHistory - AncientHistory - Religious

About This Book

The work surveys the peninsula's physical geography and its human use, combining archaeology, inscriptions, and historical narrative. It identifies an early moon cult and analyzes the Egyptian sanctuary at Serabit, where temple remains and Semitic inscriptions point to cross-cultural connections. It examines the presence and portrayal of Israelites, later Nabatean occupation, and shifting place-names and settlements. It traces the rise of Christian monasticism, the literary production of hermits, and the construction and life of the great southern convent that preserves relics associated with a martyr. It follows Sinai through the Crusades, medieval pilgrimage, early modern custodianship, and nineteenth-century exploration and scholarship.

FOREWORD

In the winter of 1905-6 Professor Flinders Petrie undertook the examination of the Egyptian remains in Sinai. After working at Wadi Maghara he removed into the Wadi Umm Agraf to copy the inscriptions and excavate the temple ruins at Serabit. His work is described in “Researches in Sinai, 1906,” and the inscriptions are in course of publication by the Egypt Exploration Fund. Among the workers at Serabit was myself. I had long been interested in the hermit life of the peninsula and in the growing belief that the Gebel Musa was not the Mountain of the Law. The excavations at Serabit and the non-Egyptian character of the ancient hill sanctuary supplied new material for reflection. In the hours spent in sorting fragments of temple offerings and copying temple inscriptions it occurred to me that we might be on the site which meant so much in the history of religion. Studies made after our return suggested further points of interest. The outcome is this little history which will, I trust, appeal to those who take an interest in the reconstruction of the past and in the successive stages of religious development.

LINA ECKENSTEIN

Easter, 1920.