thumb|150px|Remains of Temple of [[Hathor, Serabit el-Khadim]]

Serabit el-Khadim (Arabic: سرابيط الخادم Arabic pronunciation: [saraːˈbiːtˤ alˈxaːdɪm]; also transliterated Serabit al-Khadim, Serabit el-Khadem) is a locality in the southwest Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, where valuable resources such as turquoise were mined extensively in antiquity, mainly by the ancient Egyptians. Archaeological excavation, initially by Sir Flinders Petrie, revealed ancient mining camps and a long-lived Temple of Hathor, the Egyptian goddess of sensual power, who was favored as a protector in desert regions and known locally as the mistress of turquoise.

The Sinai Peninsula between Egypt and Western Asia was an important mining area for copper and malachite in ancient Egypt, Serabit el-Khadim being the most important copper mining site in the region. The temple was first established during the Middle Kingdom in the reign of Senusret I (reigned 1971 BC to 1926 BC) and was partly reconstructed in the New Kingdom. The temple is located about 10 kilometers north of Wadi Maghara, another archaeological site, and roughly 43 kilometers east of the modern-day city, Abu Zenima. The function of the temple was to honor the goddess Hathor who acted as a guide to the Egyptian Kings who had undertaken expeditions to utilize these mines, and to glorify the power of the Pharaohs that had overseen these missions. These Sinaitic Inscriptions are some of the earliest examples of alphabetic writing and were discovered in 1904 by British archaeologist Sir Flinders Petrie.

The inscriptions date from the beginning of the 16th century BC, and while not fully deciphered, provide an early example of alphabetic rather than ideographic writing.

File:Lepsius-Projekt_tw_1-1-10_Serabit_el-Khadim.jpg|Illustration prepared by a 19th-century Prussian expedition

File:Map_of_Hathor_Temple_in_Serabit_el-Khadim.png|Floor plan of the Hathor temple in Serabit el-Khadim

File:Egyptian_ruins,_known_as_Surabit_el_Khadim,_on_Gebel_Garabe._Wellcome_V0049452.jpg|1840s sketch from The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt, and Nubia

File:Sarabit_el_Khadim_in_the_1869_Ordnance_Survey_of_the_Peninsula_of_Sinai_(cropped).jpg|Serabit el-Khadim in the 1869 Ordnance Survey of the Peninsula of Sinai

File:Valleys_of_Serabit_El_Khadem_(map).jpg|1906 map by Flinders Petrie

File:SerabitBothChapels.jpg|2009

File:Romain_Butin,_Serabit_el-Khadim_inscriptions,_374,_375.jpg|Serabit el-Khadim inscriptions, 358 (1936).

File:Romain_Butin,_Serabit_el-Khadim_inscriptions,_table_of_the_alphabet.jpg|Table of the Alphabet, found at Serabit el-Khadim (1928).

File:Serabit_el-Khadim.jpg|Votive Pillars at Temple to Hathor

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See also

  • Dophkah

References

Sources

  • F. W. Holland. (1868). "Recent Explorations in the Peninsula of Sinai". Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of London. 204-219. JSTOR 1798934
  • "Gods and Goddesses in Ancient Egypt: the main names at the main places". (2002). Digital Egypt for Universities. https://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt/religion/deitiesplaces.html#Hathor
  • "Sinai: Serabit el Khadim (Serabit el-Chadim)". (2002). Digital Egypt for Universities. https://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt/sinai/index.html
  • "Serabit el-Khadim, South Sinai Governorate, Egypt". (Last updated 2024). mindat.org. https://www.mindat.org/loc-228179.html#:~:text=Serabit%20al%20Khadem%20is%20a,mainly%20by%20the%20ancient%20Egyptians.
  • Serabit el-Khadem, Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv