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| Title | Page 15 |
| Creator | Holland, Frederick Whitmore, 1837-1880.
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| Description | Sinai and Jerusalem; or, Scenes from Bible Lands: Illustrated by Twelve Colored Photographic Views, Including a Panorama of Jerusalem, With Descriptive Letterpress. |
| Caption | THE DESERT OP SINAI. The sandstone is remarkable for the red hue of its rocks, and the peculiar manner in which the mountains have been Avorn away, their sides often forming a succession of steep ledges, or steps. The water in this district is scarce, and generally very brackish and unwholesome; and the vegetation is exceedingly scanty. It contained, however, many important mining stations in the time of the ancient Egyptians. The mines extended over an area of many miles, the principal stations being fixed at Wady Mugharah and Serabit-el-Khadim, two points about twenty miles distant from each other. I may here add that the Arabic word Wady, which I shall frequently have occasion to use, signifies a valley, or watercourse, more or less deep, or wide, or long, generally dry, but worn or washed by the mountain torrents and winter rains for a few months in the year. The Wady Mugharah, or "Valley of the Cave, " is so called from the large caves which were made by the Egyptians in their search for turquoises. A large number of turquoise mines are also found at Serabit- el-Khadim ; and in the neighbourhood of both these places numerous tablets of hieroglyphics, inscribed upon the rocks, record the progress of the mines, and the names of the Kings of Egypt who were reigning at the time. It has been proved by these tablets that some of them were worked many years before the time of the Exodus, and that probably at the very time that Moses was leading the children of Israel through the desert, a strong body of Egyptian troops was stationed here to protect the miners from the attacks of the inhabitants of the desert, or, perhaps, prevent the escape of captives, Avho were compelled to labour in the mines. In Wady Nusb, a valley a few miles distant from Serabit-el-Khadim, extensive heaps of slag show that smelting furnaces for the extraction of copper were established there near some ancient wells. The greater portion of the ore was probably brought from some distance. The ruins of an Egyptian temple, containing many curious monuments and inscriptions, stand on the summit of the hill near the mines of Serabit-el-Khadim. The granite district comprises the central and southern portions of the Peninsula, and being far better watered than the other districts, and affording more vegetation, it has always been the home of the greater number of the inhabitants of the country. In the centre of the Peninsula, the mountains rise to the highest altitude, culminating in Mount Catharine, which is upwards of 8, 000 feet |
| Date | 1870 |
| Publisher | London: Printed by Jas. Truscott and Son, Suffolk Lane, City. |
| Subject.Topical (LCSH) | Palestine -- Description and travel.
Sinai Peninsula -- Description and travel.
Jerusalem -- Description and travel.
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| Subject (Geographic) | Palestine
Sinai Peninsula
Jerusalem
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| Original Item Location | http://library.uh.edu/record=b3601783~S11 |
| Repository | Special Collections, University of Houston Libraries |
| Use and Reproduction | This image is in the public domain and may be used freely. If publishing in print, electronically, or on a website, please use the citation button above. To request higher resolution images, please use the Request High Res button above. |
| File name | meast_201009_042.jpg |
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