Wadi Maghareh (also spelled
Maghara or
Magharah) meaning "The Valley of Caves" in Arabic, is an
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
ian
archaeological siteAn archaeological site is a place in which evidence of past activity is preserved , and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and represents a part of the archaeological recordBeyond this, the definition and geographical extent of a 'site' can vary widely,...
in the southwestern
Sinai PeninsulaThe Sinai Peninsula or Sinai The Sinai Peninsula or Sinai The Sinai Peninsula or Sinai (sina; Egyptian Arabic: سينا sina; sina'a; is a triangular peninsula in Egypt. It lies between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, forming a land bridge between Africa and Southwest...
containing pharonic monuments and ancient turquoise mines from the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms. The Ancient Egyptians knew the site as "the Terraces of
TurquoiseTurquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is a hydrous phosphate of copper and aluminium, with the chemical formula CuAl
648·4. It is rare and valuable in finer grades and has been prized as a gem and ornamental stone for thousands of years owing to its...
."
The site was rediscovered in 1809 by
Ulrich Jasper SeetzenUlrich Jasper Seetzen was a German explorer of Arabia and Palestine from Jever, German Frisia.His father sent him to the university of Göttingen, where he graduated in medicine...
, and since then has seen several excavation teams, Richard Lepsius's excavation in 1845 being the first.
Wadi Maghareh (also spelled
Maghara or
Magharah) meaning "The Valley of Caves" in Arabic, is an
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
ian
archaeological siteAn archaeological site is a place in which evidence of past activity is preserved , and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and represents a part of the archaeological recordBeyond this, the definition and geographical extent of a 'site' can vary widely,...
in the southwestern
Sinai PeninsulaThe Sinai Peninsula or Sinai The Sinai Peninsula or Sinai The Sinai Peninsula or Sinai (sina; Egyptian Arabic: سينا sina; sina'a; is a triangular peninsula in Egypt. It lies between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, forming a land bridge between Africa and Southwest...
containing pharonic monuments and ancient turquoise mines from the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms. The Ancient Egyptians knew the site as "the Terraces of
TurquoiseTurquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is a hydrous phosphate of copper and aluminium, with the chemical formula CuAl
648·4. It is rare and valuable in finer grades and has been prized as a gem and ornamental stone for thousands of years owing to its...
."
History
The site was rediscovered in 1809 by
Ulrich Jasper SeetzenUlrich Jasper Seetzen was a German explorer of Arabia and Palestine from Jever, German Frisia.His father sent him to the university of Göttingen, where he graduated in medicine...
, and since then has seen several excavation teams, Richard Lepsius's excavation in 1845 being the first. Major C. K. McDonald's visits to the site, including residence at the site from 1854-1866 (and an effort to mine turquoise there) resulted in only surface finds (arrowheads and such) with no further excavation.; a British
Ordnance SurveyOrdnance Survey is an executive agency of the United Kingdom government. It is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, and one of the world's largest producers of maps...
of the site was made in 1868-1869, a Harvard University expedition in 1932, and several Israeli excavations between 1967 and 1982, among others.
Monuments, buildings and inscriptions
Ancient Egyptian monuments, buildings and inscriptions span the period from the Third to Twenty-Ninth Dynasties (ca. 2700 BC-1100 BC), although most monuments date only to the Twelfth Dynasty.. The monument raised by
SemerkhetSemerkhet was the sixth king of Ancient Egypt's First Dynasty who ruled around 2950 BC. Although little is known of his reign, Semerkhet seems to have had a difficult time as king judging by the records of Manetho....
, sixth king of the First Dynasty, at Maghareh is the first Egyptian monument outside the Nile valley. Two Third Dynasty rock tables of king Sanakht are found in the valley, as is one of
DjoserNetjerikhet or Djoser is the best-known pharaoh of the Third dynasty of Egypt. He commissioned his official, Imhotep , to build the first of the pyramids, a step pyramid for him at Saqqara...
and two virtually identical tablest of king
SekhemkhetSekhemkhet was a Pharaoh in Egypt during the Third dynasty. According to the Manethonian tradition, a king known as Tyris reigned for a relatively brief period of seven years, and modern scholars believe Djoserty and Sekhemkhet are the same person...
. Tables of
SnefruSnefru is a cryptographic hash function invented by Ralph Merkle which supports 128-bit and 256-bit output. It was named after the Egyptian Pharaoh Sneferu, continuing the tradition of the Khufu and Khafre block ciphers....
and
KhufuKhufu was a Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt's Old Kingdom. He reigned from around 2589 to 2566 B.C.E Khufu was the second pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty. He is generally accepted as being the builder of the Great Pyramid of Giza, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World...
from the Fourth Dynasty are also found there. The Fifth Dynasty king
SahureSahure was the second king of ancient Egypt's 5th Dynasty. He was a son of queen Neferhetepes, as shown in scenes from the causeway of Sahure's pyramid complex in Abusir.. His father probably was Userkaf. Sahure's consort was queen Neferetnebty. Reliefs show Sahure and Neferetanebty with their sons...
's funerary temble at
AbusirAbusir is the name given to an Egyptian archaeological locality – specifically, an extensive necropolis of the Old Kingdom period, together with later additions – in the vicinity of the modern capital Cairo...
depicts him dispatching a fleet to the Red Sea, probably to collect turquoise at Maghareh. and he raised a monument depicting himself "smiting the Mentju of all foreign lands" which was found at Maghareh as well. Fifth Dynasty rock tablets include those of King
Nyuserre IniNyuserre Ini, also spelt as Neuserre Izi or Niuserre Isi and sometimes Nyuserra , was a Pharaoh of Egypt during the Fifth dynasty. He is frequently given a reign of 24 or 25 years and is dated from ca. 2416 BC-2392 BC...
accompanied by a libation vase and images of the gods
HorusHorus is one of the oldest and most significant of the deities in the Ancient Egyptian religion who was worshipped from at least the late Predynastic period through to Greco-Roman times. Different forms of Horuses are recorded in history and these are treated as distinct gods by Egyptologists...
and
ThothThoth was considered one of the more important deities of the Egyptian pantheon, often depicted with the head of an Ibis. His feminine counterpart was Seshat. His chief shrine was at Khemennu, where he led the local pantheon, later renamed Hermopolis by the Greeks and Eshmûnên in Coptic...
, one of king
Menkauhor KaiuMenkauhor Kaiu, , was a Pharaoh of the Fifth dynasty during the Old Kingdom. His royal name or prenomen, Menkauhor, means as "Eternal are the Souls of Horus." The Turin King List assigns him 8 years of rule. He was the last pharaoh to build a sun temple—called Akhet-Re...
, and three of king
Djedkare IsesiDjedkare Isesi in Greek known as Tancheres from Manetho's Aegyptiaca, was a Pharaoh of Egypt during the Fifth dynasty. He is assigned a reign of twenty-eight years by the Turin Canon although some Egyptologists believe this is an error and should rather be thirty-eight years...
In addition to pharaonic monuments, an Old Kingdom settlement was founded on the summit of a hill in Wadi Igneh containing 125 rough stone structures containing wood ash and potsherds, some of which are of Nile Valley clay.