Page 56 - BV20

56 The Great Ash Heap in the Wilderness!

wadi tow ered the solid mas sif of Si nai....The ex pe di tion had reached SERABIT
EL-KHADEM, the an cient Egyp tian min ing and man u fac tur ing cen tre for cop per and tur -
quoise....An al most end less con fu sion of half choked gal ler ies in the neigh bour ing wa dis
bore wit ness to the search for cop per and tur quoise. The marks of the work men’s tools were
un mis tak able. Tum ble down set tle ments which housed the work ers lie in the im me di ate
neigh bour hood. -- The Bi ble as His tory. Pps.131-133.

The tem ple is lo cated in a beau ti ful set ting north west of the tra di tional (but er ro ne ous) site
of Mount Si nai. To the north of the tem ple is a large, pas tel-col ored plain, and strange black hills to
the west and east.

Over the cen tu ries the Egyp tians sent nu mer ous ex pe di tions to Serabit; and cartouches
(“royal rings” con tain ing the names of kings and queens) from the Old King dom on wards can be
found. These ex pe di tions re claimed the highly prized tur quoise from fis sures in the pur plish-gray
sand stone, as well as cop per from nearby mines. Be cause the work was very un pleas ant, min ers
from Midian were em ployed; and slaves from Egypt were brought over un der Egyp tian guard. The
Egyp tians acted as guards and overseers; while the Midianites pro vided the tech ni cal know-how.
The slaves who ex tracted the tur quoise and the cop per from the mines were none other than THE
ISRAELITES!

In his book, Charles Marston men tions some very in trigu ing facts about the tem ple of
Serabit, and the wor ship that was con ducted there:

The Berean Voice