Page:Mount Seir, Sinai and Western Palestine.djvu/246

202 standing or scattered at irregular intervals about the place, the whole being surrounded by the debris of an outer-wall. "The building consists of two temples, apparently of different dates—one constructed entirely of hewn stones, the other formed by two chambers excavated in the rock at the easternmost end, and having a walled continuation in front. In the largest of these chambers the walls show signs of having been once completely covered with hieroglyphics, though a great portion hare now scaled off; at the upper end is a small niche, probably the altar, beside which is carved a figure in bas-relief. Another niche is seen at the right-hand corner, and in the centre of the chamber is a pillar, cut in the solid rock and covered with hieroglyphics. Some of the hieroglyphics in this cave still bear traces of the paint with which they were formerly ornamented—emerald green inside the characters, with a red and black band above and below. "The cornice of the wall which forms the continuation of the temple is ornamented with a pretty pattern, and fragments of Egyptian coping lie around the entrance. "The stelæ above mentioned, as well as such of the walls of the building as are still left standing, are covered with hieroglyphics, and amongst them may be remarked the cartouches of many of the earliest Egyptian kings. "The purpose of these monuments was for a long time enveloped in mystery, but the researches of Professor Lepsius and other learned Egyptologists have shown that they were connected with the working of copper mines in the neighbourhood, and that the temple was probably that in which the miners and their guards worshipped the national gods of Egypt. "The mines themselves were first rediscovered by Mr. Holland, during a previous visit to the peninsula, and were carefully examined by the Expedition on this occasion; they exist in great numbers in the neighbourhood of the temple, and several of them contain beautifully executed hieroglyphic tablets. "From the inscriptions and cartouches found there, it is evident that the mines were in full working order at the time of the Exodus. "There is another means of access to the ruins of Sarabit el Khadim, by a ravine rather higher up the main valley, which involves a less toilsome climb; but as it also necessitates a walk along a narrow sloping ledge of rock, with a terrific precipice beneath, I cannot recommend it to the traveller unless he feels confident in the possession of a sure foot and a steady head. "The name Sarabit el Khadim signifies 'the Heights of the Servant,' and the place is said by the Arabs to have been so called from a black statue, representing a 'servant or slave,' which was removed 'by the French' during their occupation of Egypt. Amongst the ruins we noticed a pedestal, which might have served for the base of such a statue; and I have since seen in the British Museum a beautifully executed female foot, carved in black stone, which formed part of the collection of curiosities found by the late Major Macdonald in this very spot. On the morning of the 18th I took observations with the theodolite from Zibb el Baheir (a trigonometrical station of the Ordnance Survey),