[i]

A HISTORY OF SINAI

BY

LINA ECKENSTEIN

AUTHOR OF “WOMAN UNDER MONASTICISM”

WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS

LONDON

SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING
CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE
NORTHUMBERLAND AVENUE, W.C.
NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN CO.
1921

[ii]

PRINTED BY
WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,
LONDON AND BECCLES.

FOREWORD

In the winter of 1905-6 Professor Flinders Petrie undertookthe examination of the Egyptian remains in Sinai. Afterworking at Wadi Maghara he removed into the WadiUmm Agraf to copy the inscriptions and excavate the templeruins at Serabit. His work is described in “Researches inSinai, 1906,” and the inscriptions are in course of publicationby the Egypt Exploration Fund. Among the workers atSerabit was myself. I had long been interested in the hermitlife of the peninsula and in the growing belief that the GebelMusa was not the Mountain of the Law. The excavations atSerabit and the non-Egyptian character of the ancient hillsanctuary supplied new material for reflection. In the hoursspent in sorting fragments of temple offerings and copyingtemple inscriptions it occurred to me that we might be onthe site which meant so much in the history of religion.Studies made after our return suggested further points ofinterest. The outcome is this little history which will, Itrust, appeal to those who take an interest in the reconstructionof the past and in the successive stages of religiousdevelopment.

LINA ECKENSTEIN

Easter, 1920.

APPROXIMATE DATING OF EGYPTIAN DYNASTIES