Serabit El Khadim
While the Egyptians
seem to have known, crossed and visited the Sinai even before the dynastic
period, we have found little evidence of their building activities in the
region. Of course, inhabitable areas are usually small, and scarce, and so have
been inhabited and built upon continuously over the ages. It is probable that
what was built has been built over many times.
Today, wondering
through the Sinai and viewing its unusual landscape, it is not difficult to
imagine a land rich in minerals. Egyptians discovered its mineral wealth very
early on, perhaps at the beginning of the dynastic period.
Archaeologists have
found that the very earliest known settlers in the Sinai, about 8,000 years
ago, were miners. Drawn by the region's abundant copper and turquoise deposits,
these groups slowly worked their way southward, hopping from one deposit to the
next. By 3500 BC, the great turquoise veins of Serabit el-Khadim (Khadem) had
been discovered.