A new spirit arose with the kings of the Third Dynasty, of whom Sanekht (III 1) was represented at Wadi Maghara in the usual scenes with the addition of the jackal-nome standard, one of the earliest represented in Egypt, which may refer to the troops that accompanied his expedition. The face of Sanekht is strongly Ethiopian in character, not unlike the present Sudanys. The jackal-nome standard appears also on the tablet of Zeser (III 2), the next Pharaoh recorded, who was seen in the regular group of smiting with the addition of the familiar titles, “giver of purity, stability, life, gladness for ever.”[45]
The intercourse between Egypt and Sinai found a new development under Sneferu (III 9), who was represented wearing the horned head-dress mentioned above, and the wording of his tablet described him as “Great god ravaging the lands,” here reproduced. Sneferu worked not only at Maghara, but was in contact also with the sanctuary at Serabit. To this he presented the figure of a hawk, his favourite emblem, worked in grey limestone, which was discovered in the winter of 1906 in the sacred cave itself. Its work and inscription mark it as a contemporary monument. It is now in the British Museum. Later ages looked upon Sneferu as especially connected with Sinai, reckoning him as one of the protecting divinities of the place, and his haul in turquoise was referred to in the Twelfth Dynasty as exceptional. “I obtained more turquoise than any man since Sneferu.”[46] The value which was set on turquoise in Egypt during his reign is shown by one of the so-called Tales of the Magicians, which relates how the damsels of the harim of Sneferu went rowing on the lake. One dropped her jewel of “new turquoise” into the water, which was recovered by magical means.[47]
The next Pharaoh who was commemorated at Maghara was Khufu (IV 2), the great pyramid builder, who, as already mentioned, was figured smiting the enemy before the ibis-headed figure of the god Thoth. At Maghara several tablets recorded him, which were of large size and of excellent workmanship. The chief one had fortunately been drawn and photographed before it was entirely smashed during the recent blasting. On this tablet, the Pharaoh, here named Khnumu-Khufu, was described as a smiter of the Anu, a word written with three pillar signs, with a man as a determinative ([Fig. 4]).
Next in date at Maghara was the tablet of Sahura (V 2), which was framed by a colossal Uas-sceptre on either side and a row of stars along the top. Sahura was described in the wording as “smiter of the Mentu.” The same words were used to describe Ra-en-user (V 6), whose tablet at Maghara measured 63 by 102 inches, and was the largest of all. This tablet has the additional feature of an enormous vase supported by two ankhs with the words: “The lord of foreign lands (neb Setui) gave coolness,” which suggests that a water supply was made accessible by some local sheykh.
The Pharaohs at Maghara, between the First and the Fourth Dynasties, were always represented as smiters. The tablets of the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties are for the most part broken or destroyed, but what is left of them points to more peaceful relations, and records the mining expeditions with additional detail.
Thus the tablet of Dadkara (V 8) states that the expedition (upt) was sent in the year after the fourth cattle census, which dates it to the eighth or ninth year of the reign of this king. Again, a tablet of Pepy I (VI 3) was dated by “the year after the eighteenth cattle census”. These tablets, moreover, mention some of the dignitaries who took part in the expedition. That of Dadkara named the ship-captain Nenekt-Khentikhet; that of Pepy I the ship-captain Ibdu; a further one of Pepy II (VI 5) the ship-captain Benkeneph.[48] This shows that the Egyptians approached the mine-land by water. There is mention on these tablets also of princes, of scribes, of a commander of recruits (hez-uz-neferu), of inspectors (uba), of interpreters of princes (sehez-saru), of the seal-bearer to the god (neter sahu), of a chief of the land (mer ta), of a chief of the storehouse (mer ab), of a chief of the elders (mer uru), and of others, which shows how carefully the expeditions were organised. The tablet of Dadkara, moreover, mentions for the first time the Fkat country, fkat being short for mafkat, the ancient Egyptian word for turquoise. There is always a difficulty in reading aright the names of precious stones. Mafkat was often rendered as malachite, and it needed the turning over of the rubbish heaps at Serabit and the discovery of turquoise, in order fully to establish the nature of the stone that was the product of the area appropriated to “Hathor of Mafkat.”
The close of the Sixth Dynasty brought a break in the relations between Egypt and Sinai, which is attributable, no doubt, to changes in Egypt itself, of which we know little at this period. Perhaps there were movements among the people of the east. Among those who threatened Egypt from this side were the Mentu, who were Asiatics, and whose successful defeat was achieved, as mentioned above, with the help of the devotees to Sopd.
The Egyptians probably resumed work in Sinai during the Eleventh Dynasty, since workmen’s pots, found in the Wadi Maghara, are dated to this dynasty by their style.[49] The reign may have been that of Mentu-hotep III (XI 7), for a group of four kings seated at a table carved in stone was discovered at Serabit, with the names of the kings along the edge of the table on which their hands were placed. They were Sneferu (probably), Mentu-hotep III (XI 7), Amen-em-hat I (XII 1), and his son Sen-usert (XII 2), who was probably the donor of the group.[50]
When work was resumed in Sinai in the Eleventh Dynasty, the attitude of the Egyptians towards Serabit had undergone a marked change. In early days they had approached the sanctuary as quasi-worshippers, presenting offerings such as the baboon and the hawk. Now the sanctuary itself was drawn within the sphere of their influence, and they erected uprights or mazzeboth on the approach to the cave on which they recorded their mining expeditions.
Uprights of this kind are entirely unknown in Egypt. The mazzeboth erected by the Egyptians in Sinai were therefore set up in deference to the custom of the place. They were worked in red sandstone which was quarried on the north side of the temple height judging by a great square cutting that remains there, and the work of inscribing them was done in situ by Egyptian stone-cutters who were attached to the expeditions. These steles are for the most part 6 to 12 feet high, 2 to 4 feet broad, and 6 to 8 inches thick. Their tops are rounded, which gives them the appearance of gravestones, and this led some of the earlier travellers to describe the height of Serabit as a place of burial.