These texts are a mix of Minoan and Aegean traditions. At this time Israel was not a political entity but was a group of people devoted to the life powers represented by the god Alu. Hence the name "Israel" which is Akkadian meaning "the righteous of Alu" from išaru.alu. For translation methodology see: How to Translate Alphabetic Akkadian Texts
This is a brief description of the 1930 Harvard Expedition of Kirsopp Lake and Robert Blake to Serabit el Khadim, a remote site in the Sinai Desert of Egypt. The difficult adventure resulted in the recovery of several examples of an the earliest complete alphabetic script which came to be known as Proto-Sinaitic. Prior to this time alphabetic letters were mixed in with phonetic signs as exemplified by the Minoan texts.
(November 10, 2023) Along with re-opening the mines, Pharaoh Hatshepsut turned two natural side-by-side cave grottos into a temple. One side and grotto was dedicated to the goddess Hathor (equivalent to Mediterranean Ayu) and the other to the god Sopdu.
Egyptian Hathor (Druid crescent moon goddess Ayu) had a grotto there because she was associated with the blue sky which brought the manifested fertility fluids like rain, sun light, and heat. Turquoise was blue like the sky. This was the primary deity of the Minoans.
Sopdu seems to have been a god representing the local people, that is, the Israelites who would have done most of the mining under the organization of the Minoans. It is an Akkadian compound word meaning "Community of the Life-Powers" from Sâpu.Du. From their ancient texts, the Israelites were devoted to the life power class of divine powers more than any other culture. When female Pharaoh Hatshepsut (1473-1458 BCE.) converted the grottos into temples she had one of the columns show her hugging Sopdu.
The pharaohs who came after her kept expanding the walkway to the Hathor temple as shown in figure 2. The steles at the farthest entrance are dedicated to Pharaoh Sethnakht (reigned 1186-1184) and Ramesses II (reigned 1279-1213). The end of building indicates that the mine ceased major organized operations around 1180 BCE during the economic collapse brought about by the great drought which ended the Bronze Age. Yet the last offering tokens to these deities found in the grottos date to the time of Pharaoh Ramesses VI (1143-1136 BCE.) (Petrie 1906: p 149).
The walkway leading to the grottos was mostly lined with numerous stone monuments dedicated to the goddess Hathor. Yet, some of these had other images including those of Egyptian ships and one even had a giraffe. A few of these monuments even had the date of their dedication inscribed on them. One of the earliest such inscriptions predates the temple dating to the 40th year of pharaoh Amenemhat III (1831-1786 BCE) and it reads:
A royal offering to Hathor, Lady of Turquoise, for the ka (life-power) of the chief chamberlain Sebek-her-beh, for the ka of the seal bearer, deputy of the overseer of the seal-bearers, Kemnaa, born of Kahotep (Petrie 1906: p 66).
Model of the Serabit el-Khadim temple on the top of the hill. The temple ends on the upper left where it has small passages into two small natural caves which were the most sacred spaces of the place.
Image from: Petrie, W.M.F. (1906) Researches in the Sinai. New York. E.P Dutton and Company
(November 6, 2023, updated February 27, 2025) This tablet carved in bas-relief on the wall near the entrance to mine L contains an image of a supervisor holding a long staff inside a building. This text is simply educational describing what some divine powers are able to do. Hence this was carved just before the arrival of the great drought which ended the Bronze Age.
(November 6, 2023, updated February 27, 2025) This text blames the astrology magic of the dark new moon god Su. This text was written just at the start of the great drought which ended the Bronze Age.
Right Column
The Aegean Sea Peoples involved in the Battle of the Nile also raided Serabit el-Khadim and apparently did some mining there initially. This is supported by their mixed divine power graffiti and the different letter styles of their texts when compared to the Israelite texts. These texts can be compared using the Iron Age Letter Chart. The Philistines who settled on the coast of the Levant were one of the Sea Peoples.
(May 31, 2023, updated February 27, 2025) This graffito blames the astrological motion power and full moon god Su for a drought which is likely the great drought which ended the Bronze Age.
The two following Hebrew translations by Butin and Rainey fail. Additionally, they are completely different from each other.
Butin's translation is as follows:
Butin says this about his letter assignments showing just how tentative he thought they were (differences from my letter assignments in red):
Vertical column. Aleph, nun, waw, shin, gimel, nun, samekh; the eighth letter is a new sign, no. 28 of the alphabet. As has been explained above, this sign may be lamed or kaph, and its doubtful character should not be forgotten. Then comes mem with a point. The next sign (27 of the alphabet) is almost certainly lamed and aleph. Then follow in order: beth, beth, mem, and nun. At the end of the vertical column and slightly to the left are a certain number of lines, evidently a numeral. Blake counted seven; I see nine on the photograph. (Butin 1928, page 40)Butin’s translation fails because of incorrect letter assignments which is not unusual from an early pioneer in the field. It also fails because of the many guessed at word assignments.
In 1975 A.F. Rainey (Rainey 1975) attempted another Hebrew translation His letter assignments for the vertical line are shown below (our differences are in red):
ANT TPN DKM LABB MNK (top to bottom)
Anat tapanu dukkema li’ababa minka
Besides incorrect letter assignments Rainy incorrectly converts an aleph to an ayin in the word “LABB.” He also is claiming the 7 lines are the letter K at the end of the line.
His letter assignments for the Horizontal line are:
SM’A MRA RB NQ _ (left to right)
Sim’a’ mar’u rabba naq [banima(?)]
The letters “B N” do not exist in any form in the text so Rainey seems to added them just to make his translation which is translation fraud. Rainy also ignored the last letter which is an ayin.
These produced his proposed translation:
This is a failed translation due to:
(November 6, 2023) This red sandstone statuette was found on the floor of the Hathor temple at the turquoise mine at Serabit el-Khadim in the Sinai. It has graffiti inscriptions on top, front, and two sides. It now resides in the Cairo museum in Egypt.
This graffito is pro-magic. It was written before the start of the great drought which ended the Bronze Age.
(November 6, 2023) This graffito is pro-magic. It was written before the start of the great drought which ended the Bronze Age.
Romain Butin’s 1928 Hebrew translation based upon incorrect letter assignments and assumes that Hebrew existed at this time despite it lack of attestation elsewhere. In contrast, cuneiform Akkadian has been found in Egypt from this same time period. It was being used to write diplomatic letters to neighboring states in a series of texts known as the Amarna Letters (1360-1332 BCE). Butin’s translation is also read in the unlikely order of side, then right column, then left column. This is his translation:
(August 4, 2022) This red sandstone statuette was found on the floor of the Hathor temple at the turquoise mine at Serabit el-Khadim in the Sinai.
This graffito is pro-magic. It was written before the start of the great drought which ended the Bronze Age.
(August 5, 2022, Updated 2024) This graffito is pro-magic. It was written before the start of the great drought which ended the Bronze Age.
Thu is the hermaphrodite connective motion power deity. The elimination of motion power aid tends to inhibit the flow of fertility fluids through the life network thus emotionally pressuring Hathor who is the connective life goddess who edits the network connections. The "Reed-Boat" is an epithet for the crescent moon and represents these connective life goddesses.
A Hathor ideogram is located on the statuette’s shoulder. It consists of the falcon of Horus inside a house. The feminine power is represented by a house for a masculine power.
Below the Hathor ideogram is the Egyptian hieroglyphic phrase which reads:
The Egyptian signs with their letters are:
The root Egyptian word here is IM meaning "to honor" (Faulkner 1962). The letter combination teth, teth is a feminine pronoun suffix meaning "her."
The god Horus was the Egyptian connective life-growth power of the Ancient Pagan Paradigm. As such he was represented by the falcon which moved the visible sun as it flew on wings though the region between the earth plane and the watery inner surface of the sky-shell. Spiritual powers ascended into the divine realm by hopping a ride on the sun when on the morning horizon. Horus as the visible sun motion represented good order in contrast to the hidden sun form represented by the chaotic storm bull, Seth.
(August 5, 2022, Updated 2024) This graffito is pro-magic. It was written before the start of the great drought which ended the Bronze Age.
Thu is the magical hermaphrodite connective motion power deity of the Ancient Pagan Paradigm.
Line 1 is stating that the motion powers brought to earth by Thu are important for manifesting rain.
Line 2 is stating that some of the blame for a drought lies with the life network thread openers which are restricting the number of threads which reach earth.
