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2.-) 



throiiuli by the <>reat canal between Mif^dol and the sea o\'er 

 against Baal-Zephon (Exod. xiv, 2). 



There were three localities at which special investigations 

 were carried out by Petrie, namely, tlie Wady Nasb, Maghareh 

 and Serabit el Khadem. The search for ancient Egyptian 

 monuments in the vicinity of Jebel Musfi (the traditional 

 Mount Sinai) was entrusted to Mr. C. T. Currelly, without any 

 important results beyond those previously recorded by earlier 

 observers. This mountain, whicli takes such a prominent posi- 

 tion in the history of the Exodus, had apparently been left 

 unnoticed, and perhaps unvisited, by the Egyptian monarchs 

 during their occupation of the country. As far as we know, it 

 contains neither gold, copper, nor turquoise. The Wady Nasb 

 was a place of great importance owing to the occurrence of 

 copper ore, which has been worked by Egyptian miners from 

 very ancient times. It was visited by Mr. H. Bauerman some 

 years ago, who made a discovery very interesting to geologists. 

 This discovery consists of a terrace of Carboniferous Limestone 

 rich in marine fossils (Q.J.G.S., xxv, p. 17). Some years 

 afterwards (1883) it was visited by the i)arty sent out by the 

 Palestine Exploration Fund, and we brought away a con- 

 siderable number of fossils, of whicli a list is given in the 

 Geological "Memoir.* Up to this time no Carboniferous strata 

 had been recognised, and their discovery enabled the writer to 

 determine the existence of two great sandstone Ibrmations, 

 namely, that newer than the limestone, which is of Lower Cre- 

 taceous age and known as the " Nubian Sandstone," and that on 

 which the limestone rests, and which is therefore in all probability 

 of early Carboniferous age, and named by the writer " the Desert 

 Sandstone." f To this older formation the great red sandstone 

 beds of Serabit and Magharah are probably referable. The 

 masses of slag from the copper mines at Wady IsTasb show the 

 extent of the ancient works ; and, through the aid of Mr. 

 Lintorn Simmons, Professor Petrie was able to find a rock 

 inscription dating from the 20th year of the reign of Ainen- 

 emhat IIL (3300 B.C.) ; under whose authority the mines 

 were doubtless w^orked. The copper vein probably owes its 

 origin to a large fault bringing up the ancient schistose and 

 granitic rocks ; and to the same agency the important spring 

 of w^ater around which the camels encamp and get their 

 supplies is probably also to be attributed.J 



As Professor Petrie was not in search of minerals but of 



Fhi/s. Geo!. Arabia Petrcea, etc., pub. by P.F.S., pp. 48, 49. 

 t Ibid., p. 44 et seq. % Mount ^eir, cli. iv, p. 41. 



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