Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

MUGHARA, WADI EL-

1. Wadi el-Mughara (near modern Haifa), located on the western side of Mt. Carmel, ca. 3 km. (2 mi.) from the Mediterranean Sea. Four caves in this wadi produced important archaeological remains, predominantly from the Paleolithic period, but also including some significant Natufian remains: (1) Mugharet el-Ward (“Cave of the Valley”); (2) Mugharet ej-Jamal (“Cave of the Carmel”); (3) Mugharet es-Sukhul (“Cave of the Kid”); (4) Mugharet et-Tabun (“Cave of the Oven”). The site was excavated from 1929-1934 by Dorothy Garrod of the British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem. In addition to yielding an important prehistoric flint sequence, the caves also contained human skeletal remains (several articulated ones); most significantly, some of the human bones in Mugharet es-Sukhul have features characteristic of both Neanderthal humans and Homo sapiens (i.e., modern humanoid). In the caves, animal bones (important evidence for the faunal record and for human food consumption patterns) were also found, as were a few “art” objects.

2. Wadi el-Mughara (in the southwestern Sinai), an ancient mining region, a particularly important source of turquoise for the ancient Egyptians as clearly demonstrated by numerous Egyptian inscriptions discovered in this general vicinity. This epigraphic evidence suggests that the native inhabitants of the region as well as various southern Canaanites were hired or conscripted to participate in the mining. Significantly, alphabetic inscriptions dating to ca. 1500 b.c.e. have been found in the region, particularly at the nearby site of Serabiṭ el-µadem. Referred to as the Proto-Sinaitic inscriptions, they are among the earliest known alphabetic inscriptions; they were apparently produced by the Canaanites working in the region.

Bibliography. D. A. E. Garrod and D. M. A. Bate, The Stone Age of Mount Carmel: Excavations at the Wady el-Mughara 1 (Oxford, 1937); P. K. McCarter, Jr., Ancient Inscriptions (Washington, 1996); J. S. Jorgensen, “Inscription Sites,” in OEANE 3:171-72; J. Naveh, Early History of the Alphabet, 2nd ed. (Leiden, 1987); D. B. Redford, Egypt, Canaan, and Israel in Ancient Times (Princeton, 1992).

Chris A. Rollston

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

MUGHARA, WADI EL-

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)