HEBREWS SMELTING WITH OBAB ARE REMINDED OF THOSE WHO STRAYED TO A GOLDEN COW-DEITY

Rabbi Michael S. Bar-Ron

ABSTRACT: Sinai 361, the Proto-Sinaitic (P-S) inscription near the entrance to Mine N at Serabit el-Khadim, appears to be a message in pure, archaic Hebrew by a single author. It begins with an opening statement that appears to note the removal of an enslaving tyrant, followed by another Divine act: the early demise of those who had strayed (-n`) to -Ba`alat, the Egyptian cow-goddess Hathor. Reasoning is presented for the letter identifications employed, vis--vis others, and an alternative interpretation is presented as well. The wording of the inscription with its many parallels in TaNaKh, clues to its age, and the identification of the site with the fifth camp of the Israelites en route to Mt. Sinai, all strongly suggest an Israelite Exodus context. In tandem with the author's recent decipherment of the Sinai 357 (the Mine L inscriptions), and William Shea's reading of Gerster No. 1, mentioning the biblical obab; Sinai 361 represents an independent confirmation for Israelite and rabbinical traditions pertaining to the Exodus namely the fall of the Pharaoh of the Oppression and the Golden Calf incident. The proposed synthesis of all these findings also sheds light on the active role in the Exodus played by obab, as Moses' brother-in-law. While this all suggests a fresh, wider context for the Exodus narrative than what is commonly known, it complements and bolsters the historical value of that narrative.

INTRODUCTION Following my recent work on Sinai 357, the Mine-L inscriptions at Serabit el-Khadim,1 another heretofore un-deciphered set of Proto-Sinaitic writing, this time near the entrance of Mine N at the same Middle Bronze Age site, was brought to my attention by the renowned Egyptologist David Rohl. Interested to know what a fresh mind (from outside of the field) with my skill set could see in them, he sent me what he believes to be the correct letter sequence. He specifically asked if I could make out anything somehow related to the Sojourn or Exodus. Indeed, the result of my investigation reveals what appears to be a dramatic, sister inscription to those of Mine L. After transcribing the letter names on paper into modern Hebrew script, it took little time to notice a clear string of words. Aside from a single "missing" ,Heh- representing an archaic defective spelling of Hebrew, and an archaic grammar form found sparsely in TaNaKh, it could actually be read quite naturally. My confidence in the reading was then bolstered when I examined a clarified image of the original finding by Dr. Douglas Petrovich. Employing as critical an eye as possible, I could only agree with Petrovich's identifications, except for a single letter, glyph #1. This happens to be the only character identification contested by other researchers, including Rohl, as will be explained. Clearly the question arises if alternative interpretations could be generated from the same letter sequences. Indeed, when one attempts to read a string of Hebrew characters, different combinations do seem possible but only initially. In time, Occam's razor (the law of parsimony) weeds out nearly all of them. While it is true that

the same sequence can usually generate several different word roots, one is limited by their logical flow (they need to generate a plausible meaning) and by the grammatical forms they can assume even for an archaic Hebrew in its early youth. As I did with Sinai 357, after attempting to exhaust all possibile readings, even by entertaining competing opinions on the identification of two characters, one message deduced from the letter sequences clearly triumphs. When one then considers the fit of the inscribed statements into the wider context of their age and their significant, historical location in the Sinai Desert, even the careful mind is led to a dramatic conclusion. Before presenting the translation and a word-by-word analysis to prove my reading, we must explore that context. THE SIGNIFICANT LOCATION OF THE INSCRIPTIONS Again, as with the inscriptions found at Mine L, the set treated here was found in another ancient mine Mine N at Serabit el-Khadim ("Cavern of the Slaves"). Serabit el-Khadim is known to be the ancient Egyptian site where slaves toiled to mine turquoise over centuries. Rohl suspects that the name could preserve a memory from the time of Israel's sojourn in Egypt when Semitic/Hebrew miners (not all of whom were Israelites) toiled to extract turquoise for the pharaonic state.2

Regardless of which slaves did the labor, it is difficult to argue against Dr. Edward Robinson (namesake of Robinson's Arch on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, regarded by many scholars to be the father of biblical geography), his colleague Eli Smith,3 today's David Rohl,2 and other Egyptologists and historians that Du Mofka(t) the ancient Egyptian name for the plateau site of Serabit el-Khadim preserves the ancient biblical toponym Dofqah, the fifth encampment of the Israelites in the wilderness en route to Mt. Sinai (Num. 33,12).

(A brief note on the historicity of Moses and the Exodus: Both are mentioned in a non-Jewish source by Hecataeus of Abdera as early as the 4th century BCE.4 This is one full century before the Septuagint was written in Alexandria5 and other references by 3rd century scholars Artapanus and Manetho. Considering Hecataeus' branding Jewish ways a "misanthropic and inhospitable way of life"4 and his odd rendering of biblical events, it is clear that the philosopher was neither aiming to please a Jewish audience nor was he under their infuence. He had learned from Egyptian traditions when he visited Thebes before composing his history of Egypt.6 According to Artapanus, the Egyptian memory of Moses stretched back far earlier, leaving indelible imprints on Egyptian religion. These include the rise ofthe Apis bull cult, the ibis becoming "the sacred guardian spirit of the city" of Hermopolis, and the introduction of circumcision.7)

Note how Dofqah (Du-Mofkat), is the fifth encampment of the marching Israelites in the Sinai Desert.8 Below is a closer image of its environs.9

Archaeological site of the mines of Serabit-el-Khadim10

An array of key scholars agree11 that such a mine complex, surely known to the Kenite allies of Moses, would have been a critical site for the Israelite nation to utilize. If they were to forge the weapons they would need for the conquest of Canaan and accoutrements to create the Tabernacle, such mines would have been invaluable. While the site is famous for its turquoise mines, it is arguably even more strategically important for the nearby copper mines. Despite a later, revised translation by Egyptologists, Beno Rothenberg et al. defends the older translation of mafkat, the source of the Egyptian name "Du-Mofka(t)", as copper.12 This is not to mention the formidable strength of the greater geographical context for the Du-Mofka(t)-Dofqah equation: the collective topographical and phonetic evidence for the identification of the encampments before and after it (such as Wadi al-Ush preserving the biblical toponym for the sixth encampment `Alush, and Wadi al-Refayid preserving Refidim, the placename for Israel's seventh station), as they are listed in Num. 33,11-14. The identification is further bolstered by what had just occurred at the previous encampment, according to the biblical narrative, station four en route to Mt. Sinai, Midbar Sin the Wilderness of Sin. Identified as Wadi el-Humr (see maps on page 3) by Robinson and Smith, Rohl, and others, it is only 10 miles/16 kilometers from Dofqah. According to Exodus 16, it is there at Midbar Sin where the Israelites first encountered manna. My previous paper on the Mine L inscriptions1 revealed just how significant this is, considering the strongest scholarly candidate for the earthly identification of that very "this world" phenomenon. Until this day, Wadi el-Humr is notable for its abundance of tamarisk trees. As we shall explore further below, the proposal that Dofqah was not only a brief stop for the freed Israelites en route to Sinai, but utilized by them throughout the first year of the Exodus, will provide critical context for the now-decoded P-S inscription at Mine N on the Serabit el-Khadim mountain plateau.

THE AGE OF THE OF THE INSCRIPTIONS AT MINES L AND N

Dating an ancient, un-deciphered inscription on a wall at an isolated desert site is not simple. Of two opinions, the first was put forth by William Albright, who proposed a New Kingdom date (18th and 19th Dynasties). However, this was based merely on findings on the floor of the one of the mines: a sherd of Bichrome pottery and an axe mould in the basic shape of what is believed to feature in the New Kingdom era. While those findings do suggest there might have been activity at the mine at that later period, they certainly cannot provide a reliable date for inscriptions on the walls of mines, being that such places were used over many centuries.13 The second opinion is that of the early pioneer of Proto-Sinaitic translation, Sir Alan Gardiner, who argued that the inscriptions were of Middle Kingdom date. This is clearly the stronger opinion since (a) the major activity at the mines of Serabit el-Khadim is from that period, (b) the Proto-Sinaitic inscriptions at Wadi el-Hol date to the late 12th Dynasty, based on context, according to most scholars (see below), and (c) certain character signs seem to be directly related to older Egyptian hieroglyphs of the Middle Kingdom era, which were no longer being used in New Kingdom times.14 Specifically, Gardiner tied the earliest P-S inscriptions to the reign of the 12th Dynasty pharaoh Amenemhat III.15 This is highly significant, since David Rohl has conclusively demonstrated how this pharaoh's reign his vizier and the dramatic events of his reign not only matches the life and times of the biblical Joseph, but it also belongs in the 17th century BCE the time of the early Sojourn in biblical chronology. While providing a fair defense of Rohl's New Chronology is beyond the scope of this paper, it must be mentioned that the placement of Amenemhat III in early Sojourn-era Egypt is anchored in several formidable lines of proof. Most germane to dating the earliest Proto-Sinaitic is the work of astronomer David Lappin, whose research revealed a sequence of 37 out of 39 lunar month lengths that were recorded in 12th Dynasty contracts. In comparison, the same regnal years in the conventional chronology only yield 21 matches at most, which is not statistically significant by comparison. Lappin hails this pattern as "startling" support for Rohl's New Chonology.16 Other proofs (among many more) include a fixed date provided by astronomy for (a) a solar eclipse close to sunset during Akhenaten's reign (which was observed from the city of Ugarit), occurring at 6:09 PM, May 9, 1012 BCE, and (b) a powerful, indirect proof for the beginning of Neferhotep I's reign circa 1540 BCE.17 This is based on the precise astronomical dating of an extremely rare event observed in Babylon: a lunar eclipse followed by a solar eclipse only 14 days later on February 25, 1362 BCE.18 Considering that the P-S inscriptions at Mines L and N at Serabit el-Khadim are revealed to be pure Hebrew, it is very appropriate that the earliest Proto-Sinaitic inscriptions belong to the times of Amenemhat III that is early Sojourn-era Egypt. In other words, it is only fitting that the earliest Hebrew writing be tied historically to the early Hebrews.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eclipsehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akhenatenhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ugarit

Naturally, the inscriptions at Mine L in the Sinai Desert would need to be at least two centuries younger in order to support my interpretation that they are from the time of the Israelite Exodus. Indeed, it is possible to demonstrate how the style of Mine-L Proto-Sinaitic characters represents a later, more evolved form of the script from the Amenemhat III-era inscriptions, in their utterly distinct context at Wadi el-Hol (carved on the rocky sides of an ancient desert military and trade road linking Thebes and Abydos). Dr. Douglas Petrovich presents this argument,19 and supports it with the following sound examples. Beneath each point noted by Petrovich are two sets of Proto-Sinaitic images: Those on the left are from the Wadi el-Hol inscriptions. Those on their right are from the Serabit el-Khadim inscriptions in the Sinai Desert at Mine L (Sinai 357) and Mine N (Sinai 361, the subject of this paper). To the far right, in blue, is the Phoenician letter form20 (nearly identical to Palaeo-Hebrew) from much later times. Scanning from left to right, the reader can see how the later P-S form is indeed a further step in the evolution of the letter. (1) In the earlier P-S form of -aleph, the glyph had "an eye with a pupil and a mouth". Those disappear in the later forms, and are surely not present in Phoenician -aleph.

"heh went from a "jubilant man with large circular head", "short upper arms- (2)and "diagonally-bent legs" to a "tiny head", "long forearms" and "mostly right-angled or poorly defined legs". Note how the later P-S form is closer to Phoenician .heh-

kaph changed from "an arms-and-circular-hands pictograph" to a hand with- (3)fingers. Again, the Serabit el-Khadim form is closer to the Phoenician letter.

(4) Regarding -resh, I depart slightly from Petrovich's description. It evolved from an open shape of a head and neck from an unclear direction, with what appears to be a mushroom-shaped coiffure, to a clear side-view of a head and neck, in which the line from chin to throat slopes down inwards. This puts P-S resh on the evolutionary trajectory towards the Phoenician/Paleo-Hebrew-character.

BA`ALAT/ HATHOR AND THE GOLDEN CALF

Final preliminary keys we will need in order to grasp the significance of the Mine N inscription are (a) that Ba`alat (the deity named therein) is plainly the West Semitic name for Hathor, the golden cow goddess of Egypt, and (b) her possible identification with the very deity behind the Golden Calf incident. (I must thank David Rohl for this insight and the sources he provided over months of discussion on this issue.) According to either this or an alternate perspective I will present later, the explicit mention of this golden bovine deity in the inscriptions provides historical context to the Torah's account. Some background: Ba`alat was Hathor

Ba`alat or Ba`alath, the "Lady", was the chief deity of Canaanite Byblos, and hence popular among pre-Exodus Semites/Hebrews (only a minority of whom were Israelites). According to the Encyclopedia Brittanica:P 21P

Very little is known of Baalat, the Lady [of Byblos], but, because of the close ties between Byblos and Egypt, she was often represented with a typically Egyptian hairstyle, headdress, and costume, and by the 12th dynasty (19911786 BC) she was equated with the Egyptian goddess Hathor. [emphasis added]

Serabit el-Khadim, the larger site wherein Mine N is found, is the location of a major temple of Hathor. Frequent mentions of Ba`alat were found among its ruins, most notably a small sphinx found by Sir Flinders Petrie, bearing a Proto-Sinaitic dedication to Baalat, a reading confirmed by Sir Alan Gardiner. This is the same name as that found in our inscription at Mine N. The link between Ba`alat and Hathor could not be stronger. Ba`alat as the "Golden Calf" Herself

Here is why it is quite likely that Ba`alat was plainly the deity behind the Israelites' sin, making the Sinai 361 inscription a more direct confirmation of the Torah account:

The principal animal form for Hathor was that of a cow.22 She was portrayed as a woman with cow horns, often with a symbol of the sun between them, giving her the title of "Golden One".23 Note the golden relief of Hathor below:

Icon of Hathor as a cow, with all her symbols Ancient Egyptian Sheet gold

including the sun disk.24 relief of the goddess Hathor25

Consider how Ba`alat was similarly represented:21

Under Egyptian influence, Ba'alat is shown on a cylinder seal from Gubla in an Egyptian styleShe is seated in a close-fitting dress whose straps cover Her breasts, Her hair dressed Egyptian-style, bearing the sun-disk and cow-horn headdress of Hathor, the Egyptian's Goddess of love and beauty. ... In one inscription She is labelled "Beloved of Hathor", and in time Ba'alat was completely assimilated to Hathor by the Egyptians.

When Moses descended Mt. Sinai, he not only encountered the golden bovine deity they had made, but he also found the Israelites dancing. Ex. 32,19:

, -, -, ; - , -,

, .

19 And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing; and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and broke them beneath the mount.

This matches what we find in an 18th-Dynasty "Hymn to Hathor", translated by John Darnell (emphasis added):26

Hymn to Hathor The Golden One Come, oh Golden One, who eats of praise,

because the food of her desire is dancing, who shines on the festival at the time of lighting,

who is content with the dancing at night. 'Come! The procession is in the place of inebriation,

that hall of travelling through the marshes.

The phrase "traveling through the marshes" is, according to Betsy M. Bryan,27 an ancient Egyptian euphemism for sexual intercourse. Accordingly, the 'hall of travelling through the marshes' is likely to refer to the location of an orgy that

took place during this Festival of Drunkenness for Hathor. This is unsurprising, as she was the Egyptians' goddess of love. Consider now Ex. 32,6:28

, , , ;

, .

6 And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt-offerings, and brought peace-offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to make merry.

Genesis 26,8 and 21,9 leave no doubt that the term -l'aeq (to "make merry") is a euphemism for sexual relations. What could better explain the outrage of Moses than his descending to find his people engaged in a drunken orgy in the service of the Egyptian love goddess?

However, doesn't the Torah use the term -`eghel a male calf no fewer than six times in the account?

First, it is possible the Torah might not have intended to report the calf's gender, as matres lectionis (such as the final -heh that denote a female calf) would not enter the written Hebrew language for many centuries, a point made by Petrovich.29 Nonetheless, we do have other sources that can provide that detail:

In the Quran Surah 7:152, the Golden Calf is written , which is pronounced egelah, as the Hebrew form for heifer, a female calf. This is testimony to whatever Jewish source from which it comes. Unlike the male form for calves used in the Masoretic text (I Kings ch. 12), the Septuagint and Josephus (Antiquities 8.8.226-228)30 speak of Jeroboam installing heifers not male calves as the "powers" that took Israel out of Egypt:

"It was a man that built the temple: I have also made two golden heifers, dedicated to the same God; and the one of them I have consecrated in the city Bethel, and the other in Dan..."

Jeroboam, who took counsel before his cunning rebellion (I Kings 12,28), can probably be relied upon to have learned the true nature of the original calf, so he could resurrect, for the Israelite imagination, the deity their ancestors were forced to part with under Moses.

Strengthening this picture, Hosea ch. 10 chastises Samaria and Bet El, mentioning female calves, employing the female form -`egloth, heifers.

, : - ,

-, - .

5 The inhabitants of Samaria shall be in dread for the heifers of Beth-aven; for the people thereof shall mourn over it, and the priests thereof shall tremble for it, for its glory, because it is departed from it.

Finally, there is the point raised in my book "Song of the Creator",31 that the ritual introduced by Moses of the Parah Adumah the "Red Cow" (an adult female, and therefore a clearer representation of Ba`alat), was plainly a representation of the "Golden Calf" itself:

The unblemished cow that never bore a yoke represents the `eghel ha-zahav the Golden Calf the Israelites made in the desert.

Moshe pulverized the idol, poured its dust into the nearby stream, and made the Israelites drink the water like the punishment of an adulteress (since the nation had 'committed harlotry' with a false god. [Num. 5:17-27]). When he reduces the cow to ash and mixes the ash in water, the Kohen, a descendent of Aharon (who made the Golden Calf in the first place) imitates Moshe. This is why the cow is adumah earth-red: It reminds us of the waters mixed with earth from the Altar for the suspected adulteress to drink.

When he reduces the cow to ash, Aharon's descendant symbolically reduces our own evil impulses to ash. He mixes the ash with water and sprinkles it, purifying the impure. The act that recalls the disgrace of Aharon, brings purity for all of Israel. This is the reason why all priests involved in the process, even the one who merely carries the bucket, become impure in the process: he 'carries' [bears] the guilt of Aharon, their ancestor. By ceremoniously bearing their ancestor's sin, the priests became the vessel of purification for the whole nation. ... One might ask: why would HaShem [God] designate the animal whose ashes would bring purity as a parah adumah (red cow), as opposed to an `eghlah adumah (red calf)? It implies that even in later generations (as the rite of the red heifer is an enduring Commandment for all time), when the nation should have reached maturity, the same treacherous impulses that existed in the nation in its youth, standing at Sinai, would continue to persist even into much later times. What was once an `eghel (calf) would later become a parah (cow). The lessons of the Golden Calf tragedy will remain relevant always.

Fittingly, on the Shabboth following the Purim holiday (Shabboth Parah), when Jews have the special Maftir Torah reading of the passage concerning the parah adumah (Numbers 19:1-22); on every non-leap year, it will be the same Shabboth that Torah portion Ki Thissa (with the account of the Golden Calf) is read. (M.T. Hilkhoth Tefillah [Laws of Prayer] 13:20). This is according to all customs of the yearly cycle of Torah portions (Yemenite, Sefardic and Ashkenazic). In other words, the Torah portion with the account of the Golden Calf is, on most years, read when there is an ancient tradition to read the verses concerning the parah adumah (outside of its own Torah portion, parashath uqath, which falls 3-4 months later). It is likely that the ancient Sages were aware of the connection I've revealed.

Not mentioned in the book is that, in the translation of Numbers 19,2 in the Tafsr , the authoritative Arabic translation of the Pentateuch by the 9-10th century Torah giant Sa`adiah Gaon, the color of the "Red Cow" is translated as safrd', a qur'anic word for saffron a shade of gold.32 If the Parah Adumah , representing the "Golden Calf" were saffron in color, the connection with Egypt's Golden Cow deity cannot be denied.

Nonetheless, there is an alternative possibility to this direct equation between Ba`alat and the Golden Calf, which I will present later with an alternative reading. But I will delay the presentation of my translation and interpretation of Sinai 361 no further.

THE MINE-N INSCRIPTION This is the stone inscription found near the entrance to Mine N:

By Douglas Petrovich, with a slight modification: As W. Albright and David Rohl, I see -z, not -b in the shape of glyph 1 on the far-right column. Accordingly, a small change was made to the shape, and it is now labeled -z.

Here are the lines of text, transcribed into classical Hebrew letters:

sh- sh- n- m- - b- sh- z-

a- z- t- m- h-

/ h- n- a`- l- -m -t -n -sh

b- a`- l- t-

Column 1 (top to bottom, presented here right to left)

Column 2 (right to left)

Column 3 (right to left)

Column 4 (right to left)

Zeh she-avash nimash -- * ) * (The one who had bound [in captivity] was removed.

- * * * * Az tamah shnetam ha-na` le-Ba`alat

"Then their year ended [they] who had strayed [lit. moved or wandered]towards [in the sense 'after'] 'the Lady' [Hathor]."

Dividing the words and statements:

Particularly moving for me was the stunning discovery that there is a rhyme in the first line of this inscription, a vertical line. This is just what I found in the opening line of the Mine L inscriptions1, which is also a vertical line of text. There we had:

"Entosh gan dakh; mi le-Av be-mankh". So, too, does the first line here, a vertical inscription, appear to rhyme:

"Zeh she-avsh, nimsh" This, together with the very similar form of the glyphs (demonstrated below), suggests that these poetic, song-like statements were written by one and the same individual, or by authors working in tandem one writing in the style of the first. The latter case is the most likely, as explained below. UNDERSTANDING STATEMENT #1, WORD BY WORD

()This, The one

The first statement begins with what appears to be an archaic, defective form of the reference pronoun -zeh, at a time when there may not have been any matres lectionis in Hebrew. As a reference to a person, it is a pejorative term, as we see in the following examples. It is the way that (a) YHWH refers to Eli`ezer as an heir for Abram, (2) the restless Israelite rabble refer to Moses who had disappeared from them, (3) the Philistine king Akhish speaks of David before those begging to have the Hebrew ejected from their midst:

Gen. 15,4

- , - , .... .

4 And, behold, the word of YHWH came unto him, saying: 'This [man] shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.'

Ex. 32,1

, - -; -, - -

, - .

1 And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him: 'Up, make us a god who shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him.'

I Samuel 29,3

, ; - , -

- - , - ,

- .

3 Then said the princes of the Philistines: 'What do these Hebrews here?' And Achish said unto the princes of the Philistines: 'Is not this David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, who hath been with me these days or these years, and I have found no fault in him since he fell away unto me unto this day?'

who had bound [in captivity]

Not only is "to bind captive; to imprison" among several definitions for -avash, it may be the oldest meaning. It is found in that sense (and only in that sense) in the Job 28,11 and 40,13. According to rabbinical tradition, Job may be the oldest book in TaNaKh, according to the opinion that Job was a contemporary of Moses. The other use as to "bandage" or "bind wounds" might represent a later meaning, being found only in later books as Isaiah (3,7 30,26 and 61,1) and Psalms 147,3.

Job 28,11

;He bindeth the streams that they trickle not 11 . , ; , and the thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light.

Job 40,13

Hide them in the dust together; bind their 13 . , ; faces in the hidden place.

While it might be assumed that the prefix -she... as a shortened form of -asher (who..., which...) is only an advent from later Hebrew, it is found at least as far back as Psalms and Ecclesiastes, and may be far older.

Psalms 146,3

- -, .

3 Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.

Ecclesiastes 1,9

, - , -; -,

, .

9 That which hath been is that which shall be, and that which hath been done is that which shall be done; and there is nothing new under the sun.

is/was removed No clearer an example need be brought for the biblical verb -msh, "to remove", as the verse describing, from a Hebrew perspective, why -Moshe (Moses) was given that name:

Ex. 2,10

, - , , , ; , -

. - ,

10 And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses, and said: 'Because I drew him out of the water.'

UNDERSTANDING STATEMENT #2

Then This is the classic, opening "story-telling" word that begins several biblical songs, such as the Song of the Sea and the Song of the Well:

Ex. 15,1

- - , , , :

- , . 1 Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto YHWH, and spoke, saying: I will sing unto YHWH, for He is highly exalted; the horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea.

Num. 21,17

, - : , -.

17 Then sang Israel this song: Spring up, O well sing ye unto it.

their year (sh'natam) ended (tamah) The verb -tom (to be finished, to be ended) is a very common term throughout Scripture. One of many examples is Gen. 47,15: -wa-yitom ha-kesef (and the money was spent [finished]). We even find matches to the full phrase "the year ended" in Genesis and Leviticus:

Gen. 47,18

, , - ,

- -: , -

.

18 And when that year was ended, they came unto him the second year, and said unto him: 'We will not hide from my lord, how that our money is all spent; and the herds of cattle are my lord's; there is nought left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands.

In the example from Leviticus we find a truly perfect match, with the form -sh'nat (year of...), where the suffix -heh becomes a -tau before the following word that completes the phrase. Here we have (the year of its being sold):

Lev. 25,29

, - - , -

: , . 29 And if a man sell a dwelling-house in a walled city, then he may redeem it until a year is ended after it is sold; for a full year shall he have the right of redemption.

It will be better understood in the full context why I believe this may refer to the early demise of strayers to idolatry, bringing their first year of liberation to an early end.

[they] who had strayed [lit. 'moved as a vagrant' or 'wandered']

(possibly "stray" in the present tense)

The verb -n` is plainly a pejorative term for "wander" or "move about as a vagrant", as we find in the curse of Cain in the verse below. In this case, I believe it is equivalent to similar passages employing other verbs for going astray:

Ex. 15,39

--v , ... ; -

, , - , .

39 ...and remember all the commandments of YHWH, and do them; and that ye go not about after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go astray;

Proverbs 7,25 - - ;

, . -25 Let not thy heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths.

I am interpreting this as a reminder and warning to crews of Hebrews mining (for purposes explained below) in close proximity to the Temple of Hathor/Ba`alat at Serabit el-Khadim/Dofqah months after the Golden Calf incident, as to the fate those who had strayed in that terrible episode. It is possible that this could be in the present tense, warranting a different interpretation, which is presented later.

Gen. 4,12

-, - , . - ;

12 When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a vagrant and a wanderer shalt thou be in the earth.'

In the context of the inscription, it appears to be more aptly translated as "strayed".

One of many examples of -heh as the prefix "who" leading into a verb is Gen. 48,16:

-, -, ,

; , .

16 the angel who hath redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named in them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.'

".[towards [or 'after'] 'The Lady' [Hathor This is the famous phrase whose reading is widely agreed upon by scholarship, and discussed in depth above. Frank Moore Cross is yet another scholar who states the established opinion that Ba`alat is a reference to Hathor.33 UNDERSTANDING THE MESSAGE

The inscription appears to be plaque intended to remind and warn viewers with a religious lesson derived from events in the recent past: Opening with a statement tantamount to "the enslaver had been removed", its second statement "then their year was finished" points a finger at the early demise of those who then strayed or "wandered" (-n`) towards the golden cow-goddess -Ba`alat, symbolized by the Golden Calf. If the interpretation is correct, it would be a subtle reminder of the purge by Moses and the Levites of the Calf-worshippers related in Exodus 32,26-35. "Their year" their first year of liberation from Egypt came to an early, awful end. To my understanding, the sense is that this early demise was Divine justice equivalent to the Divinely-orchestrated fall of the tyrant who had brutally held the Hebrews captive. This would be an important reminder and warning intended to keep crews of Hebrew laborers, working months later in close proximity to the Temple of Hathor/Ba`alat (for purposes explained below), in line with Mosaic protocol. I am calling this a sister inscription set to that at Mine L. Besides the rhymes being found in both opening statements of vertical text (as explained above), the Mine L inscriptions follow the same structure. The opening statement recalls a miracle "Lo I have uprooted an oppressed Garden" while the second delivers a challenge to faithlessness: "Who is for the Father in regards to your manna?!"1 The same structure is found here. The opening statement recalls a miracle: "The one who bound [in captivity] was removed." Then a second statement speaks of an act of faithlessness: "Then their year was finished they who had strayed towards The Lady."

The parallel structure and content of both findings, both discovered at Serabit el-Khadim, provide mutual support for the likelihood of my readings for the two sets. They also suggest that both sets are the either the work of different scribes working in tandem, with common purpose, or of one and the same individual. Considering their clearly distinct writing styles, I believe the former is much more likely:

Classical Hebrew Letters

Mine-L glyphs

Mine-N glyphs

aleph-

nun-

tau-

shin-

beth-

mem-

lamed-

This will prove significant, as I have proposed that Moses himself was likely the author of the vertical line at Mine L, inscribing it just after the Israelites' initial encounter with the manna on the journey to Mt. Sinai. Since the handwriting styles of the two inscription sets is so distinct, there is no need to imagine that Moses returned to Dofqah several months later, while the nation was encamped around Mt. Sinai. Rather, I postulate that the Mine N inscription was the work of a loyal, devoted emissary. And yet, in my proposed Israelite framework, what would Hebrews have been doing at Dofqah so much later, one year after the nation had briefly encamped there en route to Mt. Sinai, where the nation is supposed to have been at that time?! In the fewest words, but will be thoroughly explained below: smelting, particularly to forge weapons.

MINING ONE YEAR LATER, THANKS TO MOSES' BROTHER-IN LAW A brief review: The P-S inscriptions at Mine L and Mine N, together with their well-assumed age (vis a vis the older glyphs at Wadi el-Hol), bolster the identification of Dofqah as a mine that would have been utilized by the freed Israelites under Moses' leadership. And yet, for the reasons explained above, Serabit el-Khadim called Du-Mofqa(t) in ancient Egyptian was Dofqah, not Mt. Sinai.

The solution to this apparent contradiction, adapted from David Rohl (the following proposal is based on a few insights of his) is simple: the ancient process of smelting and forging metal weapons was not a matter of days, but one of several months. If they were to truly make use of those copper mines, the Israelites would have needed to wait the required length of time that even highly-skilled, hardworking crews of miners and craftsmen would need for the massive project. This might have been a key factor into why the Israelites waited, encamped about Mt. Sinai for nearly a year (11 months and 5 days according to researcher Steve Rudd, see Num. 10,11-12), before finally heading north on their initial attempt to conquer Canaan.34

For this, they would have either left a crew of workers there from their 5th stop en route to Sinai, or to have sent such a team from the nation's encampment at Mt. Sinai, presumably after the receiving of the Law. In any case, it is not necessary for the miners or their overseers to have of ethnic Israelite origin: the biblical narrative and archaeology hint of a saviour in that regard: obab the Kenite.

Recall that the advent of the Kenites, plainly called -Qayin (Cain, see Num. 24,22), seems to be the main purpose for Genesis' enumerating the lineage of Tubal-Cain, whom it distinguishes as the early pioneer of bronze and iron smelting (Gen. 4,22). Between Moses' father Re`uel/Jethro, who brought Moses into their household and gave him a new life in Midian, and Re`uel's son obab, whose invaluable assistance to the congregation is noted in Numbers 10,31, it could be said that the Israelites owed their lives to their Kenite allies, for even making the Exodus possible. That verse:

, - : - , . , ,

31 And he said: 'Leave us not, I pray thee; forasmuch as thou knowest our encampment in the wilderness, and thou were to us instead of eyes.

Based on these hints, we might already expect obab to have inherited his people's trademark expertise in copper smelting. That notion can now be confirmed by yet another key P-S inscription found at Serabit el-Khadim, known as Gerster No. 1. Deciphered masterfully by William H. Shea,35 it truly suggests that obab played a key role in helping the congregation to smelt at Dofqah (emphasis added):

Line 1 - "And for the congregation Line 2 - and obab, Line 3 - a mighty Line 4 - furnace."

Reading all of this in one statement, we thus have: "And for the congregation and for Hobab, a mighty furnace." For a smoother reading and in order to provide a basis for the interpretation discussed below, this statement can be turned around and some of the ideas understood in connection with these words can be filled in with parentheses: "A mighty furnace (i.e., a smelter) (was supplied) for the congregation (of Israel) and Hobab (the Kenite from Midian).

With the most critical approach I could muster, including an attempt to create an independent translation of my own, I can only offer my wholehearted approbation to Shea's reading and interpretation.

Key to this proposal, obab must be freed for this great role by correcting his mistaken identification with Re`uel/Jethro, priest of Midian, his father. The latter was clearly tied down during the Exodus, caring for his daughter and grandchildren whom Moses had sent away (Ex. 18,1-6). First, Num. 10,29 plainly establishes obab as the son of Re`uel, who becomes Moses' father-in-law in Ex. 2,16-21.

Num. 10,29

- , - , ; ,

...

29 And Moses said unto obab, the son of Re`uel the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law: 'We are journeying unto the place of which YHWH said: I will give it you; come thou with us, and we will do thee good...'

Furthermore, note Moses' "letting his father-in-law depart" for "his own land" of Midian in Ex. 18,27. He neither pleads that Jethro remain with them (which would have been most difficult, concerning Jethro's patriarchal responsibilities), nor recognizes any special insight of Jethro's into their encampment:

, -; , - .

27 And Moses let his father-in-law depart; and he went his way into his own land.

Contrast this with Moses' reaction, quotes above, when obab announces his intentions to return home (Num. 10,31):

- : - , . , , ,

31 And he said: 'Leave us not, I pray thee; forasmuch as thou knowest our encampment in the wilderness, and thou were to us instead of eyes.

Another key difference: From the next verses, it is implied in 10,33 that obab accepted Moses' plea. Not only did he not insist further on returning to Midian, it is written, -wayyis`u ("and they set forward"), implying they indeed continued on together. This creates the context for the Kenites' dwelling among the Israelites in Judges ch. 4. For obab is not the aged father-in-law of Moses, but a younger, mobile Kenite, un-tethered by priestly and/or patriarchal duties; Moses' brother-in-law.

Note how the biblical narrative indicates that this occurred at Mt. Sinai, just as the nation was about to finally depart on their next leg of the journey towards

Canaan (Num. 10,13), after their long encampment at the "Mountain of God". It therefore logically refers to a key role that obab had played for the nation before that point. Until that time, obab had been "as eyes" for the congregation, "knowing their encampment" (i.e. having had deep insight into their encampment, revealing to them what was hidden at Dofqah). Considering the Gerster inscription, it not only appears likely that obab oversaw the long-term, now-completed manufacturing project for Israel at Dofqah (producing weapons and/or accoutrements for the Tabernacle); he may have brought them there in the first place, having had a key role in guiding the nation through the desert. ANSWERING CRITICISM ABOUT OBAB

Those fluent in TaNaKh may challenge the notion of obab being Moses' brother-in-law based on Judges 4,11, where obab is clearly called the -othen of Moses, a term translated universally as "father-in-law". However the orthodox mind wishes to deal with this apparent contradiction, the Masoretic trope of Num. 10,29 clearly indicates that Re`uel distinct from his son obab is the -othen. Here is that verse, according to the Breuer restoration of the Aleppo Codex of Ben Asher, which is widely believed to be the most accurate, ancient tradition we have of the Masoretic text and trope:

...

To show how the trope communicates the above, I will present the verse's flow, according to Baladi Yemenite cantillation tradition, as follows:

No break between words indicates they are part of the same word. Two dashes (--) indicates an extending trope mark; there is no break in the

phrase, but continuous flow. A forward slash (/) indicates a minor break. An extended vowel (as in "iiiiiiii") indicates the unbroken trill zirqah,

emphasizing an unbroken flow into the next word.

And said -- Moses / to obab / son of Re`uel -- the Midianiiiiiiite -- father-in-law of -- Moses / ...

The trill zirqah, marked by a tilde (~) at the end of (Midianite), is a significant (extending trope mark). It signifies an unbroken connection between "Re`uel the Midianite" and "father-in-law of Moses". There is, however, a distinct, minor break after obab! If the term (father-in-law of Moses) referred to obab, there would logically have been no break after obab, but a minor break between "the Midianite" and "Hothen" instead, to indicate that the father-in-law was not Re`uel (Hoab's father), but obab himself! On the contrary: the trope implies that the father-in-law is Re`uel, who is distinct from obab, his son.

Finally, it is possible that the term -othen might not have meant "father-in-law" originally, but might have held a wider meaning as "senior male in-law", if the senior in-law were the wife's elder brother. Thus in the Pentateuch the -othen is Re`uel/Jethro, whereas in the Judges, when referring to the descendants of obab (who assumedly survived his father), obab is referred to as Moses' -othen. AN ALTERNATIVE READING: "THOSE WHO HAD STRAYED TO BA`ALAT"

It is possible that the second statement in the inscription is in the present tense. Accordingly, the inscription would be a message of lament or rebuke regarding a distinct, local event of religious backsliding by Hebrews at Dofqah (Serabit el-Khadim); a minor event not mentioned in the Torah. It would be a jab at some members of the above-mentioned Israelite work crews whose hearts, after only a year into the Exodus, were now "wandering" towards the worship of Ba'alat/Hathor, working in such close proximity to her Temple whose ruins remain, to this day, atop the same plateau as the mining complex. Again, these are those participating in the long-term project at the copper mines, manufacturing weapons for and/or accoutrements for the Tabernacle under obab the Kenite. Accordingly, the inscription would read as follows (note the change in the second statement):

Zeh she-avash nimash -- () * * The one who had bound [in captivity] was removed.

* * * * -Az tamah shnetam ha-na` le-Ba`alat

"Then their year ended [they] who stray [lit. move or wander] towards [in the sense 'after'] 'the Lady' [Hathor]."

This interpretation not only works well with the Hathor/Ba`alat being the very deity behind the Golden Calf icon, but it allows for another possibility: that Golden Calf was not Hathor herself, but another golden bovine deity worshipped by the ancient Egyptians: the "son" of Hathor. AN ALTERNATIVE: BA`ALAT AS "MOTHER" OF THE GOLDEN CALF

As likely as it seems that Ba`alat/Hathor was the actual pagan deity represented by the biblical Golden Calf, this alternative that the Israelites created an icon of her "son" has several points of strength. Here are the key reasons why it is a strong possibility: 1. The Masoretic Torah, the Samaritan Pentateuch,36 and Septuagint all three families of Pentateuchal tradition use the male form "calf"(-`eghel) in all six places in Exodus ch. 32. The ancient Greek term used is .P 37P A calf, of

course, is distinct from a cow (-parah), as Hathor was portrayed, in its being both male and immature.

Again, this matches the male form -`eghlei zahav used by Jeroboam, when he invoked "thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt." Since we do find the female form -`eghlah in Genesis 15,9 (Abram's offerings for his second covenant with God) and in Deut. 21,1-9 (the laws of encountering the remains of a slain man between two towns), it seems that the male form -`eghel used for the Golden Calf is distinct and intentional. 2. In ancient Egyptian myth, a Golden Calf was truly worshipped: It represented the pharaoh, or kingship, and was considered to be "Hathor's son". In fact, cut into the rock at the remains of Hathor's temple at Serabit el-Khadim are several scenes portraying Hathor's role in the king's transformation, upon ascending the throne, into Egypt's deified ruler. One scene, below, portrays Hathor (a cow-goddess) suckling the pharaoh:

At left, the image from Serabit el-Khadim, in which the king nurses from his "mother", Hathor, in her bovine form. 38 At right, the same motif in a relief from the walls of Deir el Bahri, opposite Luxor, Egypt. 39 Notwithstanding his conclusions that I reject regarding the Torah's Divine inspiration, Mattfeld y de la Torre brings a formidable set of evidence that the Golden Calf represented the pharaoh (or kingship itself) in Egyptian myth. In Old Kingdom Pyramid Texts and a later source from the 11th Dynasty, we see that the pharaoh was depicted as a golden calf born to Hathor, the "heavenly sky cow goddess".40 Due to their significance, I quote some of his key, lengthy points:

I have established that the ONLY god specifically called a "GOLDEN CALF" by the ancient Egyptians in their writings is Pharaoh in the Old Kingdom Pyramid Texts (these texts exist into later New Kingdom times in reworked formats). In these texts Pharaoh calls himself a "Golden Calf," born of heaven, who wishes to be allowed to board the sacred solar bark or boat which carries the Sun god each day across the heavens. The Egyptian myths have the rising sun of dawn portrayed in many different ways. One myth has the rising sun as a Calf born of the heavenly sky cow goddess, Hathor (in other myths the sun is born of Nut another Cow goddess who personifies the

heavens). The sun calf becomes a mighty bull at noon, and at sunset the sun-bull impregnates his mother, the heavens (the sky goddess cow), in order to be born of her the next morning. The Old Kingdom Pyramid Texts of Dynasties 5 and 6 (Pharaohs Unas, Teti, Pepy I, Merenre Antyemsaf, and Pepy II, ca. 2375-2184 BCE) mention the deceased Pharaoh as a Golden Calf born of the heavens (in Egyptian myth, recalling that the heavens were seen as a cow goddess, either Hathor or Nut, giving birth to the sun at dawn): ... "The idea of the king as the nursling of the divine cow is at least as old as the Old Kingdom, since he is described as 'The Calf of Gold' and is told 'Your mother is the great wild cow who lives in el Kab. She will nurse you."

(Pyramid Text 729a. cf. p.175. "The Cow and marsh motif." Geraldine Pinch. Votive Offerings to Hathor. Griffith Institute Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. 1993) "Pepi comes to thee, O Ra, a calf of gold, born of heaven. I have come to you Ra, a calf of gold born in the sky, a fatted calf of gold...O Horus, do not leave me boatless."

(Pyramid text Utterance 485a)

Pinch noted that one of Hathor's many epitheths was "Lady of Heaven," she being the Heaven as a sky-cow-goddess.

Pinch speaking of a votive cow image of Hathor bearing this epithet:

"The only inscribed example I have traced has "Hathor, Lady of Heaven" written on one flank." ...

"Cow-goddess who gave birth to the king in the form of a golden calf. In general she is a milk goddess quenching the thirst of mankind with divine liquid described as the 'beer of Hesat'." (http://www.duke.edu/~bwt1/egypt/cow.html)

Pinch noted that the divine cow (Hathor, Nut, Mehet-weret, cf. p. 175) is portrayed as suckling Pharaoh frequently in a papyrus marsh, alluding to a myth where she protects the newborn Horus from his uncle Seth who seeks his life.

Other scenes have the divine cow "licking" Pharaoh, this is a play on the observation of cows licking their calves while suckling as a sign of affection (this motif is popular in New Kingdom Canaanite art, in ivories, perhaps under Egyptian influence?).

To the degree that Pharaoh is the "Golden Calf" born of the divine heavenly cow, scenes of him being licked or suckled probably allude to the cow as his mother, the cow sky goddess who has given him birth as the rising morning Sun.

Pinch notes that Hathor is frequently shown in cow form with a beaded menant necklace on the Solar bark which carries the sun-god in the heavens (cf. plate 25.b for Hathor as a cow on a bark. Pinch. 1993). An 11th Dynasty votive cloth from the Hathor shrine at Deir el Bahri in Egypt, shows a calf accompanying a Hathor cow (cf. plate 26.A. of the "ink drawing." Pinch.1993).

3. Rather than a blow to the Torah, Mattfeld's argument would bolster one of the more widely-held beliefs in classical rabbinical scholarship over the last millennium41, known to outside scholarship thanks to Dr. Michael Coogan:

Rather than a replacement for YHWH, the Golden Calf icon was created to stand in the place of their ruler, Moses, the people's intermediary.42 This is how Aaron, after fashioning the icon, could then proclaim, "Tomorrow shall be a feast to YHWH". After the terrifying events they had been through and ascribed to YHWH, it is hard to suspect them of attempting to replace their God. Consider their stated reasoning in Exodus 32,1:

, - -; -, -

- , - .

1 And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him: 'Up, make us a lord who shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him.'

Believing that they were now bereft of their powerful leader who had overcome the pharaoh of Egypt, the nation demanded a figurehead that would represent kingship, pharaonic power. Not a human leader, who might climb a mountain one day and disappear, but a physical icon that would "walk before them" (Abarbanel on Ex. 32,1). That a golden calf was indeed a mythical Egyptian figure that represented the pharaoh strengthens that ancient understanding.

Notice how Josephus' re-telling of Jeroboam's rebellion (Antiquities 8.8.226-228), suggests that his golden heifers were not intended to replace God, but as intermediaries, or even more likely, a "dwelling place" or "seat" for Him much as the golden cover of the Ark of the Covenant ( -hilasterion in the Septuagint37) was in Israelite belief:

"It was a man that built the temple: I have also made two golden heifers, dedicated to the same God; and the one of them I have consecrated in the city Bethel, and the other in Dan... let him that is desirous among you of being a priest, bring to God a bullock and a ram, which they say Aaron the first priest brought also."

Accordingly, the term used the resless Israelites in verse Ex. 32,1 (above), when they asked Aaron to build them an -elohim, it is none other than the same word used by YHWH in verse 7,1 to describe what Moses would be for the pharaoh: not God, but a lord:

-, ; , .

1 And YHWH said unto Moses: 'See, I have set thee as a lord to Pharaoh; and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.

Other examples where, per rabbinical tradition, -elohim does not mean "God":

Exodus 22,27 (cf. Mishneh Torah of Maimonides, Laws of Sanhedrin 26,1):

Thou shalt not revile the judge, nor 27 , ; , . curse a ruler of thy people.

Exodus 22,8-9 (cf. Mishneh Torah, Introduction, Positive Commandment 246):

- - - --- - - ,-- -

:- , - . ,

8 For every matter of trespass, whether it be for ox, for ass, for sheep, for raiment, or for any manner of lost thing, whereof one saith: 'This is it,' the cause of both parties shall come before the judges [elohim] he whom the judges [elohim] shall condemn shall pay double unto his neighbour.

4. Notwithstanding my own interpretation explained earlier, that the Golden Calf would later be represented by the Parah Adumah-Red (Saffron) Cow; in Rabbinical midrashic tradition, it was the child of the Red Cow. We find the following in Bamidbar Rabbah 19,8:

We have learned that the sages gave a hint for understanding the red heifer: it is related to the sin of the golden calf. "To what can this be likened? To a maid who worked in the palace of the king. One day her child came and soiled the palace with his filth. The king said, 'O let the mother come, and clean her child's filth'." This is the concept of atonement for the golden calf, for the Holy One said, "Let the red heifer come, and atone for the golden calf."

If the the Parah Adumah, a golden saffron in color, represented Hathor/Ba`alat, then the Golden Calf was her "child", which again, would have represented pharaonic power. 5. This idea should not be misunderstood as worshipping the hated pharaoh, who had so tortured them and was now dead. Rather, a few of these native Egyptians (as all Hebrews were, for as many as ten generations), many of whom the Torah relates wished to return to Egypt at every opportunity; after enduring months of harsh desert conditions, now believing their new ruler to be gone, wished to resurrect the symbol of kingship they were all familiar with. And yes, a bit of Stockholm syndrome could well have been at play among that group of wayward Hebrews, whose thinking need not be considered rational.

That symbol of kingship was the child-deity of the Egyptian fertility goddess. Considering the strong impulse of syncretism (the blending of spiritual beliefs and practices) particularly in a time of religious flux it is not hard to understand how the Israelites could throw an orgy-filled, Hathor-esque, celebratory worship for Hathor's "son", the golden calf. Why would they resist the urge to have a raucous, good time "Hathor-style" to honor her "calf"?

It should be clear that, even if one prefers this alternate interpretation, the reference to Ba`alat in our Mine N inscription still provides good historical context for the Golden Calf incident. Since the message can be logically demonstrated to date to the time of the Exodus and not earlier, it would show that the worship of the Golden Calf occurred amidst a cultural pull felt by the Israelites to another golden bovine deity related to the cult of Hathor, a deity surely known to them from their years in slavery.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

By applying a disciplined, straightforward method of reading and interpretation, I have demonstrated how the Mine N inscription fits together with my reading of those at Mine L1 (providing mutual support for one another) and the inscription deciphered by William Shea,35 which appears to mention the biblical obab. Together, they reveal an Israelite context that fits well into the biblical narrative on several points:

The Mine N inscription appears to remind and warn viewers of how, after Israel's hated captor, the pharaoh of Egypt, had been "removed", there was another act of Divine judgment against those who strayed towards Ba`alat/Hathor the Golden Calf incident. Their first year of liberation was brought to an early and terrible end. This would have been a stark warning to Hebrews who, months later, were now laboring for their freed people in the shadow of the Temple of the very deity that the Calf worshippers had tried to resurrect: Hathor/Ba` alat, the deity represented by the Golden Calf. If correct, this would be the first independent archaeological confirmation of that episode, which we have only known of until now from the TaNaKh (Bible).

Alternatively, the inscription could be expressing lament over and dealing a jab at a few Hebrews who, only a year into the Exodus, were now wandering towards the worship of that Ba'alat/Hathor. This would have been a separate, far less major incident of religious backsliding not mentioned in the Torah. While it works well with Ba`alat being the deity behind the Golden Calf incident, it would leave open the possibility that the Golden Calf might not have represented Hathor herself but her "son" the pharaoh, or kingship itself. This would still provide a wider historical context for Calf episode, and lend strength to rabbinical tradition.

I propose that this message of warning, lament or rebuke was created during an ongoing, longer-term Israelite project for manufacturing weapons and/or accoutrements for the Tabernacle, involving smelting, at the site identified as Dofqah (Serabit el-Khadim). This was concurrent with the nation's long encampment at Mt. Sinai. In light of Shea's reading of Gerster No. 1, I propose that this was overseen by the obab the Kenite, who hailed from a lineage of masters in smelting. He was not Moses' father-in-law, but his younger, more mobile brother-in-law. This all provides context for the otherwise unexplained verses of obab's role as the "eyes" of the congregation.

Writing in the same style as, but in a distinct hand from the Mine-L inscription which may have been inscribed by Moses himself1 (earlier on) I envision the writer as a loyal emissary of Moses, perhaps one of a small delegation. He may well have been a Levite (the most loyal tribe to Moses and the early Israelite faith, and considering the inscription's similarity to those at Mine L), who was sent to oversee the conclusion of the project. Such an individual would see to it that the crew and finished products were properly sent to the camp at Sinai. Upset by the religious regression of the Israelite workers there, he produced the inscription, ostensibly to prevent the miners from going astray, if not to inspire regret in the heart of persisting transgressors.

On one hand, this presents a slightly more complex historical reality than that portrayed in the biblical account, as commonly understood. On the other, such a wider context is to be expected, is entirely compatible with that account, and greatly bolsters its historical validity. After all, the Books of Moses were not written as a Greek-style historical chronicle from a much later period, but as an ancient religious Semitic text. I can only hope that discerning scholars in the field recognize the great value of this wider context that has come to light, and that it lends the biblical narrative greater historical value in their eyes. REFERENCES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I extend my deep, heartfelt thanks to David Rohl for introducing me to this field and to this find, presenting me the challenge of deciphering it, and for his tireless guidance and support. I further thank my student, Mr. William Borici, for his help in editing the paper. My wife and children have my perennial gratitude for their patience with my scholarly labors. Finally, while this may be off-putting to academia, I offer my humble thanks to HaShem, YHWH, God of Israel, for granting me wisdom and understanding. 1. Bar-Ron, Michael S. A Notice About Manna and Uprooted Oppression at Serabit el-Khadim (Improved). April 3, 2017. Academia.edu. Web. URL: https://www.academia.edu/32210223/ A_NOTICE_ABOUT_MANNA_ AND_UPROOTED_OPPRESSION_AT_SERABIT_EL-KHADIM_Improved_ 2. Rohl, David. Exodus: Myth or History? Thinking Man Media. St. Louis Park, MN (2015), p. 221. 3. Biblical Researches in Palestine and Adjacent Countries (three volumes, Boston and London, 1841; German edition, Halle, 1841; second edition, enlarged, 1856, published in both English and German). 4. Hecataeus excursus (apud Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica 40.3). Found in: Berthelot, Katell. Hecataeus of Abdera and Jewish misanthropy. Bulletin du Centre de recherche franais Jrusalem. 19/2008. Web. Retrieved Feb. 15, 2017. URL: https://bcrfj.revues.org/5968#tocto1n5 Hecataeus' visit to Thebes and composing a history of Egypt is related in Diodorus Siculus (i.46.8). 5 Entry for Septuagint. Encyclopedia Brittanica. Feb. 4, 2016. Web. Retrieved Feb. 15, 2017. URL: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Septuagint 6. Diodorus Siculus. English trans. by G. Booth, Esq. The Historical Library of Diodorus the Sicilian in 15 Books. London (1814). Vol. 1, Book 1, Ch.4 p. 53. Google Books. Web. Retrieved Feb. 17, 2017. 7. Apartanus (apud Eusebius, l.c. ix. 27). Jacobs, J., Barton, G.A., Bacher, W., Lauterbach, J.Z., Toy, H., Kohler, K. Entry for Moses. The Jewish Encyclopedia (Unedited 1906 Version). Web. Retrieved Feb. 14, 2017. URL: http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11049-moses#3 8. Most Likely Locations of Israelite Camps acc. David Rohl. Source: "The Sinai Region." Google Earth. 29 17'12.56" N 34 04'38.04"E. Eye alt 326.50 km. Web. Retrieved Jan. 22, 2017. 9. Environs of Serabit el-Khadim. Source: "The Sinai Region." Google Earth. 29 02'04.88" N 33 16'08.76"E. Eye alt 73.17 km. February 16, 2016. Web. Retrieved Jan. 22, 2017.

https://bcrfj.revues.org/5968#tocto1n1http://bcrfj.revues.org/http://bcrfj.revues.org/http://bcrfj.revues.org/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diodorus_Siculus

10. From Aufrere, Sydney, with Jean-Claude Golvin and Jean-Claude Goyon, L'gypte Restitue: Sites et temples des dserts, vol. I, Paris, Editions Errance, c. 1994. Posted at The Domain of Het-Hert. Web. Retrieved Jan. 22, 2017. URL: http://www.hethert.org/serabit.html. 11. James K. Hoffmeier. Ancient Israel in Sinai: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the

Wilderness Traditions. Oxford University Press (2005), p. 166. Geoffrey W. Bromiley. The International Standard TaNaKh Encyclopedia, Volume 2 (1996).

p. 241. Lina Eckenstein. A History of Sinai London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge

(1921). David Rohl: Exodus Myth or History? (above), p. 209-11.

12. Rothenberg, B., Bachmann, H.G., Glass, J., Schulman, A., Tylecote, R.F. Pharaonic Copper Mines in South Sinai. Institute for Archaeo-Metallurgy Studies (IAMS) Monographs. Institute of Archaeology, University College, London. Numbers 10/11. June/Dec. 1987. 13. Simons, Frank. Proto-Sinaitic Progenitor of the Alphabet. University of Birmingham (2011). Rosetta 9: 16-40. 14. Darnell, J., Dobbs-Alsopp, F.W., Lundberg, M.J. et al. Two Early Alphabetic Inscriptions from the Wadi el-Hol: New Evidence for the Origin of the Alphabet from the Western Desert of Egypt. Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research (2005), pp. 74,86. (Ibid.) 15. Gardiner, A.H. Once Again the Proto-Sinaitic Inscriptions. Journal of Egyptian Archaeology (1962), p. 46. (Ibid.) 16. Martin, Peter. How Myth Became History. The Sunday Times, 13 October 2002. Web. Retrieved Feb. 6, 2017. URL: http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/style/article54642.ece 17. Rohl, David. Pharaohs and Kings. Crown Publishers, Inc. New York, NY (1995). p. 237. 18. Rohl, David. Exodus: Myth or History, (above) pp. 71-76. 19. Petrovich, Douglas. The Worlds Oldest Alphabet: Hebrew as the Language of the Proto-Consonantal Script. Carta, Jerusalem (2016). pp. 190-191. 20. The standardized Phoenician characters as presented are from The Unicode Standard 9.0, Copyright 1991-2016 Unicode, Inc. All rights reserved. 21. Entry for Baalat. Encyclopedia Brittanica. Nov. 22, 2000. Web. Retrieved April 03, 2017. URL: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Baalat 22. Entry for Hathor. Encyclopedia Brittanica. June 11, 2010. Web. Retrieved April 03, 2017. URL: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hathor-Egyptian-goddess 23. Seawright, Caroline. Hathor, Goddess of Love, Music and Beauty. Nov. 29, 2012. Web. Retrieved May 16, 2017. URL: http://www.thekeep.org/~kunoichi/kunoichi/themestream/ hathor.html#.WSzIA4VOJZU 24. Crystal, Ellie. Hathor. Web. Retrieived May 26, 2017. URL: http://www.crystalinks.com/hathor.html 25. Heritage Image Partnership Ltd. / Alamy Stock Photo 26. Darnell, John Coleman. Hathor Returns to Medamud. Published online at www.Academia.edu (1995). Web. Retrieved May 26, 2017. URL: https://www.academia.edu/19067968/Hathor_Returns_to_ Medamud

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sunday_Times

27. Bryan, Betsy in Roehrig, C., Dreyfus, R., Keller, C. et al. Hatshepsut: From Queen to Pharaoh. Metropolital Museum of Art (2005). 339 pp. 28. Quotes from TaNaKh are according to the authentic Yemenite manuscript edition posted on www.mechon-mamre.org. The English translations are, with a few slight modifications by the author, from the JPS Bible based on the electronic text by Larry Nelson. 29. Petrovich, Douglas. The Worlds Oldest Alphabet: Hebrew as the Language of the Proto-Consonantal Script, (above) p. 199. 30. Whiston, William (1667-1752). The Works of Josephus: New Updated Edition. Hendrickson Publishers, Inc. Peabody, MA (1987). 756 pp. 31. Bar-Ron, Michael S. Song of the Creator. Lightcatcher Books. Springdale, Arkansas (2015). pp. 66, 121. 32. Freidenreich, David M, Columbia University. The Use of Islamic Sources in Saadiah Gaon's Tafsr of the Torah. The Jewish Quarterly Review, XCIII, Nos. 3-4 (January-April, 2003) 353-395 33. Frank Moore Cross (30 June 2009). Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic: Essays in the History of the Religion of Israel. Harvard University Press. pp. 28. Retrieved 11 July 2013. 34. Rudd, Steve. The Exodus Route: Travel times, distances, rates of travel, days of the week. 2006. Web. Retrieved April 6, 2017. URL: http://www.bible.ca/archeology/bible-archeology-exodus-route-travel-times-distances-days.htm 35. Shea, William H. New Light on the Exodus and on Construction of the Tabernacle: Gerster's Protosinaitic Inscription No. 1. University Seminary Studies, Spring 1987, Vol. 25, No. 1, 73-96. Andrews University Press (1987). 36. Kennicott, Benjaminus (1776-1780). Vetus Testamentum Hebraicum. Web. Retrieved April 25, 2017. URL: https://ia800309.us.archive.org/0/items/vetustestamentum01kenn/vetus testamentum01kenn.pdf 37. Exodus 25,17 in Septuagint Old Testament in English and Greek. Elpenor's Home of the Greek Word. Web. Retrieved April 25, 2017. URL: http://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/greek-texts/septuagint/ chapter.asp?book=2&page=25 38. Plate LXXXI Fig. 337. Alan H. Gardiner & T. Eric Peet. The Inscriptions of Sinai. Part I, Introduction and Plates. Egypt Exploration Fund. London (1917). 39. By Vicky Metafora, found at emhotep.net at www.Pinterest.com. Web. Retrieved June 1, 2017. 40. Mattfeld y de la Torre, W.R.W., MA Ed. The Egyptian Origins of Israel's Golden Calf Worship in the Sinai. Bibleorigins.com. 03 September 2009. Web. Retrieved April 4, 2017. URL: http://www.bibleorigins.net/ EgyptianOriginsGoldenCalf.html 41. This understanding of the Golden Calf, first seen in the Kuzari by Rav Yehudah HaLevi, is also employed by Rav Abraham ben Ezra, Rav Moshe Ben Naman, Rav Baya ben Asher, Rabbi Don Isaac Abarbanel, Meir Leibush ben Yehiel Michel Wisser, Rav Ephraim Shlomo of Luntshitz, Rav aim ben Attar, Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch, and others. 42. Coogan, M. A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament: The Hebrew Bible in its Context. Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2009. p.115.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Moore_Crosshttps://books.google.com/books?id=bJqwWRDOMgEC&pg=PA28https://books.google.com/books?id=bJqwWRDOMgEC&pg=PA28https://ia800309.us.archive.org/0/items/vetustestamentum01kenn/vetustestamentum01kenn.pdfhttps://ia800309.us.archive.org/0/items/vetustestamentum01kenn/vetustestamentum01kenn.pdf

4. Hecataeus excursus (apud Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica 40.3). Found in: Berthelot, Katell. Hecataeus of Abdera and Jewish misanthropy. Bulletin du Centre de recherche franais Jrusalem. 19/2008. Web. Retrieved Feb. 15, 2017. ...11.James K. Hoffmeier. Ancient Israel in Sinai: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Wilderness Traditions. Oxford University Press (2005), p. 166.Geoffrey W. Bromiley. The International Standard TaNaKh Encyclopedia, Volume 2 (1996). p. 241.