The site includes a sandstone rock shelter over 100 meters long, where scenes of hunting, animals and activities have been found. of the first humans.
An Egyptian archaeological mission revealed a prehistoric site in the Sinai Peninsula (northeast), with drawings made with red paint on a rock shelter, dated between 10,000 and 5,500 BC and corresponding to the activities of the first humans.
“The Egyptian archaeological mission of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, working in South Sinai, discovered one of the most important archaeological sites, of exceptional historical and artistic value, which had not been discovered previously”, highlighted on Thursday the
In a statement, the ministry indicated that theaccording to the preliminary study, were divided into several chronological groups; the oldest group, painted red on the roof of the rock shelter, dates from between 10,000 and 5,500 BC and depicts scenes of various animalsreflecting life at that time.
It also includes carved scenes showing a bow hunter hunting an ibex, accompanied by several hunting dogsin a relief that “reflects the lifestyles and economic activities of the first human societies”.
Other groups of paintings include scenes of camels and horses of various shapes, ridden by armed individuals.
Some of these are accompanied by Nabataean inscriptions, indicating “later historical periods” and the presence of diverse cultural and civilizational interactions in the region.
A group of Arabic inscriptions has also been documented, providing important evidence of the site’s continued use during the early Islamic and later periods.
According to the statement, the Egyptian mission managed to fully document the site, which includes a sandstone rock shelter formed of courseemore than 100 meters long, on the eastern slope of Mount Um Erak.
Its depth varies between two and three meters, while the ceiling height varies between approximately one and a half meters and half a meter.
The Mount One Erak archaeological site is located in a sandy area about five kilometers northeast of the pharaonic temple of Serabit al-Khadim and the copper and turquoise mining areas, in a prominent strategic location overlooking a vast open area.
