In the Sinai Peninsula, an Egyptian archaeological mission discovered “one of the most important recently identified sites of exceptional historical and artistic value”. It is the plateau of Umm Arak, a site whose artistic and chronological richness is emerging as one of the most important additions to the country’s archaeological map in recent times, announced the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.
Located in southern Sinai, about 5km northeast of the temple of Sarabit al-Khadim and ancient copper and turquoise mining areas, the site occupies a strategic position overlooking a wide open plain towards the Jebel el-Tih plateau. This configuration suggests that the site functioned during different periods as an observation point, meeting area and resting space for successive human communities.
The central element of the discovery is a natural sandstone rock shelter that extends for more than 100m along the eastern side of the plateau. Its depth ranges between 2 and 3m, while the height of the ceiling drops progressively from about 1½m to barely 0.5m. This protected environment allowed the conservation of a set of graphic manifestations made at different historical moments.
The surfaces of the shelter present abundant paintings in red pigment, with representations of animals and symbols still under study, together with an additional set of drawings in grey. In the area there are numerous engravings executed in different styles and techniques, evidence of a long tradition of symbolic expression. The chronological and technical variety of these images makes the site a veritable “natural open-air museum”, according to Hisham el Leithy, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, as it records the evolution of art and thought in the region from prehistoric to early Islamic periods.
Some of these representations could even date back to 5,500 or even 10,000 years before our era. These images show hunting scenes with bows and dogs, as well as figures of camels, horses and horsemen belonging to later times, in addition to early Arabic inscriptions. This iconographic diversity suggests the coexistence of different cultural traditions at Sinai over the centuries.
The long occupation of the site is also reflected in the archaeological materials recovered during the excavations. These include lithic tools, faunal remains, ceramic fragments and evidence of habitation units associated with the use of the shelter by human communities and livestock. Some ceramic fragments have been attributed to the Egyptian Middle Empire, while others correspond to the Roman period, in particular to the third century AD.
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The Egyptian authorities stress that the discovery provides new evidence of the succession of civilisations that crossed the Sinai, a region historically located on routes of cultural and economic exchange. Notwithstanding the relevance of the find, the work at Umm Arak is not concluded. Future research will focus on the detailed analysis of the inscriptions and rock art, as well as on the design of strategies for the protection and sustainable documentation of the site.
This story was originally published by WIRED en Español and has been translated from Spanish.
