A NEW ROCK ART DISCOVERY IN THE NORTHERN SINAI – AND ANOTHER DONKEY:

Petroglyph cave at Wadi al-Zulma, North Sinai, Egypt. Image provided by Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities.

A recent discovery in the northern Sinai Peninsula of Egypt contains rock art of a style unknown throughout the rest of the Sinai. “An archaeological mission from the Tourism and Antiquities Ministry discovered an ancient cave featuring a unique and diverse collection of carvings at Wadi al-Zulma, North Sinai, the ministry announced on Saturday. The head of ministry’s Egyptian Antiquities Sector, Ayman Ashmawy, explained that the archaeological cave is located at the beginning of one of Wadi al-Zulma’s tributaries within a mountainous area of limestone that is difficult to reach – about 90 kilometers southeast of the city of al-Qantara Sharq, and 60 kilometers east of the Suez Canal.” (Al-Youm 2020) Although the team members are calling this a discovery, once again I have to point out that its location and rock art had been known by many other people.

Donkey petroglyph,
Wadi al-Zulma, North Sinai, Egypt. Image provided by Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities.

Donkey. Internet image, public domain.

This donkey image, at Wadi al Zulma in the northern Sinai desert of Egypt, is located roughly 450 miles from the donkey at Karahan Tepe in Turkey that I wrote about previously, and it is undated as of yet. This suggests that we need to be very careful about any implications of cultural similarities, although these themes are very similar.

“The age of the cave drawings is still unknown, but Aymen Ashmawi, head of the ancient Egyptian antiquities sector at the Ministry of Antiquities explained the scenes carved inside the cave are completely different from those found in South Sinai, having a special artistic style that resembles raised relief in execution.” (Bartek 2020)

Petroglyph at Wadi al-Zulma, North Sinai, Egypt. Image provided by Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities. This appears to be an older image of a quadruped, with a newer ostrich carved over it appropriating the front leg.

Superimposed petroglyphs at Wadi al-Zulma, North Sinai, Egypt. Image provided by Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities.

I will go farther than Ashmawi’s statement that they “resemble raised relief in execution.” I would classify many of these petroglyphs as low reliefs. The lines are fairly deeply carved, and then the inner edge of the line is rounded off to provide a more natural looking portrayal.

Ibex petroglyph at Wadi al-Zulma, North Sinai, Egypt. Image provided by Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities.

“The Director General of the North Sinai Antiquities and head of the archaeological mission working on the cave Hisham Hussein explained that most of the carvings are within the cave’s inner walls and depict animals such as donkeys, camels, deer, mule and mountain goats.” (Al-Youm 2020) The relatively deep carving, unlike simple scratching, suggests that the artists were there for relatively long periods of time. This allowed them to take more care in accuracy and appearance.

Quadruped petroglyph at Wadi al-Zulma, North Sinai, Egypt. Image provided by Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities.

“According to a Tourism and Antiquities Ministry statement, the cave is 15 meters deep and 20 meters high. The ceiling is made of limestone, and the cave is filled with large amounts of animal waste. Ashes found inside the cave indicate it’s continuous usage by locals as shelter, where they might have stayed with their flocks during rain or winter.” (Al-Youm 2020) Given ashes indicating continuous usage for shelter there must also be fragments of charcoal that may be radiocarbon dated, although the animal waste suggests that the stratigraphy of much of the deposit has probably been stirred up by the hoofs of livestock. Perhaps careful excavation next to a wall would yield better stratification of deposits.

Given that the team stated that the cave had been used by locals with their flocks, they certainly cannot claim credit as the first discoverers of the rock art.

NOTE: Some images in this posting were retrieved from the internet with a search for public domain photographs. If any of these images are not intended to be public domain, I apologize, and will happily provide the picture credits if the owner will contact me with them. For further information on these reports you should read the original reports at the sites listed below.

REFERENCES:

Al-Masry Al-Youm, 2020, Photos: Archaeologists uncover ancient cave in North Sinai, 26 April 2020, Egypt Independent, https:www.egyptindependent.com. Accessed online 27 November 2024.

Bartek, Jan, 2020, Remarkable Ancient Animal Engravings Discovered In Unknown Cave In Sinai, 1 May 2020, https://www.ancientpages.com. Accessed online 27 November 2024.