Har Karkom - The Jewish Home

Har Karkom
Mount Sinai rediscovered
The Mountain of G_d
http://www.harkarkom.com/
Har Karkom
•
Fig. 10. The profile of Har Karkom covered by a cloud of sand, a frequent
phenomenon that sometimes completely obscures the landscape. (Site HK 2;
ISR-EA95: XVIII-34; WARA W05873).
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Har Karkom
• Fig. 12. A view of the Paran Desert east of Har Karkom. Mount
Haroz dominates the landscape. (EA99: XXIX-6; WARA W06077).
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Har Karkom
•
Fig. 14. Islamic-period structure protected by an overhanging rock. The Bedouins built such
shelters to store and guard the objects they did not carry on their migrations. Some of the
structures are of Roman/Byzantine origin, but most were built in the Islamic period. (Site HK
317; RR90: XXIX-28; WARA W05875).
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Har Karkom
• Fig. 15. A pool on the plateau of Har Karkom. Such pools are filled by
rainwater and hold water for periods of several months. (Site HK 92;
photo EA94: ISR XII-29; WARA W05876).
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Har Karkom
• Fig. 16. Remains of an
encampment of the Middle
Palaeolithic. The three hut
bases visible are linked by
passages. Numerous lithic
tools and remains of a flint
workshop were found on this
site. (Site HK 105; photo ISR
83: XXXII-21 E.A. 1984, fig.
99; WARA W05877; WARA
W05877).
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Har Karkom
•
Fig. 20. On the left, large enclosures of the BAC period are probably remains of
courtyard sites. On the right, rectangular foundations of Roman/Byzantine
habitations are seen on a terrace next to the wadi. The same ground surface
shows traces of older, round structures from the BAC period. Above, in the
centre of the illustration, are the remains of a spiral shaped structure, typical of a7
BAC-period sanctuary. (Site HK 113; photo ISR 85: C/IV-32; WARA W05881).
Har Karkom
• Fig. 30. A view of the mountain from one of the access trails.
(Site HK 3; photo ISR 80: CXII-4; E.A. 1984, fig. 71; WARA
W05891).
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Har Karkom
• Fig. 31. Along the
access trail, a
stone is engraved
with two
worshipping
figures beneath
an abstract sign.
(Site HK 3b;
photo ISR 82 C16; WARA
W05892).
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Har Karkom
• Fig. 38. Tracing of a worshipping figure from the Early BAC
period. The figure is near an ideogram and is probably dressed
as a priest, with a prominent collar and two horns or other
protrusions on the head. On his right, an antelope was later
added in a less refined technique. (Site HK 36; ref. 95-XXVI-5: HK
Archive; WARA W01837).
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Har Karkom
• Fig. 44. A view of Jebel Arif el-Naqe at dawn. The profile of the
mountain is visible from Har Karkom through a sea of clouds.
(Site HK 155; photo ISR 83 XXXI-28; WARA W05903).
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Har Karkom
•
Fig. 46. 'Eleven days from
Horeb to Kadesh-barnea
by the way of Mount Seir'
(Deuteronomy 1:2). The
map shows two trails
from Har Karkom to
Kadesh-barnea. The dark
line passes by Jebel Arif
el-Naqe, which can be
identified as Mount Seir.
The trail passes at the
base of this mountain and
has ten wells along its
route. For a group of
people on foot, the
journey would take
exactly eleven days. The
other trail crosses the
territory of Amalek, first
climbing and then
descending from the
mountainous area of the
central Negev. It is
shorter, but more
difficult. (HK Archive;
WARA W05904).
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Har Karkom
• Fig. 47. The tribal
territories at the time of
the Exodus according to
the biblical narrative, in
light of recent
discoveries. (HK Archive;
WARA W05905).
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Har Karkom
• Fig. 48. The site of the twelve standing stones at the foot of the
mountain. (Site HK 52; photo ISR 84: XXXIII-22; WARA W05906).
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Har Karkom
•
Fig. 49. A close up of the stone in the middle of the paved altar. It is
deeply buried into the soil. Its upper part has a crescent-shaped
indentation culminating on both sides with sharp vertices, on which
flake marks are scored. The stone is about 40 centimetres large. (Site 15
HK 52; photo ISI 84: XXXVII-30; WARA W05907).
Har Karkom
• Fig. 50. Twelve standing stones are aligned in two sets of six,
with a small platform of stones in the foreground, probably a
paved altar. A courtyard separates the altar from the standing
stones. (Site HK 52; photo EA 90: XII-5; WARA W05908).
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Har Karkom
•
Fig. 52. The two summits of Har Karkom. On one, an orthostat has been erected
near the centre of its summit. In the central part of the other is a small cave to
which the trail, visible in the photograph, leads. Because of their shapes, the
summit with the orthostat has been named the 'Male Summit' and the one with
the small cave, the 'Female Summit'. (Site HK 41-42; photo EA95: CVI-21; WARA
W05910).
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Har Karkom
• Fig. 53. Detail of the summit with the small cave. (Site
HK 42; photo EA93: XX-28; WARA W05911).
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Har Karkom
• Figs. 54 a/b. Plan and aerial photograph of the so called
'Midianite Temple' at the centre of the plateau. (Site HK 24; photo
EA93: XXXI-12; drawing: HK Archive; WARA W05912, W05913).
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Har Karkom
• Fig. 75. Small alabaster vase of the Sixth Egyptian Dynasty or
the First Intermediate Period, uncovered at Beer Karkom. (Site
BK 407. Drawing by Ida Mailland. HK Archive; WARA W05934).
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Har Karkom
• Fig. 104. Altar stone with a cuphole, and rock engraving of a
worshiper and ibex. (Plaza site HK 234; photo ISR 86: LI-17 cfr
E.A. 1987, fig. 95; WARA W05959).
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Har Karkom
• Fig. 147. Rock engraving
representing a group of
poisonous creatures:
scorpions, serpents, and a
venomous lizard. (Site HK
39; photo EA96: XXII-01:
ISR 85 XIII-27; EA96: XXII-3
E.A. 1994, fig. 73-74;
drawing: HK Archive;
WARA W06001).
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Har Karkom
• Figs. 149a/b. Rock engraving representing a group of poisonous
creatures: scorpions, serpents, and a venomous lizard. It may be a
graphic reproduction of a concept similar to that of water-giving in
the desert in Deuteronomy, 8: 14-15. (Site HK 39; photo EA96: XXII01: ISR 85 XIII-27; EA96: XXII-3 E.A. 1994, fig. 73-74; drawing: HK 23
Archive; WARA W06003, W06004).
Har Karkom
•
Fig. 152a/b. Standing stone with a rock engraving called 'the staff and the serpent.'
The staff has horns which indicate energy or power, and the ideograms on the left
include a 'u' sign and a parallel line with dots above and below. The 'u' sign in the
ideographic conceptuality may signify transformation or change, while the dots
indicate an action, or 'to do.' This standing stone probably commemorates the story
of a powerful staff which became a serpent. (Site HK 32; photo ISR84: XLVII-27,
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drawing: HK Archive; WARA W06008, W00077).
Har Karkom
• Fig. 153a/b. Rock engraving called the 'Tablets of the Law.' The
form has a dual rounded top and ten partitions: two at the top, two
at the base, and six at the centre. (Site HK 126b; photo EA98: LVI-3;
drawing: HK Archive; WARA W06009, W06011).
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Har Karkom
• Fig. 154. Flint knife of the early
Bronze Age found next to the
rock engraving called the
'Tablets of the Law.' (Site HK
126b, drawing by Ida Mailland:
HK Archive; WARA W06010).
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Har Karkom
• Fig. 158a/b. Rock engraving called 'the eye that watches from the
rock.' A large eye has seven lines arrayed from the bottom and
seven from the top. (Site HK 36b; photo EA98: LVIII-5; drawing: HK
Archive; WARA W06016, W06017).
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Har Karkom
• Fig. 199. The great trail from
Africa to Asia, showing the flow
of Palaeolithic migrations as they
traversed the Sinai Peninsula. Har
Karkom is along this primordial
route of Homo sapiens. (HK
Archive; WARA W06058).
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Har Karkom
• Emmanuel Anati is founder and
Executive Director of the Centro
Camuno di Studi Preistorici in Capo
di Ponte, Italy, and Professor
Ordinarius (ret.) of Palaeo-ethnology
at the University of Lecce, Italy.
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