Wadi Maghareh meaning "The Valley of Caves" in Arabic, is an Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

ian archaeological site

Archaeological site

An archaeological site is a place in which evidence of past activity is preserved , and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and represents a part of the archaeological record.Beyond this, the definition and geographical extent of a 'site' can vary widely,...

 in the southwestern Sinai Peninsula

Sinai Peninsula

The Sinai Peninsula or Sinai is a triangular peninsula in Egypt about in area. It is situated between the Mediterranean Sea to the north, and the Red Sea to the south, and is the only part of Egyptian territory located in Asia as opposed to Africa, effectively serving as a land bridge between two...

 containing pharonic monuments and ancient turquoise mines from the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms. The Ancient Egyptians knew the site as "the Terraces of Turquoise

Turquoise

Turquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is a hydrous phosphate of copper and aluminium, with the chemical formula CuAl648·4. It is rare and valuable in finer grades and has been prized as a gem and ornamental stone for thousands of years owing to its unique hue...

."

History

The site was rediscovered in 1809 by Ulrich Jasper Seetzen

Ulrich Jasper Seetzen

Ulrich Jasper Seetzen was a German explorer of Arabia and Palestine from Jever, German Frisia.His father sent him to the university of Göttingen, where he graduated in medicine...

, and since then has seen several excavation teams, Richard Lepsius's excavation in 1845 being the first. Major C. K. McDonald's visits to the site, including residence at the site from 1854-1866 (and an effort to mine turquoise there) resulted in only surface finds (arrowheads and such) with no further excavation.; a British Ordnance Survey

Ordnance Survey

Ordnance Survey , an executive agency and non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom, is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, producing maps of Great Britain , and one of the world's largest producers of maps.The name reflects its creation together with...

 of the site was made in 1868-1869, a Harvard University expedition in 1932, and several Israeli excavations between 1967 and 1982, among others.

Monuments, buildings and inscriptions

Ancient Egyptian monuments, buildings and inscriptions span the period from the Third to Twenty-Ninth Dynasties (ca. 2700 BC-1100 BC), although most monuments date only to the Twelfth Dynasty.. The monument raised by Semerkhet

Semerkhet

Semerkhet is the Horus name of an early Egyptian king who ruled during the 1st dynasty. This ruler became known through a tragic legend handed down by ancient Greek historian Manetho, who reported that a calamity of some sort occurred during Semerkhet's reign...

, sixth king of the First Dynasty, at Maghareh is the first Egyptian monument outside the Nile valley. Two Third Dynasty rock tables of king Sanakht are found in the valley, as is one of Djoser

Djoser

Netjerikhet or Djoser is the best-known pharaoh of the Third dynasty of Egypt. He commissioned his official, Imhotep, to build the first of the pyramids, a step pyramid for him at Saqqara...

 and two virtually identical tablest of king Sekhemkhet

Sekhemkhet

Sekhemkhet was a Pharaoh in Egypt during the Third dynasty. According to the Manethonian tradition, a king known as Tyris reigned for a relatively brief period of seven years, and modern scholars believe Djoserty and Sekhemkhet are the same person...

. Tables of Snefru

Snefru

Snefru is a cryptographic hash function invented by Ralph Merklein 1990which supports 128-bit and 256-bit output. It was named after the Egyptian Pharaoh Sneferu, continuing the tradition of the Khufu and Khafre block ciphers....

 and Khufu

Khufu

Khufu , also known as Cheops or, in Manetho, Suphis , was a Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt's Old Kingdom. He reigned from around 2589 to 2566 BC. Khufu was the second pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty. He is generally accepted as being the builder of the Great Pyramid of Giza, one of the Seven Wonders of...

 from the Fourth Dynasty are also found there. The Fifth Dynasty king Sahure

Sahure

- Etymology :Sahure's birth name means "He who is Close to Re". His Horus name was Nebkhau.- Biography :Sahure was a son of queen Neferhetepes, as shown in scenes from the causeway of Sahure's pyramid complex in Abusir. His father was Userkaf. Sahure's consort was queen Neferetnebty. Reliefs show...

's funerary temble at Abusir

Abusir

Abusir is the name given to an Egyptian archaeological locality – specifically, an extensive necropolis of the Old Kingdom period, together with later additions – in the vicinity of the modern capital Cairo...

 depicts him dispatching a fleet to the Red Sea, probably to collect turquoise at Maghareh. and he raised a monument depicting himself "smiting the Mentju of all foreign lands" which was found at Maghareh as well. Fifth Dynasty rock tablets include those of King Nyuserre Ini

Nyuserre Ini

Nyuserre Ini , was a Pharaoh of Egypt during the Fifth dynasty. He is frequently given a reign of 24 or 25 years and is dated from ca. 2445 BC to 2421 BC. His prenomen, Nyuserre, means "Possessed of Re's Power"...

 accompanied by a libation vase and images of the gods Horus

Horus

Horus is one of the oldest and most significant deities in the Ancient Egyptian religion, who was worshipped from at least the late Predynastic period through to Greco-Roman times. Different forms of Horus are recorded in history and these are treated as distinct gods by Egyptologists...

 and Thoth

Thoth

Thoth was considered one of the more important deities of the Egyptian pantheon. In art, he was often depicted as a man with the head of an ibis or a baboon, animals sacred to him. His feminine counterpart was Seshat...

, one of king Menkauhor Kaiu

Menkauhor Kaiu

Menkauhor Kaiu , was a Pharaoh of the Fifth dynasty during the Old Kingdom. He was the successor of King Nyuserre Ini and was succeeded by Djedkare Isesi. Menkauhor's royal name or prenomen means "Eternal are the Souls of Horus".-Family:Menkauhor may have been a son of Nyuserre...

, and three of king Djedkare Isesi

Djedkare Isesi

Djedkare Isesi in Greek known as Tancheres from Manetho's Aegyptiaca, was a Pharaoh of Egypt during the Fifth dynasty. He is assigned a reign of twenty-eight years by the Turin Canon although some Egyptologists believe this is an error and should rather be thirty-eight years...

see relief of Sekhemkhet

In addition to pharaonic monuments, an Old Kingdom settlement was founded on the summit of a hill in Wadi Igneh containing 125 rough stone structures containing wood ash and potsherds, some of which are of Nile Valley clay.