El-Enany Becomes the First Antiquities Minister to Visit the Temple of Hathor in South Sinai, on an 850-Meter Mountain

By Akram Medhat

Dr. Khaled El-Enany, Minister of Antiquities, accompanied by Maj. Gen. Khaled Fouda, Governor of South Sinai, and Dr. Mostafa Waziri, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, visited the Temple of Hathor in the Serabit el-Khadim archaeological area in South Sinai, which lies about 850 meters above sea level.

The tour began with an inspection of the South Sinai Training Center and the administrative building at Serabit el-Khadim, which began operating in 2017 to train archaeologists in modern scientific methods of documenting rock inscriptions. In December 2018, the committee of the archaeological documentation project for rock inscriptions in South Sinai set out from the center.

El-Enany then climbed the mountain for an hour and a half to reach the Temple of Hathor, becoming the first antiquities minister to visit the temple. He invited tourists who practice climbing to visit the temple and practice their favorite sport at the same time, which encourages adventure tourism, which he described as enjoyable, noting that in previous years the ministry built stairs to help visitors climb the mountain to reach the temple. The Governor of South Sinai promised to facilitate visits in coordination with the security authorities.

For their part, the area's residents celebrated the visit of the Minister of Antiquities and the Governor of South Sinai to Serabit el-Khadim, displaying their handicrafts and heritage products, taking souvenir photos with them and sharing the famous Sinai tea.

The Serabit el-Khadim area lies southeast of the city of Abu Zenima, 50 km inside the mountains. The area was used for turquoise mining from the Predynastic period through the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms.

The Temple of Hathor was built atop Mount Serabit el-Khadim, 850 meters above sea level. It is 80 meters long and 35 meters wide and was built by King Amenemhat I. It contains halls with commemorative stelae of Egypt's pharaohs, such as Amenemhat I, Senusret I, Thutmose III and Ramses II.

The area contains more than 28 turquoise mining caves, located in the same mountain as the temple, with hieroglyphic inscriptions at their entrances belonging to some of Egypt's rulers from the Middle and New Kingdoms.