Proto-Sinaitic inscription inside a miner's cave in the southern Sinai, near Serabit el Khadim. In the Bible, the prophet Elijah flees to Mount Sinai/Horeb and dwells in a cave when God makes his presence manifest to him in a theophany (1 Kings 19:8-14). Perhaps the Bible is recalling caves being sacred and associated with Proto-Sinaitic inscriptions invoking the Asiatic miner's god's name El ? Two Egyptian gods also dwelt in sacred caves at the Egyptian mining temple at Serabit el Khadim, Hathor the Cow-goddess who gave birth to the Sun each day as the Golden Calf, and Sopdu, a warrior god in Asiatic garb, "Mighty Bull who tramples the Menti nomads and Lord of the East' (This photo is from cave 'M', cf. p. 138. Raphael Giveon. The Stones of Sinai Speak. Tokyo. Gakuseisha. 1978)
