Sinai Team Establishes Evidence of Jewish Life in Ancient Egypt

An Israeli archaeological team–which spent weeks studying the terrain around Jebel Musa in the Sinai Peninsula before leaving the area as the United Nations Emergency Force moved in–found evidence of Jewish, Roman and Byzantine life in ancient Egypt over the centuries, one of Israel’s top scholars reported last night.

Addressing the opening of the 13th annual congress of the Israel Archaeological Society, Prof. Benjamin Mazar, president of the Hebrew University and head of the scientific mission which went to the Sinai, said that the Israeli team had to leave the area before it could establish scientific support for the Biblical story of Moses and the Israelites wanderings in the desert. However, Prof. Mazar said, the scenery around Jebel Musa Mount of Moses) corresponds to the Biblical description of the area where God gave Moses the Ten Commandments.

Dr. Nahum Goldmann, who addressed the opening session, hailed the achievements of Israeli archaeology which, he said, had proved in the last few years that Israel was no stranger to the Middle East. “Every stone and find indicate that our forefathers lived, prayed and fought here in ancient times, too.” He pointed out that the Jewish people are “legitimately returning to this country. No other people have showed such faithfulness in the course of numberless succeeding generations as the Jews toward Israel, the Jewish Agency president asserted.”

Dr. Yigal Yadin, Israel’s most famous archaeologist and the first Chief of Staff of her Army, reported on the excavations on the Galilean mountain peak which was the site of the ancient city of Hazor which in its day sat astride the main trade route between Mesopotamia and Egypt, The exploration is now in its third consecutive year, the largest single project of its kind ever undertaken in this country. Two hundred laborers and 45 specialists are hard at work bringing to light the remnants of life in Biblical times.