A study recently published by Dr. Itamar Taxel of the Antiquities Authority, Dr. Uzi Avner of the Desert and Dead Sea Research Center, and Dr. Nitzan Amiti-Fries of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, shows that for about 400 years, the Eilas Mountains have “magical services” to Muslim pilgrims.
Based on the study of stone and clay artifacts discovered in the late 1990s at an archaeological site in the mountains of Eilat, scientists concluded that these objects were used in magical rituals to remove evil spirits, cure diseases, and more.
Among the finds were ritual rattles, two miniature altars, probably used for burning incense, a statuette of a naked woman, possibly a goddess, with her hands raised in a position typical of gods and priests, and a number of other ritual objects. The study of the clay from which the ceramic products were made showed that these items were made in Egypt.
According to the Antiquities Authority, the objects were discovered along the Pilgrim’s Road, which started from Cairo, crossed the Sinai Peninsula and continued through the area of today’s Eilat Mountains to Mecca. The road was used from the first centuries after the emergence of Islam – in the 7th century AD, until the end of the 19th century.
Despite their commitment to Islam, Muslim pilgrims on their way to Mecca visited sorcerers on their way to obtain various magical services.
