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Daniel Berti

MINING WITH A PRAYER. During the Egyptian Middle Kingdom, countless workers toiled in Serabit’s dark, cavernous mines searching for turquoise. Working in cramped, poorly ventilated caves supported by only a handful of stumpy rock-hewn pillars, the miners no doubt looked to their gods for protection and guidance. Were the inscriptions they carved on the walls of the mines meant to secure the eternal blessing of the gods as the miners searched for the precious turquoise?