The Chariots Engraving of Timna' (Israel) revisited

This article offers a new interpretation of the so-called Chariots Engraving discovered in the Timna' Valley of Israel by Beno Rothenberg in 1960. Challenging previous interpretations, it suggests that the engraving was made in a single time frame and does not represent a multi-phased construction project. By means of a detailed analysis, this article further proposes that the engraving portrays hunting activities performed by Egyptian military units attached to a late New Kingdom expedition at the Timna' Valley copper mines. This interpretation and additional considerations concerning the location of the engraving indicate that such military units performed various tasks in the expedition: protection, surveillance, control, and supply of game to the major body of the workforce.