DOPHKAH dŏf’ kə (דָּפְקָֽה, LXX ̔Ραφακα). A place where the children of Israel encamped on their journey from the Red Sea to Sinai (Num 33:12). It has been identified with Serabit el-Khadim where the Egyptians carried on mining, and where the famous “Sinaitic Inscriptions” were found (dating from about 1525 b.c. and written in a Sem. hieroglyphic alphabet). J. Simons suggests that the name be read “Maphqah,” for “Mafqat” is the name of the turquoise mined there as well as the name of the district.

Bibliography J. Simons, Geographical and Topographical Texts of the OT (1959), 252; G. Wright, Biblical Archaeology (rev. 1962), 64.