Serabit Khadim — The Bedouin of the East

Briefing

The mission opens with the history panel (message_history_serabit_khadim) and the mission briefing popup (message_mission_serabit_khadim):

Serabit el-Khadim is a real plateau in the southwest Sinai peninsula where the ancient Egyptians mined turquoise from the Old Kingdom onward. A temple of Hathor, "Lady of Turquoise", stood at the site, and the Proto-Sinaitic inscriptions discovered there by Flinders Petrie's 1905 expedition are among the earliest known alphabetic writing. In the campaign this is the first mission of the Old Kingdom block: a hostile desert outpost with no Nile floodplain, sustained by mining, hunting, and caravan trade.

Objectives

• Population 2 000 citizens
• Kingdom rating 80
• Housing level 4
• Culture / prosperity / monuments off

Goals match mission1.pak scenario 11. Kingdom 80 is the real difficulty: refused or late requests hit reputation hard. Keeping copper, weapons, and luxury goods flowing is the core of the mission.

Scripted events

Full empire redefine + event schedule verified against pak scenario 11 (2026-07-25 dump). Empire id 8. Scenario enemy is Libyan (ENEMY_7_LIBIAN). No land/sea invasion spawn points in pak. Favour-KR Pharaoh army size 51 (attack random). Timed raids use pak attack targets (vaults / food / best buildings / random).

Strategy

Serabit Khadim is a desert survival mission: no floodplain farming, hostile raids from year 2, and a kingdom rating goal that punishes a stalled economy. Everything revolves around the two mines and the defense of the settlement.

Phase 1 — Settle and feed

Food comes from Hunting Lodges — ostrich herds roam the map. Place housing near the road, cover it with Water Supply, Firehouse, Architect's Post, and Police Station, and set up two or more Hunting Lodges with a Granary and Bazaar. There is no Nilometer here; water and food are scarce, so keep the housing block compact.

Phase 2 — Mines and industry

Copper Mines and Gemstone Mines are the reason this expedition exists. Site them on the ore-bearing rock, staff them via Work Camps, and store output in Storage Yards. Clay Pits (groundwater on the map) feed the Pottery Workshop; from year 1 month 0 the desert can flood up to five pits each year — keep spares or import clay from Behdet. A Weaponsmith turns copper into weapons; the Jewels Workshop turns gems into luxury goods.

Phase 3 — Defense

The first Libyan raid arrives late in year 1, then larger waves from year 2 onward. Build a Recruiter, a Weaponsmith, and at least one Infantry Fort and one Archers Fort before year 2. Mud walls, gatehouses, and towers are available — wall off the approach to the housing block and mines. The old outpost ruins on the map hint at the defensive line. Raids continue through the mission, so do not disband the army after the first victory.

Phase 4 — Trade and the kingdom rating

Five land routes (all start closed — pay to open): Men-nefer (350), Nekhen (400), Behdet (500), Abu (540), Selima Oasis (1 100). Import food staples, beer, linen, timber, and papyrus; export copper, gems, and jewelry. Fulfill every request from Pharaoh. If the rating stalls, send gifts from personal savings — and watch favour (Pharaoh army of 51 when kingdom hits 0).

Tips

• Copper 8 and luxury 16 are recurring (yearly calendar slot), but the next cycle waits until the previous request for that resource has finished and at least one month has passed — no stacking.
• Keep 8 copper ready before year 1 month 7; the first gift is 32 chickpeas the same month.
• Ostrich herds are remake-added for hunting (pak has no animal herds); keep lodges near both spawn points.
• Temples of Seth keep the desert god appeased. Ra's blessing helps trade.
• Housing level 4 plus population 2 000 — Scribal School and Booth→Pavilion matter in a compact block.

Available buildings

All buildings are available from mission start — there are no progressive unlocks in this mission:

// m_011_serabit_khadim.js — full empire redefine 2026-07-25
mission11 {
  map_file : "data/maps/m_011_serabit_khadim.map"
  start_message : "message_mission_serabit_khadim"
  player_rank : 5

  choice [                       // post-victory: Buhen (13) / Dahshur (14)
    { name : "Buhen",   id : 13 }
    { name : "Dahshur", id : 14 }
  ]

  initial_funds [30000, 20000, 15000, 10000, 8000]
  debt_interest [10, 15, 20, 25, 30]

  win_criteria {
    population    { enabled : true, goal : 2000 }
    kingdom       { enabled : true, goal : 80 }
    housing_level { enabled : true, goal : 4 }
  }

  entry_point [28, 84]
  exit_point  [83, 84]
  // empire id=8; hide_pak_* + cities/routes/ornaments/texts
}