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79-397: In other biblical passages, these events are described as having transpired at Mount Sinai . Although most scholars consider Sinai and Horeb to have been different names for the same place, there is a minority body of opinion that they may have been different locations. The Protestant reformer John Calvin took the view that Sinai and Horeb were the same mountain, with the eastern side of

158-721: A Kenite who was a Midianite priest, shortly before encountering Sinai, this suggests that Sinai would be somewhere near their territory in Saudi Arabia; the Kenites and Midianites appear to have resided east of the Gulf of Aqaba . Additionally, the Song of Deborah , which some textual scholars consider one of the oldest parts of the Bible, portrays God as having dwelt at Mount Seir , and seems to suggest that this equates with Mount Sinai; Mount Seir designates

237-505: A desert plain in Sinai as well as to a Canaanite city in Syria and perhaps to a city in the northeast Delta of Egypt . It has also been recognized that it may somehow be connected with seneh (Aram. sanya ), the name of a kind of bush where Moses is said to have first witnessed the theophany of Yahweh. Similarly, in his book Sinai & Zion , American Hebrew Bible scholar Jon D. Levenson discusses

316-481: A highly modified form, giving a much larger role to the redactors (editors), who are now seen as adding much material of their own rather than as simply passive combiners of documents. Among those who reject the documentary approach altogether, the most significant revisions have been to combine E with J as a single source, and to see the Priestly source as a series of editorial revisions to that text. The alternatives to

395-455: A kind of ring around Jabal Musa. The nawamis were used over and over throughout the centuries for various purposes. Etheria , c.  the 4th/5th century CE , noted that her guides, who were the local "holy men", pointed out these round or circular stone foundations of temporary huts, claiming the children of Israel used them during their stay there. The southern Sinai Peninsula contains archaeological discoveries but to place them with

474-426: A major Paleolithic cult centre, with the surrounding plateau covered with shrines, altars, stone circles, stone pillars, and over 40,000 rock engravings; although the peak of religious activity at the site dates to 2350–2000 BCE, the exodus is dated 15 Nisan 2448 ( Hebrew calendar ; 1313 BCE), and the mountain appears to have been abandoned between 1950 and 1000 BCE, Anati proposed that Jabal Ideid

553-460: A number of different altars, and over 8 metres of the original peak were carved away to leave a flat surface with two 8 metre tall obelisks sticking out of it; these obelisks, which frame the end of the path leading up to them, and are now only 6 metres tall, have led to the mountain being colloquially known as Zibb 'Atuf , meaning penis of love in Arabic . Archaeological artifacts discovered at

632-602: A reference to the Sun , while Sinai may have derived from the name of Sin , the Ancient Mesopotamian religion deity of the Moon , and thus Sinai and Horeb would be the mountains of the Moon and Sun, respectively. The name Horeb first occurs at Exodus 3:1, with the story of Moses and the burning bush . According to Exodus 3:5, the ground of the mountain was considered holy , and Moses

711-503: A reference to the sun , while Sinai may have derived from the name of Sin , the ancient Mesopotamian religion deity of the moon , and thus Sinai and Horeb would be the mountains of the moon and sun, respectively. Regarding the Sin deity assumption, William F. Albright , an American biblical scholar, had stated: ... there is nothing that requires us to explain Him as a modified moon-god. It

790-514: A sacred place dedicated to one of the Semitic deities, even before the Israelites encountered it. Others regard the set of laws given on the mountain to have originated in different time periods from one another, with the later ones mainly being the result of natural evolution over the centuries of the earlier ones, rather than all originating from a single moment in time. Modern scholars differ as to

869-506: A storm especially as the Song of Deborah seems to allude to rain having occurred at the time. According to the biblical account, God spoke directly to the Israelite nation as a whole. Sinai is mentioned by name in ten other locations in the Torah : Exodus 31:18; 34:2 , Leviticus 7:38; 25:1; 26:46; 27:34 , Numbers 1:1; 3:1; 9:1 and Deuteronomy 33:2 . Sinai was also mentioned once by name in

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948-552: Is Greek Orthodox and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site . According to the UNESCO report (60 100  ha / Ref: 954) and website below, this monastery has been called the 'oldest working Christian monastery' in the world – although the Monastery of Saint Anthony , situated across the Red Sea in the desert south of Cairo, also lays claim to that title. Christians settled upon this mountain in

1027-509: Is Mount Catherine, rising 2,610 metres (8,550 feet) above the sea and its sister peak, Jabal Musa (2,285 m [7,497 ft]), is not much further behind in height, but is more conspicuous because of the open plain called er Rachah ("the wide"). Mount Catherine and Jabal Musa are both much higher than any mountains in the Sinaitic desert, or in all of Midian . The highest tops in the Tih desert to

1106-680: Is actually the Mount Sinai mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, with the biblical story reminiscent of an ancient battle of the northern tribes with the Egyptians somewhere in the Jordan valley or Golan heights. [REDACTED] Media related to Mount Sinai (Bible) at Wikimedia Commons Elohist According to the documentary hypothesis , the Elohist (or simply E ) is one of four source documents underlying

1185-408: Is described in 1 Kings 19:1–21 as traveling to Horeb (taking 40 days to walk there from Beersheba ), in a way which implies that its position was familiar when that was written, but there are no biblical references set any later in time. Additionally the passage identifies a cave large enough to lodge in. Also in the beginning of Deuteronomy, where Mozes delivers his last speech on the plains of Moab,

1264-464: Is exemplified in the work of John Van Seters , who places the composition of J (which he, unlike the "fragmentists", sees as a complete document) in the 6th century as an introduction to the Deuteronomistic history (the history of Israel that takes up the series of books from Joshua to Kings ). The Priestly writers later added their supplements to this, and these expansions continued to the end of

1343-507: Is improbable that the name Sinai is derived from that of the Sumerian Zen (older Zu-en ), Akkadian Sin , the moon-god worshiped at Ur (in his form Nannar) and at Harran, since there is no indication that the name Sin was ever employed by the Canaanites or the Semitic nomads of Palestine. It is much more likely that the name Sinai is connected with the place-name Sin , which belongs to

1422-556: Is mentioned: "One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar . Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem , because she is in slavery with her children." Mount Sinai/Horeb is also alluded to in Hebrews 12:18–21 . The location of Horeb is disputed. Jewish and Christian scholars have advanced varying opinions as to its whereabouts since biblical times. Elijah

1501-537: Is no other spot in the whole Peninsula which is nearly so well supplied as the neighborhood of Jabal Musa. ... There is also no other district in the Peninsula which affords such excellent pasturage." Calculating the travels of the Israelites, the Bible Atlas states, "These distances will not, however, allow of our placing Sinai farther East than Jabal Musa." Some point to the absence of material evidence left behind in

1580-572: Is the mountain at which the Ten Commandments were given to Moses by God , according to the Book of Exodus in the Hebrew Bible . In the Book of Deuteronomy , these events are described as having transpired at Mount Horeb . "Sinai" and "Horeb" are generally considered by scholars to refer to the same place. The location of the Mount Sinai described in the Bible remains disputed. The high point of

1659-416: Is this mountain that local tour groups and religious groups presently advertise as the biblical Mount Sinai. Evidently this view was eventually taken up by Christian groups as well, as in the 16th century a church was constructed at the peak of this mountain, which was replaced by a Greek Orthodox chapel in 1954. In early Christian times, a number of Anchorites settled on Mount Serbal , considering it to be

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1738-611: Is viewed as consisting of various fragments of earlier narratives that are incorporated into the Jahwist document. Modern scholars agree that separate sources and multiple authors underlie the Pentateuch , but there is much disagreement on how these sources were used to write the first five books of the Bible. This documentary hypothesis dominated much of the 20th century, but the 20th-century consensus surrounding this hypothesis has now been broken down. Those who uphold it now tend to do so in

1817-608: The Jabal al-Nour (meaning mountain of light ), a volcanic mountain at the northern end of the Gulf of Aqaba, with Horeb being argued to be a different mountain – the nearby Jebel Ertowa. Beke's suggestion has not found as much scholarly support as the suggestion that Mount Sinai is the el Jaww basin volcano Hala-'l Badr , as advocated by Alois Musil in the early 20th century, J. Koenig, and Colin Humphreys in 2003. A possible candidate within

1896-550: The Levites , and weaving them into a single text. It has been argued that it reflects the views of northern refugees who came to Judah after the fall of the Kingdom of Israel (Samaria) in 722 BCE. E has a particular fascination for traditions concerning the Kingdom of Israel and its heroes such as Joshua and Joseph . E favors Israel over the Kingdom of Judah (e.g., claiming that Shechem

1975-613: The Torah , together with the Jahwist (or Yahwist), the Deuteronomist and the Priestly source . The Elohist is so named because of its pervasive use of the word Elohim to refer to the Israelite God. The Elohist source is characterized by, among other things, an abstract view of God, using Horeb instead of Sinai for the mountain where Moses received the laws of Israel and the use of

2054-504: The tell of Feiran , the principal oasis , of southern Sinai and discovered the site abounded not only in Nabatean sherds but in wheel-burnished sherds typical of the Kingdom of Judah, belonging to Iron Age II. Edward Robinson insisted that the Plain of ar-Raaha adjacent to Jabal Musa could have accommodated the Israelites. Edward Hull stated that, "this traditional Sinai in every way meets

2133-683: The 3rd century CE. Georgians from the Caucasus moved to the Sinai Peninsula in the fifth century, and a Georgian colony was formed there in the ninth century. Georgians erected their own churches in the area of the modern Mount Sinai. The construction of one such church was connected with the name of David the Builder , who contributed to the erection of churches in Georgia and abroad as well. There were political, cultural, and religious motives for locating

2212-535: The 4th century BCE. In the E source God's name is always presented as " Elohim " or " El " until the revelation of God's name to Moses , after which God is referred to as יהוה ‎, often represented in English as " YHWH ". E is theorized to have been composed by collecting the various stories and traditions concerning biblical Israel and its associated tribes ( Dan , Napthali , Gad , Asher , Issachar , Zebulun , Ephraim , Manasseh , Benjamin ), and

2291-621: The Arabia theory has been that of Jabal al-Lawz (meaning 'mountain of almonds'). Advocates for Jabal al-Lawz include L. Möller as well as R. Wyatt , R. Cornuke , and L. Williams. A. Kerkeslager believes that the archaeological evidence is too tenuous to draw conclusions, but has stated that "Jabal al Lawz may also be the most convincing option for identifying the Mt. Sinai of biblical tradition" and should be researched. A number of researchers support this hypothesis while others dispute it. One of

2370-485: The Israelites journeyed in roughly a straight line from Egypt via Kadesh Barnea , and locating Sinai in Saudi Arabia would suggest Kadesh Barnea was skirted to the south, some scholars have wondered whether Sinai was much closer to the vicinity of Kadesh Barnea itself. Halfway between Kadesh Barnea and Petra, in the southwest Negev desert in Israel, is Har Karkom , which Emmanuel Anati excavated, and discovered to have been

2449-615: The Israelites travel in a roughly straight line to Kadesh Barnea from the Yam Suph (literally meaning "the Reed Sea ", but considered traditionally to refer to the Red Sea ), and the detour via the south of the Sinai peninsula is only present in the Priestly Source . A number of scholars and commentators have therefore looked towards the more central and northern parts of the Sinai peninsula for

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2528-530: The Israelites went directly to either Kadesh or Midian ... a journey of eleven days from Kadesh to Horeb can be properly understood only in relationship to the southern portion of the Sinai Peninsula." Local Bedouins who have long inhabited the area have identified Jabal Musa as Mount Sinai. In the 4th century CE small settlements of monks set up places of worship around Jabal Musa. An Egyptian pilgrim named Ammonius , who had in past times made various visits to

2607-502: The Lord, saying, 'Is the Lord among us or not?'" The only other use of the name in Exodus is in chapter 33, where Horeb is the location where the Israelites stripped off their ornaments. This passage (i.e., Exodus 33:1–6) suggests that Horeb was the location from which the Israelites set off towards Canaan as they resumed their Exodus journey. In Deuteronomy , Horeb is mentioned several times in

2686-508: The Ten Commandments was given in the Book of Exodus , primarily between chapters 19 and 24, during which Sinai is mentioned by name twice, in Exodus 19:2; 24:16 . In the story Sinai was enveloped in a cloud, it quaked and was filled with smoke, while lightning-flashes shot forth, and the roar of thunder mingled with the blasts of a trumpet; the account later adds that fire was seen burning at

2765-509: The account of the wanderings of the Israelites in the wilderness. Moses recalled in Deuteronomy 1:6 that God had said to the Israelites at Horeb, "You have dwelt long enough at this mountain: turn and take your journey", confirming that Horeb was the location from which they set off towards Canaan. Other mentions of Horeb in Deuteronomy are found in the account of the delivery to Moses of the Ten Commandments , and in subsequent references back to

2844-511: The area, identified Jabal Musa as the Holy Mount in the 4th century. Empress Helena , c.  330 CE , built a church to protect monks against raids from nomads. She chose the site for the church from the identification which had been handed down through generations through the Bedouins. She also reported the site was confirmed to her in a dream. Egyptologist Julien Cooper has suggested that

2923-477: The area. The earliest references to Jabal Musa as Mount Sinai or Mount Sinai being located in the present-day Sinai peninsula are inconclusive. There is evidence that prior to 100  CE , well before the Christian monastic period, Jewish sages equated Jabal Musa with Mount Sinai. Graham Davies of Cambridge University argues that early Jewish pilgrimages identified Jabal Musa as Mount Sinai and this identification

3002-449: The biblical mountain, and in the 4th century a monastery was constructed at its base. Nevertheless, Josephus had stated that Mount Sinai was "the highest of all the mountains thereabout", which would imply that Mount Catherine was actually the mountain in question, if Sinai was to be sited on the Sinai peninsula at all. According to textual scholars, in the JE version of the Exodus narrative,

3081-594: The church on Mount Sinai. Georgian monks living there were deeply connected with their motherland. The church had its own plots in Kartli . Some of the Georgian manuscripts of Sinai remain there, but others are kept in Tbilisi , St. Petersburg , Prague , New York City , Paris , or in private collections. The peninsula is associated with Aaron and Moses , who are also regarded as Prophets . In particular, numerous references to

3160-465: The dispute was in the mid-nineteenth century. Hebrew Bible texts describe the theophany at Mount Sinai in terms which a minority of scholars, following Charles Beke (1873), have suggested may literally describe the mountain as a volcano . Mount Sinai is one of the most sacred locations in Judaism , Christianity and Islam . The biblical account of the giving of the instructions and teachings of

3239-519: The documentary approach can be broadly divided between "fragmentary" and "supplementary" theories. Fragmentary hypotheses, seen notably in the work of Rolf Rendtorff and Erhard Blum, see the Pentateuch as growing through the gradual accretion of material into larger and larger blocks before being joined together, first by a Deuteronomic writer, and then by a Priestly writer (6th/5th century BCE), who also added his own material. The "supplementary" approach

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3318-557: The entrance to the Siq is the Ain Musa, meaning spring of Moses ; the 13th century Arab chronicler Numari stated that Ain Musa was the location where Moses had brought water from the ground, by striking it with his rod . The Jebel al-Madhbah was evidently considered particularly sacred, as the well known ritual building known as The Treasury is carved into its base, the mountain top is covered with

3397-511: The exact geographical position of Mount Sinai. The Sinai peninsula has traditionally been considered Sinai's location by Christians, although the peninsula gained its name from this tradition, and was not called that in Josephus 's time or earlier. (The Sinai was earlier inhabited by the Monitu and was called Mafkat or Country of Turquoise .) The Elijah narrative appears to suggest that when it

3476-561: The exception of Moses, Joshua, and Caleb. [The] nation survived, and as it was with the nation as an organic whole that the covenant had been made. It might be with propriety said that it was made with those whom Moses addressed at this time, inasmuch as they constituted the nation." 1 Kings 8:9 and 2 Chronicles 5 :10 state that the Ark of the Covenant contained only the tablets delivered to Moses at Horeb. In 1 Kings 19 :8-18, Elijah visits "Horeb

3555-419: The exodus from Egypt is a daunting task inasmuch as the proposed dates of the Exodus vary widely. The Exodus has been dated from the early Bronze Age to the late Iron Age II. Egyptian pottery in the southern Sinai during the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age I (Ramesside) periods has been discovered at the mining camps of Serabit el-Khadim and Timna. Objects which bore Proto-Sinaitic inscriptions,

3634-533: The first time. The biblical description of God's descent seems to be in conflict with the statement shortly after that God spoke to the Israelites from Heaven . While biblical scholars argue that these passages are from different sources, the Mekhilta argues that God had lowered the heavens and spread them over Sinai, and the Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer argues that a hole was torn in the heavens, and Sinai

3713-417: The journey of the Israelites but Dr. Beit-Arieh wrote, "Perhaps it will be argued, by those who subscribe to the traditional account in the Bible, that the Israelite material culture was only of the flimsiest kind and left no trace. Presumably the Israelite dwellings and artifacts consisted only of perishable materials." Hoffmeier wrote, "None of the encampments of the wilderness wanderings can be meaningful if

3792-435: The link between Sinai and the burning bush (סנה səneh) that Moses encountered at Mount Horeb in verses 3:1–6 of Exodus. He asserts that the similarity of Sînay (Sinai) and seneh (bush) is not coincidental; rather, the wordplay might derive "from the notion that the emblem of the Sinai deity was a tree of some sort." Deuteronomy 33:16 identifies YHWH with "the one who dwells in the bush." Consequently, Levenson argues that if

3871-626: The location is given to be 11 days to Horeb, which is already an indication that it is not Mount Sinai (ca 500 km distance). If Horeb was the same mountain as Mount Sinai, then Beersheba should be closer to the mountain than the location of the plains of Moab. This strongly suggest a location somewhere more to the north or the east, places more familiar to the northern tribes than the deep southern Sinai. Christian tradition considers Mount Horeb to be Willow Peak , located adjacent to Saint Catherine's Monastery . Mount Sinai (Bible) Mount Sinai ( Hebrew : הַר סִינַי‬ ‎ , Har Sīnay )

3950-479: The main center of Moon worship seems to have been concentrated in the southern Sinai peninsula which the Egyptians seized from the Semitic people who had built shrines and mining camps there. Robinson says that inscriptions with pictures of Moon worship objects are found all over the southern peninsula but are missing on Jabal Musa and Mount Catherine. This oddity may suggest religious cleansing. Groups of nawamis have been discovered in southern Sinai, creating

4029-523: The modern Sinai peninsula and northwestern Saudi Arabia. A suggested possible naturalistic explanation of the biblical devouring fire is that Sinai could have been an erupting volcano ; this has been suggested by Charles Beke , Sigmund Freud , and Immanuel Velikovsky , among others. This possibility would exclude all the peaks on the Sinai peninsula and Seir, but would make a number of locations in north western Saudi Arabia reasonable candidates. In 1873, C. Beke proposed Jebel Baggir which he called

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4108-535: The most recent developments has been the release of a documentary which identifies a peak within the Jabal al-Lawz mountain range, Jabal Maqla , as Mount Sinai; the film includes video and photographic evidence in the project. Jabal al-Lawz has been rejected by scholars such as J. K. Hoffmeier who details what he calls Cornuke's "monumental blunders" and others. G. Franz published a refutation of this hypothesis. While equating Sinai with Petra would indicate that

4187-520: The mount exist in the Quran, where it is called Ṭūr Sīnā’ , Ṭūr Sīnīn , and aṭ-Ṭūr and al-Jabal (both meaning "the Mount"). As for the adjacent Wād Ṭuwā ( Valley of Tuwa), it is considered as being muqaddas ( sacred ), and a part of it is called Al-Buqʿah Al-Mubārakah ( Arabic : ٱلْبُقْعَة ٱلْمُبَارَكَة , "The Blessed Place"). Some modern biblical scholars explain Mount Sinai as having been

4266-468: The mount of God", and encounters God there. According to the documentary hypothesis , the name Sinai is used in the Torah only by the Jahwist and Priestly Source from Judah, whereas Horeb is used only by the Elohist and Deuteronomist from Israel, which is part of the body of evidence for the hypothesis. There are no references to Horeb in the New Testament . In Galatians 4:24–25 , Mount Sinai

4345-574: The mountain being called Sinai and the western side being called Horeb. Abraham Ibn Ezra suggested that there was one mountain, "only it had two tops, which bore these different names". Locally, around Saint Catherine's Monastery , which is built adjacent to the Egyptian Mount Sinai and to Willow Peak , the latter is considered to be the Biblical Mount Horeb. "Horeb" is thought to mean dry place or glowing / heat , which seems to be

4424-414: The mountain having other names: Also mentioned in most Islamic sources: The earliest Christian traditions place this event at the nearby Mount Serbal , at the foot of which a monastery was founded in the 4th century; it was only in the 6th century that the monastery moved to the foot of Mount Catherine , following the guidance of Josephus ' earlier claim that Sinai was the highest mountain in

4503-552: The mountain range in the centre of Edom . Based on a number of local names and features, in 1927 Ditlef Nielsen identified the Jebel al-Madhbah (meaning mountain of the Altar ) at Petra as being identical to the biblical Mount Sinai; since then other scholars have also made the identification. The valley in which Petra resides is known as the Wadi Musa , meaning valley of Moses , and at

4582-477: The mountain. Mount Sin Bishar , in the west-central part of the peninsula, was proposed to be the biblical Mount Sinai by Menashe Har-El, a biblical geographer at Tel Aviv University . Mount Helal , in the north of the peninsula has also been proposed. Another northern Sinai suggestion is Hashem el-Tarif , some 30 km west of Eilat , Israel . Since Moses is described by the Bible as encountering Jethro ,

4661-413: The name Sinai corresponds with a toponym Ṯnht , attested in the itinerary of an Egyptian official of the 11th Dynasty (c. 2150–1990 BCE). He notes that this toponymn was located in the southern parts of the Sinai Peninsula, corresponding with the geographical location of Jabal Musa. Bedouin tradition considered Jabal Musa , which lies adjacent to Mount Catherine, to be the biblical mountain, and it

4740-496: The north are not much over 1,200 m (4,000 ft). Those in Midian, East of Elath, rise only to 1,300 m (4,200 ft). Even Jabal Serbal, 30 kilometres (20 mi) west of Sinai, is at its highest only 2,050 m (6,730 ft) above the sea. Some scholars believe that Mount Sinai was of ancient sanctity prior to the ascent of Moses described in the Bible. Scholars have theorized that Sinai in part derived its name from

4819-430: The occasion: Deuteronomy 4:10 , 4:15 , 5:2 , 9:8 , 18:16 , and 28:69 . There are similar references at Psalm 106 and Malachi 4:4 . Deuteronomy 5:2 ("The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb") creates the sense that the current generation to whom Moses was speaking had been present at Mount Horeb when Moses descended with the commandments, although "the individuals who [had been] present had all perished with

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4898-414: The original peak has destroyed most other archaeological remains from the late Bronze Age (the standard dating of the Exodus) that might previously have been present. Some have suggested a site in Saudi Arabia, also noting the Apostle Paul 's assertion in the first century CE that Mount Sinai was in Arabia, although in Paul's time, the Roman administrative region of Arabia Petraea would have included both

4977-410: The phrase "fear of God". It habitually locates ancestral stories in the north , especially Ephraim , and the documentary hypothesis holds that it must have been composed in that region, possibly in the second half of the 9th century BCE. Because of its highly fragmentary nature, most scholars now question the existence of the Elohist source as a coherent independent document. Instead, the E material

5056-408: The requirements of the narrative of the Exodus." Hull agreed with Robinson and stated he had no further doubts after studying the great amphitheater leading to the base of the granite cliff of Ras Sufsafeh, that here indeed was the location of the camp and the mount from which the laws of God was delivered to the encampment of Israelites below. F. W. Holland stated "With regard to water-supply there

5135-406: The rest of the Hebrew Bible in Nehemiah 9:13 . In the New Testament , Paul the Apostle referred directly to Sinai in Galatians 4:24 ; 4:25 . According to the Documentary hypothesis , the name "Sinai" is only used in the Torah by the Jahwist and Priestly source , whereas Horeb is only used by the Elohist and Deuteronomist . Horeb is thought to mean "glowing/heat", which seems to be

5214-462: The same as those found in Canaan, were discovered at Serabit el Khadim in the Southern Sinai. Several of these were dated in the later Bronze Age. These encampments provide evidence of miners from southern Canaan. The remote site of Serabit el-Khadem was used for a few months at a time, every couple of years at best, more often once in a generation. The journey to the mines was long, difficult and dangerous. Expeditions headed by Professor Mazar examined

5293-460: The sharpness of its precipices". The traditional Mount Sinai, located in the Sinai Peninsula, is actually the name of a collection of peaks, sometimes referred to as the Holy Mountain peaks, which consist of Jabal Musa, Mount Catherine and Ras Sufsafeh . Etheria (circa 4th century CE) wrote, "The whole mountain group looks as if it were a single peak, but, as you enter the group, [you see that] there are more than one." The highest mountain peak

5372-402: The summit of the mountain. In the biblical account, the fire and clouds are a direct consequence of the arrival of God upon the mountain. According to the biblical story, Moses departed to the mountain and stayed there for 40 days and nights in order to receive the Ten Commandments and he did so twice because he broke the first set of the tablets of stone after returning from the mountain for

5451-413: The top of the mountain indicate that it was once covered by polished shiny blue slate , fitting with the biblical description of paved work of sapphire stone ; biblical references to sapphire are considered by scholars to be unlikely to refer to the stone called sapphire in modern times, as sapphire had a different meaning, and wasn't even mined, before the Roman era. Unfortunately, the removal of

5530-422: The use of "bush" is not a scribal error for "Sinai," Deuteronomy might support the connection between the origins of the word Sinai and tree. According to Rabbinic tradition, the name "Sinai" derives from sin-ah ( שִׂנְאָה ), meaning hatred , in reference to the other nations hating the Jews out of jealousy, due to the Jews being the ones to receive the word of God. Classical rabbinic literature mentions

5609-431: The word for Moon which was "sin" (meaning "the moon" or "to shine"). Antoninus Martyr provides some support for the ancient sanctity of Jabal Musa by writing that Arabian heathens were still celebrating moon feasts there in the 6th century. Lina Eckenstien states that some of the artifacts discovered indicate that "the establishment of the moon-cult in the peninsula dates back to the pre-dynastic days of Egypt." She says

5688-407: Was commanded by God to remove his sandals. Exodus 17:6 describes the incident when the Israelites were in the wilderness without water. When Moses was "upon the rock at Horeb", he strikes the rock and obtains drinking water from the rock. Verse 7 goes on to say that Moses "called the name of the place Massah and Meribah , because of the contention of the children of Israel, and because they tempted

5767-473: Was constructed at the base of this mountain at a site which is claimed to be the site of the biblical burning bush . Josephus wrote that "Moses went up to a mountain that lay between Egypt and Arabia, which was called Sinai." Josephus says that Sinai is "the highest of all the mountains thereabout," and is "the highest of all the mountains that are in that country, and is not only very difficult to be ascended by men, on account of its vast altitude but because of

5846-453: Was equatable with biblical Sinai. Other scholars have criticised this identification, as, in addition to being almost 1000 years too early, it also appears to require the wholesale relocation of the Midianites, Amalekites, and other ancient peoples, from the locations where the majority of scholars currently place them. According to contested research by I. Knohl (2012) Mount Hermon

5925-477: Was in Arabia , which at the time referred to Arabia Petraea . The earliest references to Jabal Musa as Mount Sinai or Mount Sinai being located in the present day Sinai Peninsula are inconclusive. There is evidence that prior to 100 CE, well before the Christian monastic period, Jewish sages equated Jabal Musa with Mount Sinai. Graham Davies of Cambridge University argues that early Jewish pilgrimages identified Jabal Musa as Mount Sinai and this identification

6004-415: Was later adopted by the Christian pilgrims. R. K. Harrison states that, “Jabal Musa ... seems to have enjoyed special sanctity long before Christian times, culminating in its identification with Mt. Sinai." In the second and third centuries BCE Nabataeans were making pilgrimages there, which is indicated in part by inscriptions discovered in the area. In the 6th century, Saint Catherine's Monastery

6083-518: Was later adopted by the Christian pilgrims. R.K. Harrison states that "Jebel Musa ... seems to have enjoyed special sanctity long before Christian times, culminating in its identification with Mt. Sinai." Saint Catherine's Monastery ( Greek : Μονὴ τῆς Ἁγίας Αἰκατερίνης ) lies on the Sinai Peninsula , at the mouth of an inaccessible gorge at the foot of modern Mount Sinai in Saint Catherine at an elevation of 1 550 meters. The monastery

6162-411: Was torn away from the earth and the summit pushed through the hole. "The heavens" could be a metaphor for clouds and the "lake of fire" could be a metaphor for the lava-filled crater. Several bible critics have indicated that the smoke and fire reference from the Bible suggests that Mount Sinai was a volcano ; despite the absence of ash. Other bible scholars have suggested that the description fits

6241-643: Was written, the location of Horeb was still known with some certainty, as Elijah is described as travelling to Horeb on one occasion, but there are no later biblical references to it that suggest the location remained known; Josephus specifies that it was "between Egypt and Arabia", and within Arabia Petraea (a Roman Province encompassing modern Jordan , southern modern Syria , the Sinai Peninsula and northwestern Saudi Arabia with its capital in Petra ). The Pauline Epistles are even more vague, specifying only that it

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