Mount Sinai

For the biblical Mount Sinai, and a discussion of its possible locations, see Mount Sinai (Bible). For other uses, see Mount Sinai (disambiguation).
Mount Sinai
Arabic: جَبَل مُوْسَى, romanized: Jabal Mūsā[a]
Mount Sinai as seen from the southwest
Highest point
Elevation2,285 m (7,497 ft)
Prominence334 m (1,096 ft)
Coordinates28°32′21.9″N 33°58′31.5″E / 28.539417°N 33.975417°E / 28.539417; 33.975417
Naming
Native name
  • طُوْر سِيْنَاء (Arabic)
  • Ṭūr Sīnāʾ (Arabic)
Geography
Mount Sinai is located in Egypt
Mount Sinai
Mount Sinai
Sinai, Asian part of Egypt

Mount Sinai,[b] also known as Jabal Musa (Arabic: جَبَل مُوسَىٰ, lit. 'Mountain of Moses'), is a mountain on the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. It is one of several locations claimed to be the biblical Mount Sinai, the place where, according to the sacred scriptures of the three major Abrahamic religions (Torah, Bible, and Quran), the Hebrew prophet Moses received the Ten Commandments from God.[1][2][3]

It is a 2,285-meter (7,497 ft), moderately high mountain near the city of Saint Catherine in the region known today as the Sinai Peninsula. It is surrounded on all sides by higher peaks in the mountain range of which it is a part. For example, it lies next to Mount Catherine which, at 2,629 m or 8,625 ft, is the highest peak in Egypt.[4]

Geology

Jebel Musa in the 1869 Ordnance Survey of the Peninsula of Sinai, shown north of Mount Catherine (Jebel Katarina) and south of Willow Peak (Ras es-Safsafeh)

Mount Sinai's rocks were formed during the late stage of the evolution of the Arabian-Nubian Shield. Mount Sinai displays a ring complex[5] that consists of alkaline granites intruded into diverse rock types, including volcanics. The granites range in composition from syenogranite to alkali feldspar granite. The volcanic rocks are alkaline to peralkaline, and they are represented by subaerial flows and eruptions and subvolcanic porphyry.

Religious significance

Judaism and Christianity

Main article: Mount Sinai (Bible)

Immediately north of the mountain is the 6th-century Saint Catherine's Monastery. The summit has a mosque that is still used by Muslims, and a Greek Orthodox chapel, constructed in 1934 on the ruins of a 16th-century church, that is not open to the public. The chapel encloses the rock which is considered to be the source for the biblical Tablets of Stone.[6] At the summit also is "Moses' cave", where the Hebrew prophet Moses is believed to have waited to receive the Ten Commandments from God.[1][2][3]

Islam

The Jabal Musa is associated with the Islamic prophet Mūsā ibn ʿImrān (i.e., Moses).[2] In particular, numerous references to Jabal Musa exist in the Quran,[7][8] where it is called Ṭūr Saināʾ,[9] Ṭūr Sīnīn,[10] and aṭ-Ṭūr[11][12] and al-Jabal (both meaning "the Mount").[13] As for the adjacent Wād Ṭuwā (Valley of Tuwa), it is considered as being muqaddas[14][15] (sacred),[16][17] and a part of it is called Al-Buqʿah Al-Mubārakah ("The blessed Place").[12]

  • Saint Catherine's Monastery, looking down from Mount Sinai
    Saint Catherine's Monastery, looking down from Mount Sinai
  • The mosque at the summit
    The mosque at the summit
  • The chapel at the summit
    The chapel at the summit

Ascent and summit

There are two principal routes to the summit. The longer and shallower route, Siket El Bashait, takes about 2.5 hours on foot, though camels can be used. The steeper, more direct route (Siket Sayidna Musa) is up the 3,750 "steps of penitence" in the ravine behind the monastery.[18]

  • NNE view from the summit
    NNE view from the summit
  • NW view from the summit
    NW view from the summit
  • The last few meters of the climb up the mountain
    The last few meters of the climb up the mountain
  • Sunrise
    Sunrise
A panoramic view from the summit of Mount Sinai

See also

  • Hashem El Tarif
  • Sacred mountains
  • Jebel Musa, Morocco, a similarly named mountain in Morocco

References

  1. ^ a b Gray, John (January 1954). "The Desert Sojourn of the Hebrews and the Sinai-Horeb Tradition". Vetus Testamentum. 4 (1). Leiden and Boston: Brill Publishers on behalf of the International Organization for the Study of the Old Testament: 148–154. doi:10.1163/156853354X00136. ISSN 1568-5330. JSTOR 1515877.
  2. ^ a b c Rubin, Uri (April 2014). "Moses and the Holy Valley Ṭuwan: On the Biblical and Midrashic Background of a Qur'ānic scene". Journal of Near Eastern Studies. 73 (1). Chicago: University of Chicago Press: 73–81. doi:10.1086/674614. ISSN 1545-6978.
  3. ^ a b Yadin, Azzan (Winter 2003). "קול as Hypostasis in the Hebrew Bible". Journal of Biblical Literature. 122 (4). Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature: 601–626. doi:10.2307/3268068. ISSN 0021-9231.
  4. ^ "Sinai Geology". AllSinai.info. Archived from the original on 2011-07-18. Retrieved 2006-08-29.
  5. ^ Hanaa M. Salem and A. A. ElFouly, "Minerals Reconnaissance at Saint Catherine Area, Southern Central Sinai, Egypt and their Environmental Impacts on Human Health" Archived 2012-06-01 at the Wayback Machine. ICEHM2000, Cairo University, Egypt, September 2000, pp. 586–98
  6. ^ "Mount Sinai, Egypt". Places of Peace and Power. Archived from the original on 2011-02-24. Retrieved 2006-08-29.
  7. ^ Sharīf, J.; Herklots, G. A. (1832). Qanoon-e-Islam: Or, The Customs of the Moosulmans of India; Comprising a Full and Exact Account of Their Various Rites and Ceremonies, from the Moment of Birth Till the Hour of Death. Parbury, Allen, and Company. koh-e-toor.
  8. ^ Abbas, K. A. (1984). The World is My Village: A Novel with an Index. Ajanta Publications. ISBN 978-0-8364-1131-7. Archived from the original on 2023-12-28. Retrieved 2021-06-01.
  9. ^ Quran 23:20
  10. ^ Quran 95:2
  11. ^ Quran 2:63–93
  12. ^ a b Quran 28:3–86
  13. ^ Quran 7:103–156
  14. ^ Quran 20:9–99
  15. ^ Quran 79:15–25
  16. ^ Ibn Kathir (2013-01-01). Dr Mohammad Hilmi Al-Ahmad (ed.). Stories of the Prophets: [قصص الأنبياء [انكليزي. Dar Al Kotob Al Ilmiyah (Arabic: دَار الْـكُـتُـب الْـعِـلْـمِـيَّـة). ISBN 978-2745151360. Archived from the original on 2023-12-28. Retrieved 2021-06-01.
  17. ^ Elhadary, Osman (2016-02-08). "11, 15". Moses in the Holy Scriptures of Judaism, Christianity and Islam: A Call for Peace. BookBaby. ISBN 978-1483563039.
  18. ^ "Mount Sinai". AllSinai.info. Archived from the original on 2011-07-18. Retrieved 2006-08-29.
  1. ^ Egyptian Arabic: جَبَل مُوسَىٰ, romanized: Gabal Mūsā
    Coptic: Ⲡⲧⲟⲟⲩ Ⲥⲓⲛⲁ, romanized: Ptoou Sina
    Classical Syriac: ܛܘܪܐ ܕܣܝܢܝ Ṭūrāʾ d-Sīnayy
    Ancient Greek: Ὄρος Σινά, romanized: Oros Sina
    Latin: Mons Sinai
    Hebrew: הַר סִינַי‬, romanized: Har Sīnay
  2. ^ Hebrew: הַר סִינַי‎ Har Sīnay; Aramaic: ܛܘܪܐ ܕܣܝܢܝ Ṭūrāʾ dəSīnăy; Coptic: Ⲡⲧⲟⲟⲩ Ⲥⲓⲛⲁ
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