Mount Sinai

For other places named Mount Sinai, see: Mount Sinai (disambiguation)

Mount Sinai (Arabic: طور سيناء), also known as Mount Horeb, Mount Musa, Gebel Musa or Jabal Musa ("Moses' Mountain") by the Bedouins, is the name of a mountain in the Sinai Peninsula. For information about the location of the Biblical Mount Sinai, see the corresponding article.

Geography

At 2,285 metres high, Mount Sinai is minor mountain next to Mount St. Catherine,^[1], at 2,637 metres high the highest in the Sinai peninsula. It is surrounded on all sides by higher peaks of the mountain range.

Monastery

The Monastery of St. Catherine is sited at the foot of the mountain, at an elevation of around 1,200m.

Ascent

There are two principal routes to the summit. By the longer and less steep track known as Siket El Bashait, is possible to ascend either on foot or by camel hired from the Bedouin along the way - approximate time on foot two and a half hours. The steep, more direct route (Siket Sayidna Musa) ascends the 3,750 "steps of penitence" directly up the ravine behind the monastery.^[2]

Summit

The summit of the mountain has a mosque and a Greek Orthodox chapel (which was constructed in 1934 on the ruins of a 16th century church) neither of which are open to the public. The chapel supposedly encloses the rock from which God made the Tablets of the Law. ^[3] At the summit also is "Moses' cave" where Moses is supposed to have waited to receive the Ten Commandments.

Notes

1. ^ Sinai Geology. AllSinai.info.
2. ^ Mount Sinai. AllSinai.info.
3. ^ Mount Sinai, Egypt. Places of Peace and Power.

See also

• Archaeology
• Mount Gerizim
• Jebel Musa, Morocco, a similarly-named mountain in Morocco

Wikipedia information about Mount Sinai This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Mount Sinai". It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer). Help contribute to Americola and edit this article.