:Mount Sinai

{{for-multi|the biblical Mount Sinai, and a discussion of its possible locations|Mount Sinai (Bible)|other uses|}}

{{Infobox mountain

| name = Mount Sinai

| native_name = {{native name list|tag1=ar|name1=طُوْر سِيْنَاء|tag2=ar|name2=Ṭūr Sīnāʾ}}

| other_name = {{langx|arz|جَبَل مُوسَىٰ|Gabal Mūsā}}
{{langx|ar|جَبَل مُوْسَى|Jabal Mūsā}}
{{langx|cop|Ⲡⲧⲟⲟⲩ Ⲥⲓⲛⲁ|Ptoou Sina}}
{{langx|syc|ܛܘܪܐ ܕܣܝܢܝ}} {{lang|syc|Ṭūrāʾ d-Sīnayy}}
{{langx|grc|Ὄρος Σινά|Oros Sina}}
{{langx|la|Mons Sinai}}
{{langx|he|הַר סִינַי‬|Har Sīnay}}

| coordinates = {{coord|28|32|21.9|N|33|58|31.5|E|type:landmark_region:EG|display=inline,title}}

| photo = Mount Sinai from the southwest.jpg

| photo_caption = Mount Sinai as seen from the southwest

| photo_size =

| elevation_m = 2,285

| elevation_ref =

| location = Sinai, Asian part of Egypt

| map = Egypt

}}

Mount Sinai ({{langx |he|{{Script/Hebrew|הַר סִינַי}}}} Har Sīnay; Aramaic: ܛܘܪܐ ܕܣܝܢܝ Ṭūrāʾ dəSīnăy; Coptic: Ⲡⲧⲟⲟⲩ Ⲥⲓⲛⲁ), also known as Jabal Musa ({{langx|ar|جَبَل مُوسَىٰ}}, translation: 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.{{cite journal |author-last=Gray |author-first=John |author-link=John Gray (mythologist) |date=January 1954 |title=The Desert Sojourn of the Hebrews and the Sinai-Horeb Tradition |journal=Vetus Testamentum |location=Leiden and Boston |publisher=Brill Publishers on behalf of the International Organization for the Study of the Old Testament |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=148–154 |doi=10.1163/156853354X00136 |issn=1568-5330 |jstor=1515877}}{{cite journal |author-last=Rubin |author-first=Uri |author-link=Uri Rubin |date=April 2014 |title=Moses and the Holy Valley Ṭuwan: On the Biblical and Midrashic Background of a Qur’ānic scene |journal=Journal of Near Eastern Studies |location=Chicago |publisher=University of Chicago Press |volume=73 |issue=1 |pages=73–81 |doi=10.1086/674614 |issn=1545-6978}}{{cite journal |author-last=Yadin |author-first=Azzan |date=Winter 2003 |title=קול as Hypostasis in the Hebrew Bible |journal=Journal of Biblical Literature |location=Atlanta |publisher=Society of Biblical Literature |volume=122 |issue=4 |pages=601–626 |doi=10.2307/3268068 |issn=0021-9231}}

It is a {{convert|2285|m|ft|sp=us|adj=on}}, 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 {{convert|2629|m|ft|abbr=on|disp=or}}, is the highest peak in Egypt.{{cite web|url=http://www.allsinai.info/sites/geology.htm|publisher=AllSinai.info|title=Sinai Geology|access-date=2006-08-29|archive-date=2011-07-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718210550/http://www.allsinai.info/sites/geology.htm|url-status=dead}}

Geology

File:Jebel Musa in the 1869 Ordnance Survey of the Peninsula of Sinai (cropped).jpg (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[http://www.virtualacademia.com/pdf/rad586_598.pdf Hanaa M. Salem and A. A. ElFouly, "Minerals Reconnaissance at Saint Catherine Area, Southern Central Sinai, Egypt and their Environmental Impacts on Human Health"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120601133340/http://www.virtualacademia.com/pdf/rad586_598.pdf |date=2012-06-01 }}. ICEHM2000, Cairo University, Egypt, September 2000, pp. 586–98 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 =

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.{{cite web|url=http://www.sacredsites.com/africa/egypt/mount_sinai.html|publisher=Places of Peace and Power|title=Mount Sinai, Egypt|access-date=2006-08-29|archive-date=2011-02-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110224070905/http://sacredsites.com/africa/egypt/mount_sinai.html|url-status=live}} At the summit also is "Moses' cave", where the Hebrew prophet Moses is believed to have waited to receive the Ten Commandments from God.

= Islam =

The Jabal Musa is associated with the Islamic prophet Mūsā ibn ʿImrān (i.e., Moses). In particular, numerous references to Jabal Musa exist in the Quran,{{cite book|author1=Sharīf, J.|url=https://archive.org/details/b29338050|title=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|author2=Herklots, G. A.|publisher=Parbury, Allen, and Company|year=1832|quote=koh-e-toor.}}{{cite book|author=Abbas, K. A.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ejkFAAAAMAAJ&q=koh-e-toor|title=The World is My Village: A Novel with an Index|publisher=Ajanta Publications|year=1984| isbn=978-0-8364-1131-7 |access-date=2021-06-01|archive-date=2023-12-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231228105013/https://books.google.com/books?id=ejkFAAAAMAAJ&q=koh-e-toor|url-status=live}} where it is called Ṭūr Saināʾ,{{qref|23|20|b=y}} Ṭūr Sīnīn,{{qref|95|2|b=y}} and aṭ-Ṭūr{{qref|2|63–93|b=y}}{{qref|28|3–86|b=y}} and al-Jabal (both meaning "the Mount").{{qref|7|103–156|b=y}} As for the adjacent Wād Ṭuwā (Valley of Tuwa), it is considered as being muqaddas{{qref|20|9–99|b=y}}{{qref|79|15–25|b=y}} (sacred),{{cite book|last=Ibn Kathir|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zx9LDwAAQBAJ|title=Stories of the Prophets: [قصص الأنبياء [انكليزي|date=2013-01-01|publisher=Dar Al Kotob Al Ilmiyah ({{langx|ar|دَار الْـكُـتُـب الْـعِـلْـمِـيَّـة}})|isbn=978-2745151360|editor=Dr Mohammad Hilmi Al-Ahmad|author-link=Ibn Kathir|access-date=2021-06-01|archive-date=2023-12-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231228110119/https://books.google.com/books?id=zx9LDwAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}{{cite book|last=Elhadary|first=Osman|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4-ReDQAAQBAJ|title=Moses in the Holy Scriptures of Judaism, Christianity and Islam: A Call for Peace|date=2016-02-08|publisher=BookBaby|isbn=978-1483563039|chapter=11, 15}}{{Dead link|date=November 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} and a part of it is called Al-Buqʿah Al-Mubārakah ("The blessed Place").

File:St Catherines From Sinai.JPG|Saint Catherine's Monastery, looking down from Mount Sinai

File:MasjidMountSinai.jpg|The mosque at the summit

File:Greek Orthodox Chapel at top of Mt Sinai.jpg|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.{{cite web|url=http://www.allsinai.info/sites/sites/mount%20sinai.htm|publisher=AllSinai.info|title=Mount Sinai|access-date=2006-08-29|archive-date=2011-07-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718210515/http://www.allsinai.info/sites/sites/mount%20sinai.htm|url-status=dead}}

File:Mount Moses.jpg|NNE view from the summit

File:جبل موسى.jpg|NW view from the summit

File:NearSinaiTop.JPG|The last few meters of the climb up the mountain

File:MtSinaiJune2006.JPG|Sunrise

{{Panorama|image=File:MtSinaiPano.jpg|fullwidth=9344|fullheight=896|caption=A panoramic view from the summit of Mount Sinai|height=200}}

References

External links

{{Wikivoyage inline}}
[http://azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/ai113_folder/113_articles/113_zaza_script_ashes.html Caucasian Albanian Alphabet Discovered and Deciphered], Azerbaijan International, Vol. 11:3 (Autumn 2003). Six articles.
[http://sites.google.com/site/stcatherinesmonastery/420Mt.20Sinai20from20the20Distance1.jpg View OF Mount Sinai (as opposed to the view FROM Mount Sinai)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201010043315/https://sites.google.com/site/stcatherinesmonastery/420Mt.20Sinai20from20the20Distance1.jpg |date=2020-10-10 }}
[http://www.st-katherine.net Information about the town of St. Katherine and the Sinai mountains]
[http://www.sacredland.org/mount-sinai/ A Report on Mount Sinai]
[https://merhav.nli.org.il/primo-explore/search?query=any,contains,sinai%20maps&tab=default_tab&search_scope=Local&sortby=lso01&vid=NLI&mfacet=tlevel,include,online_resources,1&mfacet=rtype,include,Maps,1&mfacet=topic,include,Sinai,%20Mount%20(Egypt),1&lang=iw_IL&came_from=sort Old maps of Mount Sinai.] Eran Laor Cartographic Collection, The National Library of Israel.