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. At the summit also is "Moses' cave", where Moses was said to have waited to receive the Ten Commandments.
Religious significance
Mount Sinai
Mount Sinai | Religious significance
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 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. 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. 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
who told the magi to follow the star
user
Matthew's account suggests that the Magi knew from the star that the "king of the Jews" had been born before they arrived in Jerusalem
assistant
who is this magi?
user
The Magi (often translated as "wise men"), but is more accurately astrologers.
assistant
who is this star?
user
Other writers highly suggest that the star was a comet. Halley's Comet was visible in 12 BC and another object, possibly a comet or nova, was seen by Chinese and Korean stargazers in about 5 BC
assistant
what is this aforesaid comet?
user
Halley's Comet or Comet Halley, officially designated 1P/Halley, is a short-period comet visible from Earth every 75–76 years.
assistant
why did this aforesaid star was born?
user
According to the Gospel of Matthew, the star was born to lead the Magi to the birth place of Jesus.
assistant
which prophecy needed to be fulfilled?
user
The Star of Bethlehem is traditionally linked to the Star Prophecy in the Book of Numbers: "I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near; A Star shall come out of Jacob; A Scepter shall rise out of Israel, And batter the brow of Moab, And destroy all the sons of tumult."
assistant
what is the structure of this aforesaid book of numbers?
user
Most commentators divide Numbers into three sections based on locale (Mount Sinai, Kadesh-Barnea and the plains of Moab), linked by two travel sections; an alternative is to see it as structured around the two generations of those condemned to die in the wilderness and the new generation who will enter Canaan, making a theological distinction between the disobedience of the first generation and the obedience of the second.
assistant
did anyone translate it?
user
Sorry. I cannot find the answer based on the context.
assistant
where is this mount located?
user
In the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt
assistant
what is its religious significance?
user
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. At the summit also is "Moses' cave", where Moses was said to have waited to receive the Ten Commandments.
Mount Sinai | Religious significance
Mount Sinai is one of the most sacred locations in the Jewish, Christian and Islamic religions.
Mount Sinai (Bible) | Introduction
Mount Sinai ("Har Sinai"; ), traditionally known as Jabal Musa (, translation: Mount Moses), is a mountain in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt that is a possible location of the biblical Mount Sinai, the place where Moses is said to have received the Ten Commandments. It is a moderately high mountain near the city of Saint Catherine in the region known in modern times as the Sinai Peninsula. It is next to Mount Catherine (at , the highest peak in Egypt). It is surrounded on all sides by higher peaks of the mountain range.
Mount Sinai | Introduction
In the 6th century, Saint Catherine's Monastery 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 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.
Mount Sinai (Bible) | Jabal Musa
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 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.
Mount Sinai (Bible) | Christianity
Graham Davies of Cambridge University argues that early Jewish pilgrimages identified Jabal Musa as Mount Sinai and this identification 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: ) 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 1550 meters. The monastery is Greek Orthodox and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. According to the UNESCO report (60100 ha / Ref: 954) and website hereunder, 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.
Mount Sinai (Bible) | Christianity
In early Christian times, a number of Anchorites settled on Mount Serbal, considering it to be 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.
Mount Sinai (Bible) | Other Southern Sinai Peninsula
The peninsula is associated with Aaron and Moses, who are also regarded as Prophets. In particular, numerous references to 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" (, "The Blessed Place"). Some modern biblical scholars explain Mount Sinai as having been 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.
Mount Sinai (Bible) | Islam
(Scholarly opinion places it at either the mountain historically known as "Sinai" or Mount Seir.)
List of religious sites | Judaism
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 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.
Mount Sinai (Bible) | Jabal Musa
Mount Sinai is a mountain in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. Mount Sinai may also refer to:
Mount Sinai (disambiguation) | Introduction
The Temple Mount has historical and religious significance for all three of the major Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It has particular religious significance for Judaism and Islam, and the competing claims of these faith communities has made it one of the most contested religious sites in the world.
Temple Mount | Religious significance
In the Bible, Mount Sinai (, "Har Sinai") is the mountain at which the Ten Commandments were given to Moses by God. In the Book of Deuteronomy, these events are described as having transpired at Mount Horeb. "Sinai" and "Horeb" are generally considered to refer to the same place by scholars. The location of the Mount Sinai described in the Bible remains disputed. The high point of 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 (Bible) | Introduction
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.
Mount Sinai (Bible) | Northern Sinai Peninsula
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.
Mount Sinai (Bible) | Jabal Musa
Some researchers suggest that Mount Sinai was not in the Sinai Peninsula, but in Midian, which is modern-day Saudi Arabia, and subsequently place Rephidim here as well. Jabal Maqla has been the subject of several explorations since the early 1980s. To the northwest of this mountain is a large plain and a massive split rock that reportedly shows signs of water erosion (Rephidim is also where Moses is recorded as striking a rock and water coming from it for the parched Hebrews). In the area, there are also allegedly proto-Hebrew inscriptions, some of which say "died Amalekite." The name "Rephidim" () may mean "supports".
Rephidim | Location
In the classical era the region was known as Arabia Petraea. The peninsula acquired the name Sinai in modern times due to the assumption that a mountain near Saint Catherine's Monastery is the Biblical Mount Sinai. Mount Sinai is one of the most religiously significant places in the Abrahamic faiths. The Sinai Peninsula has been a part of Egypt from the First Dynasty of ancient Egypt ( BC). This comes in stark contrast to the region north of it, the Levant (present-day territories of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and Palestine), which, due largely to its strategic geopolitical location and cultural convergences, has historically been the center of conflict between Egypt and various states of Mesopotamia and Asia Minor.
Sinai Peninsula | Introduction
Entry into sanctified areas has been prohibited in recent times by powerful elements within traditional Judaism, and as a result many religious authorities prohibit or restrict entry into the Temple Mount by observant Jews. Today, Jews recognize the Jewish Quarter of the city, wherein the Mount is located, to be a location of profound spiritual importance. Within the area a stone artifact known as the Western Wall is paramount as the last standing remains of the temple. Along the wall notable featured include the Western Stone and Wilson's Arch. Beneath it a tunnel runs closer toward what was the original Kodesh Hakodashim, ending approximately 150 ft.
List of religious sites | Judaism
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 is Mount Catherine, rising above the sea and its sister peak, Jabal Musa (), 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 the north are not much over .
Mount Sinai (Bible) | Jabal Musa
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, Charles Beke proposed Jebel Baggir which he called 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.
Mount Sinai (Bible) | Arabian Peninsula
Mount Serbal () is a mountain located in Wadi Feiran in southern Sinai. At high, it is the fifth highest mountain in Egypt. It is part of the St. Catherine National Park. It is thought by some to be the Biblical Mount Sinai. Among others this was claimed by Ludwig Schneller, because it fits best with the biblical tradition taking into account the route and speed of the Israelites and the surroundings of the mountain, as Rephidim is identified with Wadi Feiran. There were many granite dwellings on Mount Serbal which were inhabited by anchorites in early Christian times, and there are traces of a fourth-century monastery close to its base.
Mount Serbal | Introduction
Beke's suggestion has not found as much scholarly support as the candidature of Hala-'l Badr; the equation of Sinai with Hala-'l Badr has been advocated by Alois Musil in the early 20th century, Jean Koenig in 1971, and Colin Humphreys in 2003, among others. The possibility of an alternate site located in Saudi Arabia has also drawn attention due to the Apostle Paul's assertion in the first century that Mount Sinai was located in Arabia, although in Paul's time, the region of Arabia Petraea would have included both the modern Sinai peninsula and northwestern Saudi Arabia. A possible candidate within the Arabia theory has been that of "Jabal al-Lawz" (meaning 'mountain of almonds').
Mount Sinai (Bible) | Arabian Peninsula
The Sinai peninsula is associated with Aaron and Moses, who are also regarded as Prophets. In particular, numerous references to Mount Sinai exist in the Quran, where it is called "Ṭūr Sīnāʾ", "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" ("The Blessed Place").
Holiest sites in Islam | Sinai peninsula
The traditional identification of Mount Sinai as one of the mountains at the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula would imply that Taberah and "Kibroth-hattaavah" was/were probably in the Wadi Murrah, about 30 miles north-east of the southern tip, and exactly a day's journey from 'Ain Hudherah. An ancient encampment has been found in this area, at the Erweis el-Ebeirig, but it dates to the Early Bronze Age (the early 3rd millennium BC). The traditional location of Mount Sinai has been rejected by the majority of scholars, as well as theologians, who favour a location at Mount Seir or in north western Saudi Arabia, Other writers have proposed locations in the Negev, or the central or northern Sinai desert.
Taberah | Introduction
inward at a place called Warren's Gate. In an alley the Muslim Quarter of the city is a semi-concelead section of the Wall called the Little Western Wall. The Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron is the second holiest site in Judaism. Other significant sites include a number of temples within the Jewish quarter of Old Jerusalem, namely the Hurva, Belz, Tiferet Yisrael and the Four Sephardic synagogues. The Beit El Synagogue is of special importance to students of Kaballah. The Biblical Mount Sinai is believed to be the place where Moses received the Ten Commandments from God – although there is considerable debate as to the location of the mountain.
List of religious sites | Judaism
The valley in which Petra resides is known as the "Wadi Musa", meaning "valley of Moses", and at 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 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.
Mount Sinai (Bible) | Edom/Nabatea
The Monks at Saint Catherine's Monastery, following church tradition, believe that this bush is, in fact, the original bush seen by Moses, rather than a later replacement, and anyone entering the chapel is required to remove their shoes, just as Moses was said to have done so in the biblical account. However, in modern times, it is not Mount Saint Catherine, but the adjacent Jebel Musa ("Mount Moses"), which is currently identified as Mount Sinai by popular tradition and guidebooks; this identification arose from Bedouin tradition. Mount Serbal, Mount Sinai, and Mount Saint Catherine, all lie at the southern tip of the Sinai peninsula, but the peninsula's name is a comparatively modern invention, and it was not known by that name at the time of Josephus or earlier.
Burning bush | Location
According to the final chapter of the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses ascended Mount Nebo to view the Land of Canaan, which God had said he would not enter; he died in Moab. According to Christian tradition, Moses was buried on the mountain, although his place of burial is not specified (). Some Islamic traditions also stated the same, although there is a grave of Moses located at Maqam El-Nabi Musa, south of Jericho and east of Jerusalem in the Judean wilderness. Scholars continue to dispute whether the mountain currently known as Nebo is the same as the mountain referred to in Deuteronomy.
Mount Nebo | Religious significance
Since Moses is described by the Bible as encountering Jethro, 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 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.
Mount Sinai (Bible) | Edom/Nabatea
George. The route he and his men took is now marked as a historic trail.
Mount Sinai, New York | Origins
Har-El believes the evidence supports Mount Sinai being located in the Suder Valley in the west-central Sinai Peninsula. His reasons include:
Gabal Sin Bishar | Gabal Sin Bishar & Suder Valley
Sinai was also mentioned once by name in the rest of the Hebrew Bible in . In the New Testament, Paul the Apostle referred direction to Sinai in .
Mount Sinai (Bible) | Biblical description
While equating Sinai with Petra would indicate that 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 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 1950–1000 BCE, Anati proposed that Jabal Ideid was equatable with biblical Sinai.
Mount Sinai (Bible) | The Negev
According to textual scholars, in the JE version of the Exodus narrative, 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 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 Sinai (Bible) | Northern Sinai Peninsula
Some Jews, led by Shlomo Goren, then the military chief rabbi, had objected as well, claiming the decision handed over the complex to the Muslims, since the Western Wall's holiness is derived from the Mount and symbolizes exile, while praying on the Mount symbolizes freedom and the return of the Jewish people to their homeland. The President of the High Court of Justice, Aharon Barak, in response to an appeal in 1976 against police interference with an individual's putative right to prayer on the site, expressed the view that, while Jews had a right to prayer there, it was not absolute but subject to the public interest and the rights of other groups.
Temple Mount | Under Israeli control
Modern scholars differ as to the exact geographical position of Mount Sinai. The Elijah narrative appears to suggest that when it 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 was in Arabia, which covers most of the south-western Middle East.
Mount Sinai (Bible) | Suggested locations
The final argument in favor of Hashem El Tarif is the fact that the traditional Mount Sinai (Jebel Musa) is devoid of any of the above and surrounded by a granite plateau unsuitable for herding sheep. According to the documentary, though, despite all this evidence, permission for archeological excavation was not granted to them by the Egyptian military, which the documentary claims closely guards and restricts access to the mountain.
Hashem El Tarif | The Exodus Decoded
In Jewish tradition, the Temple Mount is regarded as the place where God chose the Divine Presence to rest. Jewish tradition regards the Mount, or the Foundation Stone, as the location of a number of important events mentioned in the Bible, including the location from which the world expanded into its present form, Abraham's binding of Isaac, Jacob's dream, the threshing floor which King David purchased from Araunah the Jebusite, and the location of the two Jewish Temples. Jewish texts record that the Mount will be the site of the Third Temple, which will be rebuilt with the coming of the messiah.
Holy place | Judaism
Prior to 1740, Mount Sinai residents had to travel to Setauket for services. In the 1740s a no-longer-standing Protestant church was built. The local Congregational group was established in 1789 and in 1807 this group erected the still-active Mount Sinai Congregational Church. In the early 19th century, a Methodist church was built on Shore Road, but this was later sold when the congregation joined with that of Port Jefferson. Other houses of worship in Mount Sinai include a reform Judaism congregation on Mount Sinai Avenue, Temple Beth Emeth, and a Jehovah's Witnesses congregation on North Country Road.
Mount Sinai, New York | Religion
Advocates for Jabal al-Lawz include Lennart Möller (a Swedish professor in environmental medicine) and also Ron Wyatt, Bob Cornuke and Larry Williams. Allen Kerkeslager, associate professor of Ancient and Comparative Religions at St. Joseph's University 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.
Mount Sinai (Bible) | Arabian Peninsula
The Church of Sinai is a Greek Orthodox autonomous church whose territory consists of St. Catherine's Monastery at the foot of Mount Sinai in Egypt, along with several dependencies. There is a dispute as to whether the church is fully autocephalous or merely autonomous. The church is headed by the Archbishop of Mount Sinai and Raithu, who is traditionally consecrated by the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem and also serves as abbot for the monastery. The current hierarch is Archbishop Damian.
Church of Sinai | Introduction
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 a reference to the sun, while "Sinai" may have derived from the name of "Sin", the Sumerian deity of the moon, and thus Sinai and Horeb would be the mountains of the moon and sun, respectively. Regarding the Sumerian "Sin" deity assumption, William F. Albright, an American biblical scholar, had stated:
Mount Sinai (Bible) | Etymology and other names
'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 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: , , and .
Mount Sinai (Bible) | Biblical description
Various temples can be found in villages on the slopes of Mount Hermon. Mount Hermon's name has been related to the Semitic root "hrm", which means "taboo" or "consecrated", and the Arabic term "al-haram", which means "sacred enclosure".
Mount Hermon | Religious importance since Antiquity
Willow Peak or Ras es-Safsafeh (رأس صفصافة) is a mountain in the Sinai Peninsula. The mountain peak overlooks Saint Catherine's Monastery, and is situated approximately 1km to the west. Christian tradition considers the mountain to be the biblical Mount Horeb.
Willow Peak | Introduction
Whether the Second Temple's sacred books (given by Roman General Titus to Josephus) contained information on the location of Mount Sinai is unknown, but Josephus did write about the mountain. However, Dr. Har-El was a geologist and he discusses in detail the geographic and environmental markers in Sinai, which do survive to the present day. He notes how they compare with the biblical account. Dr. Har-El gave nine main reasons why he believed the traditional location of Gabal Horeb (Gabal Musa)in southern Sinai was not Mount Sinai:
Gabal Sin Bishar | Proposed locations
The question then becomes whether the site can be ascertained accurately. A second complex legal debate centers around the precise divine punishment for stepping onto these forbidden spots.
Temple Mount | Jewish religious law concerning entry to the site
Noting that Jewish tradition has not preserved a tradition about Mount Sinai's location, Plaut observed that had the Israelites known the location in later centuries, Jerusalem and its Temple could never have become the center of Jewish life, for Jerusalem and the Temple would have been inferior in holiness to the God's mountain. Plaut concluded that Sinai thus became in Judaism, either by design or happenstance, a concept rather than a place. Professor Harold Fisch, formerly of Bar-Ilan University, argued that the revelation at Mount Sinai beginning at is echoed in Prince Hamlet’s meeting with his dead father’s ghost in I, scene 5 of William Shakespeare’s play "Hamlet".
Yitro (parsha) | Exodus chapter 19
The congregation is the successor to many "shuls" that have merged over the past 102 years. Its official title is Mount Sinai Anshe Emeth, Emez Wozedek Jewish Center of Washington Heights & Beth Hillel & Beth Israel. Since 2002, Mount Sinai has seen a massive resurgence due to the influx of many young, religious Jews moving to the neighborhood.
Mount Sinai Jewish Center | History
The James Cameron-produced History Channel special, "The Exodus Decoded", suggests that this location, now in an Egyptian military zone, is the best candidate for the biblical Mount Sinai. The program claims that it not only features "biblical geographical" clues, but that it also possesses three important traits described in the Book of Exodus: Another argument used in the documentary to strengthen the claim that Hashem El Tarif is the biblical Mount Sinai is that in the Bible Mount Sinai is described as a "holy mountain", and Hashem El Tarif contains several ancient stone shrines all around it, as well as graves of apparently prominent persons near its summit.
Hashem El Tarif | The Exodus Decoded
A number of scholars have proposed Jebel al-Madhbah as the Biblical Mount Sinai, beginning with Ditlef Nielsen in 1927. The valley in which Petra resides is known as "Wadi Musa", meaning "Valley of Moses". At the entrance to Wadi Musa is Ain Musa, the "Spring of Moses".
Jebel al-Madhbah | Mount Sinai theory
The village of Meron and the tomb of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai are on Mount Meron. Leading up to the anniversary of his death on Lag B'Omer, thousands of people camp out along the slopes near the tomb, and on Lag B'Omer itself, hundreds of thousands make pilgrimages to celebrate the occasion.
Mount Meron | Religious significance
Those in Midian, East of Elath, rise only to . Even Jabal Serbal, west of Sinai, is at its highest only 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 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 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.
Mount Sinai (Bible) | Jabal Musa
The hypothesis that this mountain is the original Mount Sinai has faced criticism. Some of the arguments against the proposal that Hashem El Tarif is Mount Sinai are as follows:
Hashem El Tarif | Criticisms
The Mount Sinai Jewish Center (MSJC) is an Orthodox Jewish Ashkenazi congregation in the Washington Heights / Hudson Heights neighborhood, in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The building's main entrance is at 135 Bennett Avenue at the corner of W. 187th Street, and it spans the entire block to Broadway.
Mount Sinai Jewish Center | Introduction
Har Karkom ( "Mountain of Saffron", also called Jabal Ideid) is a mountain in the southwest Negev desert in Israel, half way between Petra and Kadesh Barnea. On the basis that the Israelites travelled across the Sinai peninsula towards Petra in a fairly straight line, a number of scholars have contemplated the possibility of Har Karkom being the Biblical Mount Sinai. Following this theory, Emmanuel Anati excavated at the mountain, and discovered that it was a major paleolithic cult centre, with the surrounding plateau covered with shrines, altars, stone circles, stone pillars, and over 40,000 rock engravings. Although, on the basis of his findings, Anati advocates the identification of Har Karkom with Mount Sinai, the peak of religious activity at the site may date to 2350-2000 BC, and the mountain appears to have been abandoned perhaps between 1950 and 1000 BC; the exodus is sometimes dated between 1600-1200 BC.
Har Karkom | Introduction
Because of its association with both Jesus and Mary, the mount has been a site of Christian worship since ancient times and is today a major site of pilgrimage for Catholics, the Eastern Orthodox, and Protestants. Much of the top of the hill is occupied by At-Tur, a former village that is now a neighbourhood of East Jerusalem.
Mount of Olives | Introduction
104. The Ravine, Petra. 105. The Necropolis. 106. Site of Petra, South. 107. Fortress of Akabah, Arabia Petraea. 108. Island of Graia, Gulf of Akabah. 109. Convent of St. Catherine, Mount Sinai. 110. Encampment of the Oulad-Said, Mount Sinai. 111. Rock of Moses, Wady el-Leja, Mount Horeb. 112. Chapel of the Convent of St. Catherine. 113. The Christian and Mahometan Chapels on Mount Sinai. 114. Ascent of the Lower Range of Sinai. 115. Ascent to the summit of Mount Sinai. 116. The Convent of St. Catherine, Mount Sinai. 117. Chapel of Elijah, Mount Sinai. 118. Convent of St. Catherine, with Mount Horeb.
The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt, and Nubia | Volume 3
The Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism, which regards it as the place where God's divine presence is manifested more than in any other place, and is the place Jews turn towards during prayer. Due to its extreme sanctity, many Jews will not walk on the Mount itself, to avoid unintentionally entering the area where the Holy of Holies stood, since according to Rabbinical law, some aspect of the divine presence is still present at the site. It was from the Holy of Holies that the High Priest communicated directly with God. According to the rabbinic sages whose debates produced the Talmud, it was from here the world expanded into its present form and where God gathered the dust used to create the first human, Adam.
Temple Mount | Judaism
The Temple Mount is topped by two Islamic landmarks intended to commemorate the event — al-Aqsa Mosque, derived from the name mentioned in the Quran, and the Dome of the Rock, which stands over the Foundation Stone, from which Muslims believe Muhammad ascended to Heaven.
Religion in Israel | Jerusalem
Gabal Sin Bishar (also called Jebel Sin Bishar or Mount Sin Bishar) is a mountain located in west-central Sinai. It was proposed to be the biblical Mount Sinai by Menashe Har-El, a biblical geographer at Tel Aviv University in his book "The Sinai Journeys: The Route of the Exodus". This location was used for Zondervan's "NIV Atlas of the Bible".
Gabal Sin Bishar | Introduction
Mount Sinai can be reached from the monastery or, alternatively, from Wadi El Arbain where the Rock of Moses (Hagar Musa) and the Monastery of the Forty Martyrs are.
Saint Catherine, Egypt | Modern township
Mount Tabor is an important Biblical site located in Lower Galilee, Israel. Mount Tabor may also refer to:
Mount Tabor (disambiguation) | Introduction
According to 2 Maccabees (), the prophet Jeremiah hid the tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant in a cave there.
Mount Nebo | Religious significance
Menashe Har-El examined the pros and cons of various theories on where Mount Sinai is located. These include: All locations have proponents, but Gabal Horeb in the southern peninsula has been the traditional location since the 4th century AD (but notably not before). The Old Testament prophet Elijah, according to 1 Kings 19, is the last person recorded in the Bible as visiting Mount Sinai. The account of his visit does not give geographical details that help determine the actual location, but suggests the location was known long after the Jewish people left the mountain. Unfortunately, there are no surviving extra-biblical documents that mark the location.
Gabal Sin Bishar | Proposed locations
Saint Catherine's Monastery (; ), officially "Sacred Monastery of the God-Trodden Mount Sinai" (), is an Eastern Orthodox monastery located on the Sinai Peninsula, at the mouth of a gorge at the foot of Mount Sinai, near the town of Saint Catherine, Egypt. The monastery is named after Catherine of Alexandria. The monastery is controlled by the autonomous Church of Sinai, part of the wider Greek Orthodox Church, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Saint Catherine monastery is located in the shadow of a group of three mountains; Ras Sufsafeh "Mount Horeb" (peak c.1km west), Jebel Arrenziyeb and Jebel Musa "Biblical Mount Sinai" (peak c.2km south).
Saint Catherine's Monastery | Introduction
Jews view the Temple Mount as the most sacred location in their faith, but Samaritans regard Mount Gerizim as their holiest site.
Samaritanism | Introduction
The Descent from Mount Sinai is a fresco by the Italian Renaissance painter Cosimo Rosselli and his assistants, executed in 1481–1482 and located in the Sistine Chapel, Rome. It depicts the prophet Moses in the process of receiving and introducing the Ten Commandments.
Descent from Mount Sinai (Sistine Chapel) | Introduction
After the bishop of Pharan was deposed for the heresy of monotheletism in AD 681, the see was transferred to the monastery itself, the abbot becoming the bishop of Pharan. With the subsequent union of the diocese of Raitho with the monastery, all the Christians in the Sinai peninsula came under the jurisdiction of the Abbot-Archbishop. In 1575, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople granted Mount Sinai autonomous status. This was reaffirmed in 1782. The exact administrative status of the church within the Eastern Orthodox Church is ambiguous: by some, including the church itself, it is considered autocephalous, by others an autonomous church under the jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem.
Church of Sinai | History
Cornuke's book, "In Search of the Mountain of God", claimed to match of the biblical Mount Sinai to "Jabal al-Lawz" in Saudi Arabia. A similar claim was made earlier, in 1984, by Ron Wyatt.
Bob Cornuke | Mount Sinai
It depicts Mt. Sinai.
Congregation Beth Ahabah | History
The section received the approval from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel for meeting standards of acceptability according to Jewish practice and it is the only place outside of Israel where a person can receive a genuine cave burial.
Mount Sinai Simi Valley | Introduction
Mount Seir (; "Har Se'ir"), today known in Arabic as (; "Jibāl ash-Sharāh"), is the ancient and biblical name for a mountainous region stretching between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba in the northwestern region of Edom and southeast of the Kingdom of Judah. It may also have marked the older historical limit of Ancient Egypt in Canaan. A place called "Seir, in the land of Shasu" ("ta-Shasu se`er, t3-sh3sw s`r"), thought to be near Petra, Jordan, is listed in the temple of Amenhotep III at Soleb (ca. 1380 BC).
Mount Seir | Introduction
Mount Sinai Temple was a Reform synagogue located in Sioux City, Iowa, United States. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.
Mount Sinai Temple (Sioux City, Iowa) | Introduction
In her book "A History of Sinai", Lina Eckenstein theorized that Serabit el-Khadim was the historical site of Mt. Sinai where Moses received the Ten Commandments. This theory comes in no small part to the site containing a temple of Hathor, the goddess Eckenstein believed was represented by the idol of a golden calf constructed by the Hebrews while Moses was on the mountain top.
Serabit el-Khadim | Relation to Mount Sinai
Mount Betarim (, "Har haBetarim") is one of the peaks of Mount Dov (known also as "Jabal Ross"). According to one Jewish tradition this is the site of the covenant of the pieces between Abraham and God. According to Muslim tradition, this is the site in which an event occurred, which is described in the Quran, where God commanded Abraham to sacrifice four species of birds, and afterwards resurrected them. Therefore, it was called in Arabic "Mashhad A-Tir al-Ibrahim" (مشهد الطير الإبراهيمي) meaning "The sacred site of Abraham's birds" or "Makam Ibrahim Al-Khalil" (مقام إبراهيم الخليل) meaning "The sacred site of Abraham, God's friend".
Mount Betarim | Introduction
As one of the most sacred mountains in the Middle East, mentioned in the Old Testament can be seen on the mountain's summit, such as the area where Moses “sheltered from the total glory of God”. Sacred Mountains are often seen as a site of revelation and inspiration. Mount Sinai is an example, as this is the site where the covenant is revealed to Moses. Mount Tabor is where it is supposed Jesus was revealed to be the Son of God. Muhammed is said to have received his first revelation on Mount Hira. The mountains' roles as places of revelation and transformation often serve to attract tourists as much as they do religious pilgrims.
Sacred mountains | Pilgrimages
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.
Mount Sinai (Bible) | The Negev
Eusebius recognized the religious importance of Hermon in his work "Onomasticon" (probably written in the first quarter of the 4th century), saying "Until today, the mount in front of Banias and Lebanon is known as Hermon and it is respected by nations as a sanctuary".
Mount Hermon | Religious importance in the Late Roman period
A cave with paintings of people and animals was discovered about north of Mount Catherine in January 2020, dates back to the Chalcolithic Period, circa 5th–4th millenium BCE.
Sinai Peninsula | Ancient History
The Temple was of central importance in Jewish worship in the Tanakh (Old Testament). In the New Testament, Herod's Temple was the site of several events in the life of Jesus, and Christian loyalty to the site as a focal point remained long after his death. After the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, which came to be regarded by early Christians, as it was by Josephus and the sages of the Jerusalem Talmud, to be a divine act of punishment for the sins of the Jewish people, the Temple Mount lost its significance for Christian worship with the Christians considering it a fulfillment of Christ's prophecy at, for example, and .
Temple Mount | Christianity
Mount Sinai is located at (40.938532, -73.018668), bordering Long Island Sound on the North Shore of Long Island. According to the United States Census Bureau, the community has a total area of , of which is land and , or 6.53%, is water. Mount Sinai is bordered by Port Jefferson to the west, Port Jefferson Station to the southwest, Coram to the south, and Miller Place to the east. Long Island Sound is to the north.
Mount Sinai, New York | Geography
Today, the Western Wall, a remnant of the wall surrounding the Second Temple, is a Jewish holy site second only to the "Holy of Holies" on the Temple Mount itself. Synagogues around the world are traditionally built with the Holy Ark facing Jerusalem, and Arks within Jerusalem face the Holy of Holies. As prescribed in the Mishna and codified in the "Shulchan Aruch", daily prayers are recited while facing towards Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. Many Jews have "Mizrach" plaques hung on a wall of their homes to indicate the direction of prayer. Christianity reveres Jerusalem for its Old Testament history, and also for its significance in the life of Jesus.
Jerusalem | Religious significance
Al-Samawal al-Maghribi referred to this verse also in his book as a prophecy of Muhammad. He said that Mount Sinai refers to Moses, Mount Seir "the Mount of Esau" refers to Jesus, and Mount Paran "the Mount of Ishmael" refers to Muhammad. Since then, many Muslim scholars have looked to Deuteronomy 33 as containing a prophetic prediction of Muhammad. Deuteronomy 33:2 is part of the poem known as the Blessing of Moses spanning Deuteronomy 33:1-29. Scholars consider that the poem serves as a Yahwistic declaration for the blessing of the future of Israel as a socially unified whole that will benefit and prosper through YHWH's beneficence.
Muhammad and the Bible | Deuteronomy 33:2
Maimonides wrote that it was only permitted to enter the site to fulfill a religious precept. After the destruction of the Temple there was discussion as to whether the site, bereft of the Temple, still maintained its holiness or not. Jewish codifiers accepted the opinion of Maimonides who ruled that the holiness of the Temple sanctified the site for eternity and consequently the restrictions on entry to the site are still currently in force. While secular Jews ascend freely, the question of whether ascending is permitted is a matter of some debate among religious authorities, with a majority holding that it is permitted to ascend to the Temple Mount, but not to step on the site of the inner courtyards of the ancient Temple.
Temple Mount | Jewish religious law concerning entry to the site
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.
Mount Sinai | Ascent and summit
Har Karkom ("Mountain of Saffron" in Hebrew), or Jabal Ideid in Arabic is a mountain in the southwest Negev desert in Israel, halfway between Petra and Kadesh Barnea. On the basis that the Israelites travelled across the Sinai peninsula towards Petra in a fairly straight line, a number of scholars have contemplated the possibility of Har Karkom being the Biblical Mount Sinai. Following this theory, Emmanuel Anati excavated at the mountain, and discovered that it was a major paleolithic cult centre, with the surrounding plateau covered with shrines, altars, stone circles, stone pillars, and over 40,000 rock engravings. Although, on the basis of his findings, Anati advocates the identification of Har Karkom with Mount Sinai,[1][2] the peak of religious activity at the site may date to 2350–2000 BC, and the mountain appears to have been abandoned perhaps between 1950 and 1000 BC; the exodus is sometimes dated between 1600 and 1200 BC.
Tourism in Israel | Mount Karkom
The mosque and shrine are currently administered by a Waqf (an Islamic trust). The various inscriptions on the Dome walls and the artistic decorations imply a symbolic eschatological significance of the structure.
Temple Mount | Early Muslim period
The theophany at biblical Mount Sinai is related in . YHWH's manifestation is accompanied by thunder and lightning; there is a fiery flame, reaching to the sky; the loud notes of a trumpet are heard; and the whole mountain smokes and quakes. Out of the midst of the flame and the cloud a voice reveals the Ten Commandments. The account in , and is practically the same; and in its guarded language it strongly emphasizes the incorporeal nature of God. Moses in his blessing () points to this revelation as to the source of the election of Israel, but with this difference: with him the point of departure for the theophany is Mount Sinai and not heaven.
Theophany | Mount Sinai
Horeb is thought to mean "glowing"/"heat", which seems to be a reference to the Sun, while Sinai may have derived from the name of Sin, the Sumerian deity of the Moon, and thus Sinai and Horeb would be the mountains of the Moon and Sun, respectively.
Mount Horeb | Etymology
The limited accessibility and semiotic significance of heights afford political and ideological control to its inhabitants, who maintain a panoptic view of control over those below. Heights traditionally held religious significance as well, as attested in the numerous theophanic accounts shared by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (resources requested for this statement, particularly for Islam). The decision to build on Mount Zion furthermore situated the "Nea" within the dialogue of the other two sacred religious buildings that occupied highpoints in the city, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Golgotha and the Basilica of "Hagia Sion" on Mount Zion.
New Church of the Theotokos | Location
Mount Horeb (Hebrew: ; Greek in the Septuagint: ; Latin in the Vulgate: "") is the mountain at which the Book of Deuteronomy in the Hebrew Bible states that the Ten Commandments were given to Moses by Yahweh. It is described in two places (the Book of Exodus and the Books of Kings ) as the "Mountain of God". The mountain is also called the Mountain of YHWH. 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.
Mount Horeb | Introduction
Hashem El Tarif is one of several proposed locations of the biblical Mount Sinai.
Hashem El Tarif | Mount Sinai claims
The attraction of Mount Sinai for the solitaries was irresistible, in spite of the danger of captivity or death at the hands of the Saracens. In 373 a number of solitaries inhabited this mountain, living on dates and other fruit, such bread as they had being reserved for the Sacred Mysteries. All the week they lived apart in their cells; they gathered together in the church on Saturday evening and, after spending the night in prayer, received communion on Sunday morning. Forty of them were massacred in 373, and on the same day another group of solitaries at Raithe (supposed to be Elim) were killed by a second band of barbarians.
Christian monasticism before 451 | Spread
The Islamization of the Temple Mount is the historical process by which Muslim authorities have sought to appropriate and Islamicize the Temple Mount for exclusive Muslim use. Originally an Israelite and subsequently Jewish holy site, as the location of the First and Second Temples, the site was subsequently the location of a Roman pagan temple, a Byzantine church, a garbage dump, and later the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque. It is the holiest site in Judaism and the third holiest site in Sunni Islam.
Islamization of the Temple Mount | Introduction
Due to religious restrictions on entering the most sacred areas of the Temple Mount (see following section), the Western Wall, a retaining wall for the Temple Mount and remnant of the Second Temple structure, is considered by some rabbinical authorities to be the holiest accessible site for Jews to pray at. A 2013 Knesset committee hearing considered allowing Jews to pray at the site, amidst heated debate. Arab-Israeli MPs were ejected for disrupting the hearing, after shouting at the chairman, calling her a "pyromaniac". Religious Affairs Minister Eli Ben-Dahan of Jewish Home said his ministry was seeking legal ways to enable Jews to pray at the site.
Temple Mount | Jewish attitudes towards entering the site
The biblical account of the giving of the instructions and teachings of the Ten Commandments was given in the Book of Exodus, primarily between books 19-24, during which Sinai is mentioned by name twice, in . 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 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.
Mount Sinai (Bible) | Biblical description
The exact location of the mountain known in the ancient sources as Mount Scopus is not known. It is described as being in the north-eastern part of the ridge that prominently includes the Mount of Olives, which dominates Jerusalem from the east. As the Zionist organisations decided to build a new Jewish institution of higher learning in Jerusalem, which eventually became the Hebrew University, they decided that it was unwise to try and ask for donations for a project designed to be built on the Mount of Olives, a location with many Christian connotations. The site chosen for the university did correspond approximately to the description of the ancient Mount Scopus, and so it was decided to name that particular peak Mount Scopus.
Mount Scopus | Modern era
Saint Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai is famous for having a working charnel house. Saint Catherine's was founded by Justinian in the early 6th century, on the site of an older monastery founded about 313 AD and named for Helena of Constantinople. The monastery comprises the whole Autonomous Church of Sinai, under the Patriarchate of Jerusalem. The site lies at the foot of Mount Sinai where Christians believe Moses received the Ten Commandments. Since the Sinai is an inhospitable place, the brethren of St. Catherine's have struggled to eke out a subsistence-level existence. The difficulty in establishing a large cemetery in the rocky ground notwithstanding, relics are also gathered for temporal and spiritual reasons: a reminder to the monks of their impending death and fate in the hereafter.
Charnel house | Monastery of the Transfiguration (Saint Catherine's), Mt. Sinai
It is located at Saint Catherine's Monastery on Mount Sinai in Egypt, where it is designated Gr. 173.
Minuscule 1210 | Location