Christian Pure

Where Is Mount Sinai? Jebel Musa and the Nine Proposed Mountains

Equipa Christian Pure

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Resumo

  • Nobody knows for certain where Mount Sinai stood, because the route of the Exodus is disputed and few of the places named on the way can be found today.
  • The mountain called Mount Sinai on maps is Jebel Musa, a 2,285-metre granite peak in Egypt’s South Sinai, with St Catherine’s Monastery at its northern foot.
  • The pilgrim Egeria climbed it with the monks who lived there around 381 to 384 and found a small church on the summit that she called “great in grace”.
  • At least nine mountains have published supporters: in Egypt’s Sinai, in Israel’s Negev, at Petra in Jordan, and in Saudi Arabia, where Jabal al-Lawz and the volcano Hala-‘l Badr have been proposed.
  • Each case leans on verses such as Exodus 3:1, Deuteronomy 1:2, Exodus 19:18 and Galatians 4:25, and each has its objectors among archaeologists, historians and other writers.
  • Scripture does not say that Jesus went to Sinai, and Hebrews tells believers they have come “to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant” (Hebrews 12:24).

Nobody knows for certain where Mount Sinai stood, though the mountain that carries the name on maps today is Jebel Musa, the “mountain of Moses”, a granite peak of 2,285 metres in the south of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, with St Catherine’s Monastery at its northern foot. Christians have pointed to it since at least the 4th century, when the monks who lived there led a pilgrim named Egeria to its summit. Yet at least nine mountains, in Egypt, Saudi Arabia,…

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Bibliografia (Clique para mostrar)
  • King James Version: Exodus 3:1, 5, 12; 19:1–2, 18, 20; 24:4; Numbers 33:3–15; Deuteronomy 1:2; 5:2–3; 33:2; Judges 5:4–5; 1 Kings 19:8; Habakkuk 3:3; Galatians 4:25; Hebrews 12:18–24, text from bible-api.com.
  • Britannica Editors, “Mount Sinai”, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 24 July 2025, britannica.com.
  • New American Bible, Revised Edition, Exodus 3, note on 3:1, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, bible.usccb.org.
  • Egeria, A Peregrinação de Etéria, translated by M. L. McClure and C. L. Feltoe, with their introduction (London: SPCK, 1919), archive.org.
  • “Egeria (pilgrim)”, Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org.
  • Eusébio de Cesareia, Onomasticon, translated by C. Umhau Wolf (1971), with Jerome’s additions, tertullian.org (archived copy).
  • Procopius, Buildings, Book 5, LacusCurtius, penelope.uchicago.edu.
  • “Saint Catherine’s Monastery”, Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org.
  • Richard Lepsius, Letters from Egypt, Ethiopia, and the Peninsula of Sinai, translated by Leonora and Joanna B. Horner (London: Henry G. Bohn, 1853), letters of 1845, quoting Carl Ritter, archive.org.
  • Edward Robinson and Eli Smith, Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea, vol. 1 (Boston: Crocker & Brewster, 1841), archive.org.
  • C. S. Jarvis, Yesterday and To-day in Sinai (Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1932), archive.org.
  • Simon Turpin, “Searching for Sinai”, Answers in Genesis, 9 November 2022, answersingenesis.org.
  • “Mount Sinai (Bible)”, Wikipedia, quoting James K. Hoffmeier, Ancient Israel in Sinai (2005), and Allen Kerkeslager, en.wikipedia.org.
  • “Mount Sinai”, Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org.
  • Biblical Archaeology Society Staff, “Searching for Biblical Mt. Sinai”, Bible History Daily, on Hershel Shanks, “Where Is Mount Sinai? The Case for Har Karkom and the Case for Saudia Arabia”, Revista de Arqueologia Bíblica, March/April 2014, biblicalarchaeology.org.
  • Emmanuel Anati, “Mount Sinai Rediscovered”, harkarkom.com.
  • “Mount Karkom”, Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org.
  • Allen Kerkeslager, “Mt. Sinai—in Arabia?”, Bible Review, April 2000, BAS Library, library.biblicalarchaeology.org.
  • “Did Amateur Archaeologists Find the Real Mt. Sinai?”, sidebar to “Mt. Sinai—in Arabia?”, Bible Review, April 2000, BAS Library, library.biblicalarchaeology.org.
  • Christopher Eames, “Where Is Mount Sinai? Part 1: Not in Saudi Arabia”, Armstrong Institute (ArmstrongInstitute.org), 12 June 2024, quoting the geologist John Morris, armstronginstitute.org.
  • “Ron Wyatt”, Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org.
  • BASE Institute (Bob Cornuke), “Mt. Sinai”, baseinstitute.org.
  • “Lennart Möller”, Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org.
  • “Viral online film argues Exodus went into Saudi Arabia, Mt. Sinai located in Muslim nation”, The Christian Post, on Ryan Mauro’s film of December 2018, christianpost.com.
  • Gordon Franz, “Is Mount Sinai in Saudi Arabia?”, Bible and Spade, 2000, ldolphin.org.
  • Gordon Franz, “Mt. Sinai Is Not at Jebel el-Lawz in Saudi Arabia”, paper of 15 November 2001, ldolphin.org.
  • The Late Dr. Charles Beke’s Discoveries of Sinai in Arabia and of Midian, edited by Emily Beke (London: Trübner, 1878), archive.org.
  • Steve Jeffery, review of Colin J. Humphreys, The Miracles of Exodus, Themelios 29, no. 3, themelios.thegospelcoalition.org.
  • “Hala-‘l Badr”, Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org.
  • “Gabal Sin Bishar”, Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org.
  • “Hashem El Tarif” and “The Exodus Decoded”, Wikipedia, Hashem El Tarif e The Exodus Decoded.
  • OpenBible.info, “Where is biblical Mount Sinai today? 14 modern identifications”, openbible.info.
  • Heights: GeoNames entries for Jabal al Lawz e Gebel Halal; Wikidata entries for Hashem el-Tarif e Hala-‘l Badr.

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