Mount Sinai

Mount Sinai (Hebrew: הר סיני‎Har Sinai; Greek: Όρος Σινάι), traditionally known as Jabal Musa (Arabic: جَبَل مُوسَىٰ‎, 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 receives the Ten Commandments.

For the Biblical Mount Sinai, and a discussion of its possible locations, see Biblical Mount Sinai. For other uses, see Mount Sinai (disambiguation).
"Jabal Musa" redirects here. For other uses, see Jebel Musa (disambiguation).
Mount Sinai
Egyptian Arabic: جَبَل مُوسَىٰ‎, romanized: Jabal Mūsā
Arabic: جَبَل مُوْسَى‎, romanized: Gabal Mūsā
Classical Syriac: ܛܘܪܐ ܕܣܝܢܝ‎ and ܛܘܪܐ ܕܡܘܫܐ
Όρος Σινάι
Mons Sinai
The summit of Mount Sinai
Highest point
Elevation2,285 m (7,497 ft)
Prominence334 m (1,096 ft) 
Listing
Coordinates28°32′21.9″N 33°58′31.5″E 
Naming
Native nameطُوْر سِيْنَاء
Geography
Mount Sinai
Sinai, Asian part of Egypt

It is a 2,285-metre (7,497 ft) 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 2,629 m or 8,625 ft, the highest peak in Egypt).[1] It is surrounded on all sides by higher peaks of the mountain range.

Geology

Mount Sinai's rocks were formed in the late stage of the Arabian-Nubian Shield's (ANS) evolution. Mount Sinai displays a ring complex[2] 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. Generally, the nature of the exposed rocks in Mount Sinai indicates that they originated from differing depths.

Religious significance

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.[3] At the summit also is "Moses' cave", where Moses was said to have waited to receive the Ten Commandments.

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.[4]

  • Sunrise
  • View from the summit
  • The last few meters of the climb up the mountain
A panoramic view from the summit of Mount Sinai
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See also
  • Hashem el-Tarif
  • Jebel Musa, Morocco, a similarly named mountain in Morocco

References
  1. "Sinai Geology". AllSinai.info.
  2. Hanaa M. Salem and A. A. ElFouly, "Minerals Reconnaissance at Saint Catherine Area, Southern Central Sinai, Egypt and their Environmental Impacts on Human Health". ICEHM2000, Cairo University, Egypt, September 2000, pp. 586–98
  3. "Mount Sinai, Egypt". Places of Peace and Power.
  4. "Mount Sinai". AllSinai.info.
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