Mount Sinai Found!
Mount Sinai Found!
Again?
These coordinates are worth checking out:
28°35’3.82”N
35°22’43.57”E
There is an ancient pillar on each side of the Red Sea where the the Israelites were marked as crossing in Moses’ day.
Now how’d that son of a gun get up there?
Pfftt! I was born there in ‘66
It’s better than a location in Arabia, but still too far east. Here’s what I wrote about that:
http://xenohistorian.faithweb.com/holybook/articles/Moses.html#MtSinai
“For those who have never been to Mitzpe Ramon, you’re missing out. It’s on the edge of the Ramon makhtesh — Israel’s Grand Canyon. In fact, although it is called a “crater” in English, it is actually a “makhtesh” i.e., a “box canyon”, formed not by a meteor or a river, but by geological processes of a receding ocean.”
Interesting that this mountain is adjacent to a diverging plate boundary where the Nubian (African) Plate and the Arabian Plate are moving in quite different directions. The “geological process of a receding ocean” is rather a product of plate tectonics as are the numerous volcanos in the area and the Red Sea itself.
IIRC The Naked Archaeologist had an episode on this. Had to be over 5 years ago.
Ahhh...it IS the naked archaeologist. Weird program. AFAIK he is a filmaker, not an archaeologist.
Many people say he is anti Christian, especially anti Catholic.
I never got that from the proram but I didn’t wath closely.
First there is a mountain, then there is no mountain, then there is.... ridiculous lyrics sung by Donovan Leitch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWkGs6MxATc
That don’t look nuthin’ like the mountain Charleton Heston came down.
That don’t look nuthin’ like the mountain Charleton Heston came down.
He has some valid arguments.
Wow, y’all should check out the link and read the paper instead of making fun. I think this guy has actually established the real Mt. Sinai!
Check out this partial list from the paper:
1. According to Rabbinic sources, Mount Sinai is the lowest of the mountains in its region. Hashem el-Tarif is the lowest mountain in its region.
2. According to the Torah, Mount Sinai was able to accommodate hundreds of thousands, if not millions of Israelites (Exodus 12:37). In other words, the mountain needs a huge plateau around it, so as to accommodate a very large number of people. Hashem el-Tarif has a huge plateau around it.
3. According to the Torah, Moses was asked to create a barrier – “set a boundary” - between the mountain and the people (Exodus 19:12). Hashem el-Tarif is surrounded by a stone demarcation that is visible to this day.
4. According to the Torah, Moses destroyed the golden calf, ground it “and threw the dust into a stream that flowed down the mountain” (Exodus 32:20 and Deuteronomy 9:21. Emphasis added). Hashem el-Tarif has evidence of travertine on top of the mountain. You can readily pick up huge pieces of travertine to this . Travertine is created by fresh flowing water.
5. According to the Torah, Moses carved the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 34:4). It’s clear that Moses wasn’t working with hammer and chisel. Travertine is a soft stone. It also conforms to the Talmudic tradition that it was transparent. When you put travertine up to the light it is transparent and you can see engravings on both sides. This conforms to the
Rabbinic tradition.
6. According to the Torah, Moses spoke to the people from on top of the mountain (Exodus 19:7). Hashem el-Tarif has a natural stage and close by a natural amphitheater creating perfect acoustics and the ability to speak to the people below from the mountain above.
7. According to the Torah, there is a prominent cleft in which Moses hid, protected from the glory of God (Exodus 33:22). The natural stage at the end of the mountain is separated from the mountain itself by a very prominent natural cleft.
8. According to the Torah, the mountain was considered holy prior to the Exodus (Exodus 3:1). Hashem el-Tarif has the highest concentration of open-air sanctuaries in the Sinai.
9. According to the Torah, Mount Sinai is close to Mt. Seir (Deuteronomy 1:2 and 33:2). To this day, the extension of Hashem el-Tarif is called “Seira”.
10. According to the Torah, Israelites did not engage in professional mountain climbing to get to the plateau surrounding the mountain. They just stopped en route. Also, when Aaron meets Moses, it seems to be that the mountain is located close to the main roads, easily accessible by men, women, children, and the elderly (Exodus 4:27). Hashem el-Tarif sits on the main Sinai highway routes.
