Mount Sinai, also known as Jabal Musa (), is a

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

on the

Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai ( ; ; ; ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is a land bridge between Asia and Afri ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. It is one of several locations claimed to be the

biblical Mount Sinai Mount Sinai (, ''Har Sīnay'') is the mountain at which the Ten Commandments were given to the Prophets in Judaism, Hebrew prophet Moses by God in Judaism, God, according to the Book of Exodus in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. In the Book of ...

, the place where, according to the sacred scriptures of the three major

Abrahamic religions The term Abrahamic religions is used to group together monotheistic religions revering the Biblical figure Abraham, namely Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The religions share doctrinal, historical, and geographic overlap that contrasts them wit ...

(

Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

, and

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

), the

Hebrew prophet According to the Talmud, there were 48 prophets and 7 prophetesses of Judaism ( ''Nəvīʾīm'', Tiberian: ''Năḇīʾīm,'' "Prophets", literally "spokespersons"). The last Jewish prophet is believed to have been Malachi. In Jewish tradition it ...

Moses In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...

received the

Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (), or the Decalogue (from Latin , from Ancient Greek , ), are religious and ethical directives, structured as a covenant document, that, according to the Hebrew Bible, were given by YHWH to Moses. The text of the Ten ...

from

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

. It is a , moderately high

near the city of Saint Catherine in the region known today as the

. 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 Mount Catherine (; ), is the highest mountain in Egypt. It is located near the town of Saint Catherine, Egypt, Saint Catherine in the South Sinai Governorate. The name is derived from the Christian tradition that angels transported to this mou ...

which, at , is the highest peak in

Geology

Mount Sinai's rocks were formed during the late stage of the evolution of the

Arabian-Nubian Shield The Arabian-Nubian Shield (ANS) is an exposure of Precambrian crystalline rocks on the flanks of the Red Sea. The crystalline rocks are mostly Neoproterozoic in age. Geographically – and from north to south – the ANS includes parts of Israel ...

. Mount Sinai displays a

ring complex A ring dike or ring dyke is an Intrusive rock, intrusive igneous body that is circular, oval or arcuate in plan and has steep contacts. While the widths of ring dikes differ, they can be up to several thousand meters. The most commonly accepted me ...

that consists of alkaline

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

s intruded into diverse rock types, including

volcanics Volcanic rocks (often shortened to volcanics in scientific contexts) are rocks formed from lava erupted from a volcano. Like all rock types, the concept of volcanic rock is artificial, and in nature volcanic rocks grade into hypabyssal and met ...

. The granites range in composition from

syenogranite Syenogranite is a fine to coarse grained intrusive igneous rock of the same general composition as granite. They are characteristically felsic. The feldspar component of syenogranite is predominantly alkaline in character (usually orthoclase). ...

to alkali

feldspar Feldspar ( ; sometimes spelled felspar) is a group of rock-forming aluminium tectosilicate minerals, also containing other cations such as sodium, calcium, potassium, or barium. The most common members of the feldspar group are the ''plagiocl ...

granite. The volcanic rocks are

alkaline In chemistry, an alkali (; from the Arabic word , ) is a basic salt of an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal. An alkali can also be defined as a base that dissolves in water. A solution of a soluble base has a pH greater than 7.0. The ...

peralkaline Peralkaline rocks include those igneous rocks which have a deficiency of aluminium such that sodium and potassium are in excess of that needed for feldspar. The presence of aegerine (sodium pyroxene) and riebeckite (sodium amphibole) are indicat ...

, 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 Saint Catherine's Monastery ( , ), officially the Sacred Autonomous Royal Monastery of Saint Catherine of the Holy and God-Trodden Mount Sinai, is a Christian monastery located in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. Located at the foot of Mount Sinai ...

. The summit has a

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

that is still used by

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

, and a

Greek Orthodox Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Greek Christianity, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christians or more broadly the rite used in the Eastern Rom ...

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 According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tablets of the Law (also Tablets of Stone, Stone Tablets, or Tablets of Testimony; Biblical Hebrew: לוּחֹת הַבְּרִית ''lūḥōṯ habbǝrīṯ'' "tablets of the covenant", לֻחֹת הָאֶבֶ ...

. At the summit also is "Moses' cave", where the

is believed to have waited to receive the

from

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

, where it is called ''Ṭūr Saināʾ'', ''Ṭūr Sīnīn'', and ''aṭ-Ṭūr'' and ''al-Jabal'' (both meaning "the Mount"). As for the adjacent '' Wād Ṭuwā'' (

Valley of Tuwa The holiest sites in Islam are located in the Middle East. While the significance of most places typically varies depending on the Islamic sect, there is a consensus across all mainstream branches of the religion that affirms two cities as havi ...

), it is considered as being ''muqaddas'' (

sacred Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ( ...

), and a part of it is called ''Al-Buqʿah Al-Mubārakah'' ("The blessed Place"). File:St Catherines From Sinai.JPG,

, 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

camel A camel (from and () from Ancient Semitic: ''gāmāl'') is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. Camels have long been domesticated and, as livestock, they provid ...

s 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. 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

References

External links

*
Caucasian Albanian Alphabet Discovered and Deciphered
Azerbaijan International, Vol. 11:3 (Autumn 2003). Six articles.
View ''OF'' Mount Sinai (as opposed to the view ''FROM'' Mount Sinai)

Information about the town of St. Katherine and the Sinai mountains

A Report on Mount Sinai

Old maps of Mount Sinai.
Eran Laor Cartographic Collection, The

National Library of Israel The National Library of Israel (NLI; ; ), formerly Jewish National and University Library (JNUL; ), is the library dedicated to collecting the cultural treasures of Israel and of Judaism, Jewish Cultural heritage, heritage. The library holds more ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sinai Mountains of Egypt Sinai Peninsula Sinai Hebrew Bible mountains Tourist attractions in Egypt Midian Moses Sinai Christian pilgrimage sites Ring dikes