WHEEE IS MOUNT SINAI ? 43 



It has been doubted whether there is sufficiently extensive 

 camping- ground at the base of Jebel Musa to admit of the 

 long residence of a host such as that of the Israelites, with 

 their flocks and herds.* But I think tJiat anyone who has 

 surveyed this fine valley, nearly a mile in breadth and two 

 miles in length, will admit that the difficulty vanishes, and 

 will be inclined to agree with Dean Stanley when he says, 

 "Considering the almost total absence of such conjanctions 

 of plain and momitain in this region, it is really important 

 evidence of the truth of the narj-alive, that one such c(mjunc- 

 tion can be found, and that within the neighbourhood of the 

 traditional Sinai. "f For myself I never had a doubt, after 

 traversing this great amphitheatre leading up to the very 

 base of the stupendous granite cliff of Has Sufsafeh, that here 

 indeed was the camp, and there the mount from whence 

 Jehovah gave forth His laws amidst the thunders and 

 earthquakes which caused the mountain to rock from its 

 foundations. Thus we see that as far as the journey from 

 Egypt to Jebel Musa, here considered to be "Mount Sinai," 

 is concerned, the narrative is fairly consistent with the physi- 

 cal features and conditions of the route now sketched out.ij: 



3. Journey from Sinai to Kadesh Barnea. — Before entering 

 upon an account of Mount Sinai (or J. Musa) itself, in order 

 to show how it corresponds in its physical features with the 

 Bible narrative, I propose to consider the third stage of the 

 journey to Kadesh in order to see whether it also fits in with 

 the narrative. 



On. leaving Mount Sinai two roads were possible in order 

 to reach Kadesh ; one (advocated by Holland) by the Wadies 

 Zelagah and El'Ain and the desert of Et Tih ; the other by 

 W. Sa'at and El Huderah§ down to the shore of the Gulf of 

 Akabah, and thence northwards by the Arabah Valley. This 

 latter appears the more probable route, as Ezion Geber(now 



* Piof. Palmer has estimated that Wadi er Eaha has an area of two 

 million of square yards. Tlie flocks and herds would find pas^turage in 

 the neighbouring valleys of Sehayeh, Esh-Sheikh airl its branches. 



t Stanley, loc. cit. p. 77. 



X Ex. xix, 18. There was a second route, that by the Haj Eoad from 

 Suez to Akabah across the waterless plateau of the Badiet-et-Tih. This 

 route has been advocated by Mr. J. Baker Greene in his work The 

 Hebrew Migration from Egi/pt. But a.ny one who knows this region is 

 aware that it is perfectly impracticable for a multitude of men, women 

 and children travelling on foot and accompanied by nocks and herds. 



§ Identified by Paltner with Hazeroth, Num. xi," 35, 



