WHEEE IS MOUNT SINAI ? 45 



the next place there is no camping- ground of sufficient 

 extent reaching to the base of Serbal which can compare 

 witli that of the Wadi er Raliah both for convenience and 

 fitness with the requirements of the narrative, I have not 

 myself traversed the Wadi Feiran, and have only seen the 

 rugged outline of Serbal at some distance to the west of our 

 route in 1883 ; but [Stanley had visited this mountain as well 

 as J. Musa, and deliberately rejects the claims of Serbdl, on 

 the ground of topographical unfitness.* 



4. Jehel Musd. — We are now in a position to consider the 

 physical characteristics of Jebel Musa, and to determine 

 whether or not this mountain fulfils the requirements of the 

 narrative of the giving of the Law. 



Though Jebel Musa is a mountain amongst mountains, it 

 stands out clearly individualized by reason of the broad valley 

 of Er Rahah at if s confluence with that of Esh Sheikh on the 

 north ; that of Wadi ed Deir by which it is bounded along- 

 the east; and the W. Seil Leja whicli follows its western 

 flank and separates it from Jebel-el-H6mr. In the Wadi ed 

 Deir is situated the Monastery of St. Catharine. 



The summit of J. Musa reaches an elevation of 7,3(33 feet, 

 and is formed of fine grey gneiss with slight traces of 

 foliation; and it is crowned by a little mosque, and the ruins 

 of an ancient Greek Church built of marble. A few hundred 

 feet below the summit is a remarkable basin of clear cold 

 water ; and in the cliff surrounding it is a cave known as 

 that of Elijah. t The basin gives origin to a small stream 

 and cascade which descends to the base of the mount 

 opposite the monastery, and is a never-failing source of 

 supply. This spring, and three or four others which descend 

 from J. Musa and J. Katharina, are, according to Wilson, fed 

 by the snows of winter which at these high altitudes rest on 

 the mountain tops, and when melting percolate into the 

 joints and crevices of the rocks. This abundance of water 

 is an important point of evidence of the identification of the 



* Loc. cit. p. 40 ; 44, 76. In this I myself concur for reasons to be 

 stated ; but probably Serbal, which is the grandest mountain in the 

 Sinaitic peninsula, partly owing to its isolation, and partly to its 

 extreme ruggedness, will always have supporters to its claim to be the 

 Mount of the Law. 



t I have personally little doubt that it is really the cave to which the 

 prophet Elijah fled from the face of Ahab ; and also that it was the 

 retreat of St. Paul after his onversion, when he " went into Arabia."^ 

 Gal. i, 17. 



