FROM SUEZ TO SINAI." 



259 



level horizontal strata as now seen. In due time we struck Wadi 

 Sahah, which is by far the best route from Feiran to Nakb el- 

 Howa (" Gap of the Wind ") and the monastery. Our route now 

 presented an entirely new aspect of Sinaitic scenery, for instead 

 of traversing never-ending wadis, often very hot indeed, we were 

 on a vast open plateau, always rising to a higher level, and 

 often with scarcely the sign of any track. 



About three hours after lunch we reached the highest point 

 in a hollow opening in the ridge before us, and then, in full view, 

 lay the finest panorauia of the Sinai mountains to be seen from 

 any point in the peninsula, except from a mountain top, and yet 

 apparently unknown to Baedeker, and probably to Murray also. 

 If we had taken the route which both guide books recommend, 

 the Wadi Salaf, we should have reached our camp below Nakb 

 el-Howa without one glimpse of Jebel Sufsafa or Jebel Miisa, 

 whereas here we see Sufsafa right before us, and behind this 

 lies the other peak of the same mountain range, Jebel Musa, 

 the traditional Sinai of the Greek Orthodox Cliurch. 



After dinner we read together in Exodus xx of the Giving of the 

 Law, also in Exodus xxxii of the idolatry of the Children of Israel 

 in the worship of the golden calf, likewise of the breaking of 

 the tables of the Law as Moses came down and saw the 

 wickedness of the people. We were now within four and a-half 

 hours of the monastery of Sinai ; and the following day 

 would bring us to the place where these great scenes were 

 witnessed. 



On the morning of Saturday (March 16th) we got off in good 

 time, and in about two hours and a-half we were at the top of 

 Nakb el-Howa. From the summit we had the finest view of 

 Mount Sinai (Jebel Sufsafa) itself to be obtained from any spot. 

 Below us was a rather deep hollow, beyond which lay open 

 before us the great plain of Er-Eaha, the Wilderness of Sinai," 

 and this reached right up to the foot of the mountain. At 

 first the plain rose gradually for two miles, and then sloped 

 gently down for three miles or so to the mountain, being about 

 a mile wide where it touched the mountain. A more perfect 

 spot for the encampment of the Israelities could not be 

 conceived. Many times their number could encamp here, and 

 all in full view of the summit of the mountain. 



In addition to Jebel Sufsafa, now the dominating feature of 

 the landscape, with Jebel Musa lying behind it to the 

 south, we see on our right the western peak of the group, 

 Jebel Catarina. Why Jebel Musa should have been chosen 

 a,s the traditional Sinai rather than Sufsafa one cannot 



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