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SINAI

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Originally appearing in Volume V25, Page 140 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SINAI . 1. The Biblical See also:

Mount Sinai. In judging of the points of controversy connected with Sinai we are brought See also:face to face with the question of the historicity of the See also:Hebrew records involved. Though new attempts to See also:fix the stations of the See also:wilderness wandering appear every See also:year, critics have See also:long agreed that the number of See also:forty for the years of wandering and for the stations are See also:round See also:numbers, and that the details are not based on See also:historical tradition of the See also:Mosaic See also:age. This does not exclude the possibility that the names of some or all of the stations belong to real places and are based on more or less careful See also:research on the See also:part of the writers who See also:record them. As regards the See also:Mountain of the See also:Law in particular, if the record of Exod. xix. seq. is strictly historical, we must seek a locality where 600,000 fighting men, or some two million souls in all, could encamp and remain for some See also:time, finding pasture and drink for their See also:cattle, and where there was a mountain (with a wilderness at its See also:foot) rising so sharply that its See also:base could be fenced in, while yet it was easily ascended, and its See also:summit could be seen by a See also:great multitude below. In the valley there must have been a flowing stream. The See also:peninsula of Sinai does not furnish any locality where so great a See also:host could meet under the conditions specified, and accordingly many investigators give up the See also:statistics of the number of See also:Hebrews and seek a See also:place that fulfils the other conditions. But when we consider that the various records em-bodied in the See also:Pentateuch were composed long after the time of See also:Moses, and that the authors in all See also:probability never saw Sinai, and had no exact topographical tradition to fall back on, but could picture to themselves the See also:scene of the events they recorded only by the aid of See also:imagination, the topographical method of identifying the Mountain of the Law becomes very questionable. The Pentateuchal writers are not at one even about the name of the mountain. It used to be thought that See also:Horeb was the name of the mountain See also:mass as a whole, or of its See also:southern part, while Sinai was the Mountain of the Law proper, but it has been shown by See also:Dillmann that the Elohist and See also:Deuteronomy always use the name Horeb for the same mountain which the Jahvist and the Priestly See also:Code See also:call Sinai.

The Elohist belonged to See also:

Northern See also:Israel, but See also:Judges v. 5 shows that even in Northern Israel the other name Sinai was not unknown. And it might be shown, though that cannot be done here, that the several accounts vary not only as regards the name but in topographical details. 'Thus all that can be taken as historically fixed is that after leaving See also:Goshen the Hebrews See also:abode for some time near a mountain called Sinai or Horeb, and that this mountain or range was held to be See also:holy as a seat of the Deity (Exod. ii. 1; 1 See also:Kings xix.). Where, then, was this mountain? The Midianites, of whom according to one source See also:Jethro was See also:priest, probably always lived E. of the Gulf of `Ababa; yet we can hardly follow See also:Beke in seeking Sinai beyond that gulf, but must rather think of some point in the so-called peninsula of Sinai, which lies between the Gulfs of `See also:Akaba and See also:Suez, bounded on the N. by the Wilderness el-Tih, which slopes gently towards the Mediterranean. To the See also:south of this wilderness rises the See also:Jebel el-Tih, a mass composed mainly of Nubian See also:sandstone and cretaceous See also:limestone, which attains in fantastic forms an See also:altitude of some 3000 ft.; its ridges converge towards the S. and are cut off by great valleys from the mass now known as Mount Sinai. The latter is composed of See also:primitive rocks—See also:granite, See also:porphyry, See also:diorite, See also:gneiss, &c. The sandstones of Jebel el-Tih are See also:rich in minerals; See also:inscriptions of Amenophis III. and Thothmes III. found on the spot show that the See also:ancient Egyptians got See also:turquoise at Serabit al-Khadem; and at Maghara, where inscriptions occur bearing the names of kings from Semerkhet and Khufu down to See also:Rameses II. These mines were worked by criminals and prisoners of See also:war, and the See also:waste products of See also:copper foundries indicate that the peninsula was once better wooded than now, of which indeed we have See also:express testimony of See also:post-See also:Christian date. At See also:present the dominant feature is See also:bare walls of See also:rock, especially in the primitive formations; the steep and jagged summits have a striking effect, which is increased by the various See also:colours of the rock and the clearness of the See also:atmosphere.

The deep-cut valleys are filled by rushing torrents after See also:

rain, but soon dry up again. In the S. the centre of the See also:main mountain mass is Mount See also:Catherine (8540 ft.), Omm Shomar to the S.E. being little See also:lower; this See also:peak and N. of it Mount Serbal (6750 ft.), which rises more immediately from the See also:plain, dominate the Ka'ah, a waste expanse of See also:sand strewn with pebbles, which occupies the S.W. margin of the peninsula. In the Ka'ah is the See also:village of Tur, and at the S. promontory (See also:Ras Mohammed) is the little See also:hamlet of Sherm. The Sinai See also:group as a whole is called by the See also:Arabs Jebel al-Tur; the name See also:Sind in Arabic comes only from books. The See also:area of the peninsula is about 11,200 sq. m.; the See also:population is four to five thousand souls, chiefly See also:Bedouins of various tribes, whose See also:common name, derived from Tur, is Towara. They have See also:sheep and goats, with which they retire in summer to the higher lands, where there is See also:good pasture ground, and where springs are comparatively common. On the See also:chalk and sandstone See also:water is scarcer than among the primitive rocks, and often brackish. Though the rocks are bare, there is always vegetation in the dales, especially acacias and tamarisks; from the latter (T. mannif era) See also:manna is still derived in quantities that vary with the rainfall. On the hills grow aromatic See also:plants, especially Thymaceae. The See also:fauna includes the See also:ibex, hyrax and hyaena; the See also:panther too is sometimes found. Flights of See also:quail have been observed. In some valleys there are well-kept gardens and good date-palms; the most noted See also:oasis is that of Feiran, in the N.W. of the peninsula, which is watered by a perennial stream.

Whether Feiran is the Rephidim of Exod. xvii. is a question which, like the See also:

identification of the other stations of the Israelites, depends on the localization of the Mountain of the Law. There is no genuine pre-Christian tradition on this subject. The See also:chief authority for the ancient sanctity of Mount Sinai is See also:Antoninus See also:Martyr (end of the 6th See also:century), who tells that the See also:heathen Arabs in his time still celebrated a See also:moon feast there. As See also:sin means " moon," this feast has been connected with the name of Sinai, but the proposed See also:etymology is not certain. Of heathen origin, too, are the many Nabataean inscriptions of Sinai, found especially in the Wady Mokatteb (in the N.W.), and sometimes accompanied by See also:rude drawings. The See also:language and See also:character are Aramaic, but the proper names are mainly those of Arabs, who passing by graved their names on the rocks. That they were pilgrims to Sinai cannot be made out with certainty. The inscriptions date from the See also:early years of the Christian era, when the Nabataean See also:kingdom was at its height. In early Christian times many anchorites inhabited Sinai, living for the most part in the caves, which are numerous even in the primitive rocks. Then monasteries were built, the most famous being the great one of St Catherine in Wady el-Der (the valley of the monastery). On Serbal, too, there were many granite dwellings, and in the neighbouring Pharan (Phoenicion), which was a See also:bishop's see, there were, as the ruins show, churches and convents. The question then is whether when the hermits first settled in the peninsula there existed a tradition as to the place of the Mountain of the Law, and whether they See also:chose for their See also:residence a spot which was already traditionally consecrated by memories significant to the Christian as well as to the See also:Jew.

No assertion of the existence of such a tradition is to be found in See also:

Josephus, who only says that Sinai was the highest mountain of the See also:district --a description which might apply to Serbal as seen from the plain below. See also:Eusebius uses expressions which may also seem to point to Serbal as the place of the law-giving, and it must be admitted that the tradition which seeks the holy site in the group of Jebel Musa (i.e. the mass of which Mount Catherine is the highest peak) is not older than the time of Justinian, so that the identification with Mount Serbal seems to have greaterantiquity in its favour. In later times Jebel Musa and Serbal had each its own tradition, and the holy places were pointed out at each; thus from the monastery of St Catherine a path of granite steps was constructed up to " the Mountain of the Law," but similar steps are found at Serbal. That these traditions are not decisive, however, is admitted, more or less, even by those moderns who, like See also:Lepsius, See also:Ebers, See also:Bartlett, give their See also:voice for Serbal. Most authorities still prefer Jebel Musa or some point in that group, but they again differ in details. First of all there is much difficulty in determining the route by which the Hebrews approached the mountain. Then comes the question of finding a suitable plain for their encampment under the mountain, which is best met if, with See also:Robinson, See also:Stanley, See also:Palmer and others, the plain is taken to be that of al-Rabe and the overhanging mountain to be Jebel Sufsafeh. The latter is over 63oo ft. high, and consists of pasture ground; it does not See also:fit all the details in See also:Exodus, but this objection is quite as strong against the traditional site on Jebel Musa (Mount Moses), which lies farther S. Jebel Musa has been accepted by See also:Tischendorf, Laborde, See also:Ritter, See also:Strauss, See also:Farrar, and many others; on this view the Israelites must have encamped in the narrow Wady al-Seya`iyeh, N. of the mount. But the See also:absence of exact topographical detail on the part of the Biblical narrators, who always speak of Sinai as if it were a single summit and give no hint about several summits of which it is one, shows that in their time there was no real tradition on the See also:matter, and that all attempts at identification are necessarily vain. LITERATuRE.—See also:Burckhardt, Travels in See also:Syria, (See also:London, 1822) ; See also:Leon de Laborde, Voyage de l'Arabie Petree (See also:Paris, 183o-1836) ; Robinson, Biblical Researches (London, 1841); Lepsius, Reise (See also:Berlin, 1845); Stanley, Sinai and See also:Palestine; See also:Fraas, Aus d. Orient (See also:Stuttgart, 1867); See also:Ordnance Survey of the See also:Pen. of Sinai (See also:Southampton, 1869, 3 Vols.); Palmer, See also:Desert of the Exodus (See also:Cambridge, 1871); Ebers, Durch Gosen zum Sinai (2nd ed., See also:Leipzig, 1881); See also:Baker See also:Greene, The Hebrew See also:Migration (London, 1883) ; See also:Hull, Mount Seir, Sinai and See also:West Palestine (London, 1885).

See also the Palestine Society's Quarterly Statement, passim. (A. So.) 2. The Peninsula: See also:

Recent Research.—The peninsula of Sinai is about 230 M. in extreme length and 150 M. wide, or nearly the See also:size of See also:Ireland. It is practically waterless and barren, the population being not a thousandth of that on an equal area in See also:England. The S. part is a high mass of See also:schists and granite, deeply cut into valleys; it is overlaid by carboniferous sandstone, and limestone, capped with See also:tertiary See also:basalt, flows in the See also:mining region. The N. part is an expanse of cretaceous limestone and nummulitic tertiary limestone, sloping down to the Mediterranean. The steep valley of the Gulf of Suez has been greatly deepened—if not formed—since the tertiary limestone was deposited, the beds dipping down sharply to the See also:sea. The only water See also:supply of any importance is that in the Wady Feiran; elsewhere only small water-holes preserve enough for a few persons, but fresh water can be obtained along the See also:shore route by digging. The difficulty about the numbers of the Israelites who lived here has lately been treated on a fresh basis. That they were not more numerous than the previous inhabitants is shown by the difficulty in conquering the See also:Amalekites at Rephidim. In the See also:census lists of the See also:Book of Numbers the hundreds of See also:people in each tribe are in most cases 4 or 500; 2, 3, 6 or 700 are rare; o, r, 8 or goo do not occur.

The hundreds are therefore See also:

independent of the thousands prefixed to them: and as aldf means both a " thousand " and a " See also:family," it is proposed that the See also:original census was in numbers of tents or families, and hundreds of people; and that later the family numbers were mistaken for thousands. Other points agree in this view, such as the number of persons in a family, the similarity of hundreds in the census before and that after the wanderings, and the actual size of Goshen, from which they came, and the population of Sinai where they settled. Thus the See also:total numbers were 5730 people. The See also:internal See also:evidence that the census lists are original documents is very strong, though they have been misunderstood by later compilers. It is impossible to suppose a population trained in See also:Egypt not having the ability to keep some tribal records of numbers and movements such as were the basis of the existing re-edited narrative. The See also:history of the See also:Egyptian settlements has been investigated. They began in the Ist See also:Dynasty, shown by the tablet of the See also:con-quest by See also:King Semerkhet (5280 B.C.) above the mines of turquoise at Wady Maghara. Seneferu (4750 B.C.) was already working at Serabit for turquoise. Other kings who See also:left records here are Sanekht (IIIrd Dynasty), Khufu (IVth), Sahura, Ranuser, Menkauhor (Vth), Amenemhat I., Senusert I., Senusert II., Senusert III., Amenemhat II., Amenemhat III., Amenemhat IV. (XIIth), Aahmes I., Amenhotep I., Tahutmes I., Hatshepsut, Tahutmes III., Tahutmes IV., Amenhotep III. (XVIIIth), Rameses I., Sety I., Rameses II., Merenptah, Sety II., Tausert, Setnekht (XIXth), Rameses III., IV., V. and VI, (XXth). The monuments are mostly inscriptions recording the mining expeditions and offerings made to the goddess of turquoise.

The original See also:

shrine of the goddess was a See also:cave; this was hewn out and buildings were gradually added before it to a length of 230 ft. The records show that no fewer than twenty-five different grades of officials took part in the See also:work of mining, which was highly organized as regards direction, technical ability, labour and transport, often as many as 700 men being employed. Over 400 See also:objects with kings' names have been found in the fragments of the offerings which were left in the shrine. The See also:worship at Serabit was that of See also:Hathor, See also:mistress of turquoise. She is identical with Athtar or See also:Ishtar, the Semitic goddess of See also:Arabia. The features of the worship were entirely Semitic and not Egyptian. An enormous mass of burnt-offerings is shown by the See also:bed of ashes before the sacred cave; tanks for ablutions are found in the See also:temple courts, altars of See also:incense are in the shrine itself, and also conical stones; and See also:chambers or shelters for dreaming before the temple are a main feature. All of these belong to Semitic worship, and they show that before Mosaism the elements of the worship were the same as are found in later times. For all the recent research see W. M. See also:Flinders See also:Petrie, Researches in Sinai (1906). (W..

M. F.

End of Article: SINAI

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