JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Archaeologists from the Christian-based Doubting Thomas Research Foundation claim to have located one of the holiest sites in the Bible: Mount Sinai, the place where the Torah was given. Moreover they see it as in an entirely different country from what is now known as Sinai, at the northwestern tip of Saudia Arabia.
Join our WhatsApp groupSubscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
The archaeologists are convinced that the Israelites actually crossed the Red Sea and not the narrow channel found near Egypt. Scientists have found land paths underneath the water, where God would have parted the waters for Moses and the Israelites. Moreover, a coral shaped like a chariot was found in the Red Sea, and other signs of a possible crossing of the sea are evident.
The archaeologists identify Mount Sinai with Jabal Maqla, a charred mountain which lies in the Jabal al-Lawz mountain range in northwestern Saudi Arabia. The black aspect of the mountain reminds them of the fact that the mountain was enveloped in smoke and fire when the Torah was given.
“One of the main reasons certain scholars claim that the Exodus is a myth is because little to no evidence for what the Bible records has been found at the traditional Mount Sinai in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula,” Foundation president Ryan Mauro, who is a Middle East expert, told the Sun.
“But what if these scholars have actually been looking in the wrong spot?” he noted. “Move over into the Arabian peninsula and you find incredibly compelling evidence matching the Biblical account.”
On the way from the nearby beach to the possible Mt. Sinai is a large, split rock with signs of water erosion, despite being in the midst of a desert.
Footage from Base of The Split Rock at Horeb – With @ryanmauro pic.twitter.com/i9rWt4ZN2p
— Doubting Thomas Research Foundation (@SinaiInArabia) November 11, 2019
“We believe this distinct landmark could be the rock that God commanded Moses to strike which water then gushed forth from miraculously providing for the Israelite population,” Mauro said.
The experts also discovered a site which appeared to be an altar near the base of the mountain, akin to the altar Moses is said to have built at the foot of Mount Sinai from uncut stones.
A graveyard located nearby could be the site where worshippers of the golden calf were buried after being killed by the Levites for their idolatrous behavior.
“Close to the mountain, we have this site covered with depictions of people worshipping bulls and cows,” Mauro told the Sun. “And what’s really significant is that these petroglyphs are isolated to this area. It’s not like they’re carved all over the mountain.”
Any hotels in the area?
Pesach is only 6 months away.
Mount Sinai’s holiness was at the time of the giving of the Torah, but it is no longer so in today’s time.
Who says the smoke and fire at Sinai burned or torched the mountain. It was divine fire, I would think it more likely that after the Shechina departed rhe mountain was unchanged.
This is a long-held theory.
I think it was the same group that recently claimed that they found the site of the tayva from Noach via satellite images showing the outlines of a boat that they claim matches the dimensions of the tayva.
Boruch Hashem, – we found Mt. Sinai, Now what!
This is exactly what Rabbi Shaul Shimon Deutsch has written in his Living Torah books.
There is more proof: There are 2 pillars on each side of the Red Sea (1 on the Saudi Arabian side, 1 on the Egyptian side) with writings about Moshe and other related writings on them.
What is not mentioned in this article is that the archeologists found old empty coke cans that had the DNA of Moshe. That is proof positive that it is Mt Sinai……
These xtian evangelical ‘archaeologists’ do Jews no favor. They look for things to prove their theories, like the Jewish lineage of their yoizela from David Melech. Real archaeologists excavate and then theorize according to evidence. They do not look for things to prove their religious beliefs.
Was that always or only now that the Saudis have wormer relations with Israel
Doubting Thomas Research foundation? I’m doubting Shimon I don’t believe them.
What’s the height of all the other mountains in the area, to see if this is takeh the shortest one? Would be nice to have that info or at least some photos of them.
What we have here is Outcome Based Archeology. Who would have thought?
Helena mother of Emperor Constantine of Rome about 1700 years ago was a devout Christian. She spent much time travelling in Eretz Yisrael and the area around it trying to identify places mentioned in Tanach. She decided that a certain mountain is Har Sinai because it is tall and imposing. Subsequently, a monastery was built there . As a result, the entire peninsula began to be called the Sinai peninsula.
There is no evidence that what tour operators call Mount Sinai is really what they call it. Quite the opposite. In sefer Dvorim, Moshe talks about a Nachal Hayored min Hahar. There is no nachal there, even a dry one. Chazal also describe Har Sinai as not being particularly tall. So maybe this one in Saudi Arabia is a better candidate. No solid evidence. But the one appearing on maps as Mount Sinai is certainly not Mount Sinai.