Site · Contextual definition

Sinai: peninsula and biblical mountain

Sinai is a peninsula in eastern Egypt; in the Torah the name also denotes the mountain of revelation to Moses

A view of the Sinai desert in Egypt, 22 November 2008. It shows the peninsula’s landscape without identifying the mountain meant by the biblical narratives
A view of the Sinai desert in Egypt, 22 November 2008. It shows the peninsula’s landscape without identifying the mountain meant by the biblical narrativesMarc Ryckaert (MJJR) / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 3.0 · CC BYLicense · Image source

Text

Sinai is a peninsula in eastern Egypt; in the TorahTorah / PentateuchGenesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy: Mosaic corpus with a compositional history. Torah can also mean teaching or law beyond these five books.Glossary · Click to read the explanation the name also denotes the mountain of revelation to MosesMosesCentral figure in Exodus, Torah traditions and the Qur’an; childhood accounts differ in detail.Glossary · Click to read the explanation. [1]

The Saint Catherine area and Jebel Musa in the southern peninsula have an old religious identification; the monastery dates to the sixth century CE. The earliest biblical mountain’s location remains debated, distinct from the known peninsula. [1][2]

References and notes

  1. UNESCO, Saint Catherine Area: monastery and religious identification. Description and source metadata Return to the text ↑
  2. Hershel Shanks, “Where Is Mount Sinai?”: accessible notes on competing locations. Notes 6 and 10; full article unavailable Return to the text ↑

Research history

Substantive changes are retained here. Minor copy edits remain in the internal operational log.

  1. Edition 2 · 13 October 2026 · editor:aladmin

    Substantive record update

    Read this revision in its original language (Arabic)

Suggest a correction · Suggest a source for this record

Cite this record

IL Archive, «Sinai: peninsula and biblical mountain», Edition 2, https://ilarchive.com/en/sites/sinai