Mount Serbal

Shittah tree, dedicated to the Patron Saint, Wady Feiran

Southern Sinai Peninsula, Gebel Nakús or the Mountain of the Bell (1838)

Mount Serbal (Arabic: Jebel Serbal‎‎) is a mountain located in Wadi Feiran in southern Sinai. At 2,070 metres (6,791 ft) high, it is the fifth highest mountain in Egypt. It is part of the St. Catherine National Park. It is thought by some to be the Biblical Mount Sinai. Among others this was claimed by Ludwig Schneller, because it fits best with the biblical tradition taking into account the route and speed of the Israelites and the surroundings of the mountain, as Rephidim is identified with Wadi Feiran.^[1]

There were many granite dwellings on Mount Serbal which were inhabited by anchorites in early Christian times, and there are traces of a fourth-century monastery close to its base.^[2] It is likely that the many inscriptions (some in Greek) found on rocks at the foot of Mount Serbal and the path up to its peak date from these times. One spot on the path is called Mokatteb, or the valley of writing.^[3]

References

1. Schneller, D. Ludwig. Durch die Wüste zum Sinai. Kommissionsverlag von H. G. Wallmann, 1910, p. 189
2. "Sinai". New Advent, The Catholic Encyclopedia.
3. Rappoport, S. History of Egypt From 330 B.C. To the Present Time, Volume 11.

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Sinai". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

Further reading

• Ned H. Greenwood (1997-06-01). The Sinai: A Physical Geography. University of Texas Press. pp. 12,39–43. ISBN 0-292-72799-2.
• Saint Katherine city

Coordinates: 28°38′47″N 33°39′06″E / 28.64639°N 33.65167°E