{{Short description|Mountain in northeastern Sinai Peninsula}} '''Hashem El Tarif''' is a [[mountain]] on the [[Sinai Peninsula]], now in northeastern [[Egypt]]. It is one of several candidates for the [[Mount Sinai (Bible)|biblical Mount Sinai]], where the Abrahamic prophet [[Moses]] received the [[Ten Commandments]]. It stands 881 meters tall.<ref>{{Cite web |last=PeakVisor |title=Hashem El Tarif |url=https://peakvisor.com/peak/hashem-el-tarif.html |access-date=2023-12-12 |website=PeakVisor |language=en}}</ref>

==Mount Sinai claims== Hashem El Tarif is one of several proposed locations of the [[biblical Mount Sinai]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

===The Exodus Decoded=== The [[James Cameron]]-produced [[History (U.S. TV channel)|History Channel]] special, ''[[The Exodus Decoded]]'', suggests that this location, now in an Egyptian [[military]] zone, is the best candidate for the [[biblical Mount Sinai]]. The program claims that it not only features "biblical geographical" clues, but that it also possesses three important traits described in the [[Book of Exodus]]:

# A cleft that overlooks a natural [[amphitheatre]], from which a speaker could have been observed and heard from a great distance. # A [[plateau]] below the cleft large enough to have held several hundred thousand people and to have contained enough [[vegetation]] to sustain large flocks. The plateau also contains one of the largest concentrations of ancient open-air fire pits in the region (many still visible as ruins), as well as many graves. # Calcium deposits that provide evidence of an ancient [[Spring (hydrosphere)|spring]] (now dry) which was located on the top of the mountain - a fairly rare geological feature.<ref>[http://www.heardworld.com/higgaion/?p=429 Higgaion » The Exodus Decoded: An extended review, part 14<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

Another argument used in the documentary to strengthen the claim that Hashem El Tarif is the biblical Mount Sinai is that in the Bible Mount Sinai is described as a "holy mountain", and Hashem El Tarif contains several ancient stone shrines all around it, as well as graves of apparently prominent persons near its summit. The final argument in favor of Hashem El Tarif is the fact that the traditional [[Mount Sinai]] (Jebel Musa) is devoid of any of the above and surrounded by a granite plateau unsuitable for herding sheep. According to the documentary, though, despite all this evidence, permission for [[archeological]] [[Excavation (archaeology)|excavation]] was not granted to them by the Egyptian military, which the documentary claims closely guards and restricts access to the mountain.<ref name=":0">[https://biblische.blogspot.com/2006/10/where-is-mount-sinai-mt-horeb-hashem.html Biblische Ausbildung: Where is Mount Sinai (Mt. Horeb)? Hashem El Tarif??<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

===The Naked Archaeologist=== [[Simcha Jacobovici]] in an episode of ''[[The Naked Archaeologist]]'' explored several mountains as possible candidates for the biblical Mount Sinai. Potential candidates had to meet the following criteria: # The mountain must have at its base a large plateau that could accommodate hundreds of thousands of biblical Israelites. # It must have a water source to support the people camping at the foot of the mountain. #It must be accessible and easy to climb (due to the old age of Moses). # It must have symbols of worship; archaeological evidence proving that the mountain was "holy" even before the time of Moses. (He claims the plateau of Hashem El Tarif contains 33 open-air sanctuaries; the largest number of open-air sanctuaries next to a mountain in the eastern Sinai ever found.) # It must be located somewhere along the ancient route of the Exodus. # It must have a natural spring at its top.

In addition to these criteria, Jacobovici claimed that, according to biblical text, the mountain must also: # Be a fourteen-day journey from "Elim" ({{Bibleverse||Exodus|16:1|HE}}). For a mass of people, a days journey was assumed to be 15&nbsp;km per day. A fourteen-day journey would be about 210&nbsp;km. # Be an eleven-day journey from Kadesh Barnea ({{Bibleverse||Deuteronomy|1:2|HE}}), approximately 165&nbsp;km. # Be within "goat grazing distance" of Midianite territory. Moses was tending his father-in-law's goats at the time of his first encounter on Mount Sinai ({{Bibleverse||Exodus|3|HE}}). Based on modern Bedouin practises, this was assumed to be 45 to 60 or 70&nbsp;km from a camp (or further in the event of drought). Midianite pottery and art have been found at [[Timna valley|Timna]], assumed to be the only Midianite enclave in the Sinai.

Using these points of reference to triangulate possible locations, Jacobovici claims that Hashem El Tarif is the most likely candidate for the biblical Mount Sinai.

==Criticisms==

The hypothesis that this mountain is the original Mount Sinai has faced criticism.<ref name=":1">{{cite web|title=The Exodus Debated: An Exchange over The Exodus Decoded|url=http://bib-arch.org/bswbOOexodus.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080209234859/http://www.bib-arch.org/bswbOOexodus.html|archivedate=2008-02-09}}</ref> Some of the arguments against the proposal that Hashem El Tarif is Mount Sinai are as follows: # There is no mention in history of Hashem El Tarif, nor any well-known local tradition pointing to it as Mount Sinai. # There is no widespread Rabbinic-era Jewish tradition about the location of Mount Sinai. It does not seem to have been an important part of Jewish identity, and was a more distinctly Christian phenomenon.<ref>Allen Kerkeslager, “Jewish Pilgrimage and Jewish Identity in Hellenistic and Early Roman Egypt,” in Pilgrimage and Holy Space in Late Antique Egypt, ed. David Frankfurter (Leiden: Koninklijke Brill, 1998), 207.</ref> (Dr. Kerkeslager does state that there is evidence of early Christian traditions for Mount Sinai in northwestern Saudi Arabia at [[Jabal al-Lawz]] and [[Jabal Maqla]], though). # As a part of the greater criticism of the Peninsula location for Mount Sinai, another criticism is that the Peninsula was likely controlled by the ancient Egyptian Empire at the time of the [[The Exodus|Exodus]], with garrisons being placed throughout the Peninsula to protect the valuable copper and turquoise mines.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jabalmaqla.com/maps-journey-sites-sinai/|title=Maps Of Mount Sinai, Egypt, And Midian|website=Jabal Maqla}}</ref> Further, according to the book of Exodus, Moses came to Mount Sinai at the burning bush when he still resided in [[Midian]]. The land of Midian is largely recognized as the northwest portion of modern Saudi Arabia.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jabalmaqla.com/jethro-moses-midian/|title=Jethro and Moses in Midian|website=Jabal Maqla}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

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[[Category:Mount Sinai]] [[Category:Mountains of Egypt]]