Today you can see the same twelve fissures described by Burkhardt on the face of the rock which is now enclosed by a stone wall next to the Chapel of the Prophet Moses. Monks relate that this is the rock which followed and sustained the children of Israel during the Biblical time of the Exodus. Water no longer flows from the rock clefts but there are accounts of pilgrims drinking there. They also bring their female camels, for they believe that by making the animal couch down before the rock and by putting some fresh grass into the fissures of the stone, the camels will become fertile and yield more milk. The engraved footprints seen on surrounding rocks are an old way for Bedouin to propose marriage.
Males turn a characteristic bright cobalt blue during the spring breeding season.
Perched on rocks they survey and defend their territory, and their female mates. Monks relate that forty Christian soldiers from the Roman Army in the third century were commanded to worship pagan gods. They refused and were put to death by being exposed at night to the bitterly cold winds off a frozen lake. Those who survived until morning were killed by the sword. Today the gardens are looked after by the members of the Bedouin family.