River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1873-05-02
Mount Sinai.

MCuDL SINH.
The Edinburgh Review for January
and Blackwood's Magazine for Febru-
airy give excellent reviews OF the work
accomplished by the english Palestine
exploration in investigating and iden.
tifying the records of Biblical events.
The article in the Edinburgh is mainly
concerned with the researches at Jeru-
salem aud around the temple while
that in Blackwood Is chiefly devoted
to the explorations in the Sinaitic pen
insula. The interest in the latter I'M
dertaking centres around the identif-
cation of Mt. Sinai, which seems to
have been effected to the entire salts
faction of the surveyors. 1t was fixed
in the beginning that certain distinct
features must be possessed by the
mountain which should answer the
description incidentally given by the
narrative in Exodus. ''Sinal must be
a mountain rising abruptly from a
plain, because (Deut. 4 ID the PEG.
pie came near and stood under 1t
moreover, in Exodus 10: II, II, it is
said that the mount could be touched,
and that the people stood at the Meth
er part of it, 1t must also be a sepa-
rate and distinct hill because bounds
were set about it, as we read in verse
II of the above mentined chapter of
Exodus There must be a spacious
area before it, because the whole con
gregation was assembled at its base to
receive the law. And there must be a
supply of water and pastufage IN the
nelghborhood. Now there are only
two hills in the peninsula which have
ever been thought to satisfy these
conditions. One of them, Jebel Musa,
is about forty-fve miles due north from
the southern point OF the peninsula;
the other Jebel Serial, is little further
to the north, but much more to the
west, being less than twenty miles
from the coast of the Gulf OF Suez
The former is 1875, the latter 6,785
feet high"
Jebel Serial was found, on exami-
nation, to possess none of these con.
ditions. But it was otherwise with
Jebel Musa. "This mountain rises
precipitously from the bottom of the
plain of Er-Rahah to the height of
about 2, 600 feet. 1t is distinctly visible
from every part of the plain. 1t is a
mountain which can be touched, and
about which bounds can be set. In
front of it thousands of people could
be assembled. Near it are the requi-
site springs and pasture. Its peaks
have been described by the Dean of
Westminster standing out in lonely
grandeur against the sky like huge
altar. Writing of Er-Rahah, Mr.
Holland says: 1.-The plain itself is
upward of two miles long, and half
mile broad, and slopes gradually down
from the watershed on the north of
the foot of Ras Sufsafeh About 300
yards from the actual base of the
mountain there runs across the plain a
low, semicircular mound, which forms
a kind of natural theatre; while fur
ther distant, on either side Of the
plain, the slopes of the enclosing
mountain would afford seats 10 an al
most unlimited number of spectators.
The members of our expedition were
as unanimous in their conviction that
the Law was given from Ras Sufsasfeh
to the Israelites assembled in the plain
of FL. Rahah, as they had been unani.
nous in rejecting Serial as the Mount
of the giving OF the Law
This result and the Arabic name of
the mountain-Je6el Musa, Mount
Moscs-curiouslv confim each other
Among other interesting spots which
have been identified are the hill on
which Abraham and Lot stood when
they divided the land between them
selves aud Dothap, where Joseph was
maltreated by his brethren. The
latter place is called Dotan. "Cis-
terms hewn 10 therock are very numer
Gus there; they are all bottle-shaped
with narrow necks, so that it would be
difficult for any one who had been put
inside TO get out. II has been sug-
gested that one Of these vas the pit in
which Joseph was lowered."