A Journey To Sinai

Context - The Traditional Site vs. Proposed Site

The Nuweibaa Crossing

The Split Rock

Rephidim

The Altar of the Golden Calf

The Graveyard of the 3000

Moses' Altar & The Twelve Pillars

Mount Sinai, Plateau of the Elders, & Elijah's Cave

Petroglyphs

Petroglyphs found near Mount Sinai

Petroglyphs possibly representing the Plague of Snakes

Neom Developments

Psalm 78:13

He split the sea and brought them through;

He set the waters upright like a wall.

Psalm 78:54

He brought them
to His holy land,

to the mountain
His right hand had acquired.

Context - The Traditional Site vs. Proposed Site

Map 1*: The Location of the Traditional Mount Sinai

Map 3*: The Location of the Traditional Sea Crossing

Timeline of the Traditional Site’s History

Summary of Joel Richardson's research - Mount Sinai in Arabia (Chapter 1, p 7-12)

Early 4th Century (AD 312–326):
- Emperor Constantine converts to Christianity.
- Helena (Constantine’s mother) travels to the Holy Land (326) to identify biblical sites and relics.
  - Eusebius (early church historian) documents Helena’s activities:
    - She builds churches at the Nativity (Bethlehem) and Ascension (Mount of Olives) sites.
    - No mention of Helena visiting Sinai or building anything there.
  - Annals of Eutychius (10th century) (much later): Claims Helena visited Sinai and built a church and a tower at the site of the burning bush.
    - This tradition is not contemporary; it appears centuries after Helena’s actual travels.
Mid-to-Late 4th Century:
- First known visitors associating the mountain with Sinai:
  - Julian Saba (AD 367): Said to have built a chapel on the peak.
    - Source: Theodoret of Cyrrhus (AD 444) documents this.
  - Symeon the Elder (late 4th century): Also visited the site.
    - Also mentioned by Theodoret.
  - Egeria (AD 381–384): Pilgrim who wrote a diary (Peregrinatio), describing her journey to the mountain.
  - Ammonius (late 4th century): Monk from Alexandria, witnessed the martyrdom of monks by Saracens (Ishmaelites) at Sinai.
    - His account describes a journey from Jerusalem to Sinai, and an incident involving a miraculous fire.
Early 5th Century (AD 444):
- Theodoret of Cyrrhus writes about Julian Saba and Symeon the Elder’s visits, providing the earliest written evidence of the mountain’s association with Sinai.
Early 4th Century Silence:
- Eusebius’s Onomasticon (AD 330) and Bordeaux Pilgrim (AD 333) do not mention Mount Sinai as a pilgrimage site.
  - Suggests the identity of the mountain was not established or publicized at that time.
Late 6th Century (AD 548–565):
- Emperor Justinian commissions the construction of a large monastery at the site (Saint Catherine’s Monastery).
  - Procopius (Justinian’s historian): Records that monks inhabited the mountain and that the church was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, built below the summit due to supernatural phenomena at the top.
10th Century:
- Annals of Eutychius repeat the tradition of Helena’s visit and constructions at Sinai.
17th Century:
- Bishop Nectarius writes the traditional history of Saint Catherine’s Monastery, further cementing the association.

Key Takeaways

The traditional identification of Mount Sinai in the southern Sinai Peninsula is not supported by evidence before the mid-4th century.

The earliest records of pilgrimages and associations with the biblical Mount Sinai date from the late 4th century.

The tradition was solidified by the construction of Saint Catherine’s Monastery under Justinian in the 6th century.

Earlier Christian documents and historians do not mention the site, suggesting the tradition developed over time rather than being rooted in ancient, continuous memory.

Map 2*: The Location of Jebel al-Lawz

Map 6*: The Approximate Location of the Red Sea Crossing

Timeline of the Modern Search for the Real Mount Sinai

Summary of Joel Richardson's research - Mount Sinai in Arabia (Chapter 2, p 13-17)

1980s: The Rediscovery Begins
- Ron Wyatt (1984):
  - American investigator who, with his two sons, enters Saudi Arabia to explore Jebel al-Lawz.
  - They manage to access the mountain but are arrested and imprisoned for nearly three months when attempting to leave for Jordan.
- Ron Wyatt & David Fasold (1985):
  - Return to Saudi Arabia, are expelled again.
  - Wyatt tries to alert Saudi authorities to the site’s significance, which results in sections of the mountain being fenced off and declared off-limits.
Late 1980s: Word Spreads
- David Fasold shares findings with James Irwin:
  - James Irwin, Apollo 15 astronaut, becomes interested.
  - Irwin tells Bob Cornuke (High Flight Foundation executive).
- Bob Cornuke & Larry Williams (1988):
  - Travel covertly into Saudi Arabia and become the first modern explorers to successfully climb Jebel al-Lawz.
  - On a second visit, they are also arrested.
  - Both later publish books detailing their experiences and make the case for Jebel al-Lawz as the real Mount Sinai.
1990s: The Caldwells’ Contributions
- Jim & Penny Caldwell (1992):
  - American engineer and his family, living in Saudi Arabia, make 14 visits to Jebel al-Lawz.
  - Document the site extensively with thousands of photos and hours of video.
  - Discover significant features:
    - A massive field of graves (possibly for the idolaters from Exodus 32).
    - Numerous petroglyphs and carvings (possibly Hebrew).
    - The “split rock” believed by locals to be the rock Moses struck for water (Exodus 17:6).
2000s: Academic and Media Attention
- 2003: Major Expedition
  - The Caldwells return with:
    - Dr. Lennart Möller (environmental medicine, Karolinska Institute)
    - Dr. Glen Fritz (environmental geography)
    - Tim Mahoney (filmmaker, Patterns of Evidence)
  - Möller and Fritz become leading advocates for Jebel al-Lawz as Sinai.
  - Möller publishes The Exodus Case; Fritz publishes The Lost Sea of the Exodus (doctoral dissertation).
2010s: Ongoing Visits and Media
- Anonymous visitors continue to document the site.
- Dr. Sung Hak Kim (South Korea): Multiple visits due to connections with Saudi officials.
- Ryan Mauro (2016–2018):
  - Intelligence expert and filmmaker, visits the site several times.
  - Produces a film about the mountain and its possible biblical connections.
- Joel Richardson (2018):
  - Visits Jebel al-Lawz with a small group, adding his own testimony and evidence.
- Living Passages: Begins offering trips for individuals to experience the sites themselves.
Present and Future:
- Growing desire among explorers and scholars to see Jebel al-Lawz preserved and protected.
- Anticipation that the site will become more accessible for academic study and tourism, especially with Saudi Arabia’s plans for the Neom project and opening to tourism.

Key Takeaways

Interest in Jebel al-Lawz as the true Mount Sinai was revived in the 1980s after being largely forgotten in the West.
The site has drawn a series of explorers, many of whom faced arrest or expulsion due to its sensitive location.
The Caldwells’ extensive documentation and discoveries brought new attention and credibility to the site.
Academic and media interest is growing, with several books and films now advocating for Jebel al-Lawz.
There is a shared sense among modern visitors of awe and a desire to see the site preserved for further investigation and public access.

* Maps used from Mount Sinai In Arabia
For more in-depth research, Joel Richardson provides free access to his books on his site: https://joelstrumpet.com/resources/

Consider scheduling a visit through Living Passages:

Saudi Arabia: https://livingpassages.com/christian-tours/saudi-arabia/

The Nuweibaa Crossing

"When we understand the Hebrew phrase Yam Suph to refer to the body of water known today as the Gulf of Aqaba, the same body of water that is consistently used in Scripture to refer to the southeastern border of Israel, then so much of the accumulated haze and confusion simply disappears."
- Joel Richardson, Sinai In Arabia, p 24-25

"Now when the Egyptians had overtaken the Hebrews, they prepared to fight them, and by their multitude they drove them into a narrow place; for the number that pursued after them was six hundred chariots, with fifty thousand horsemen, and two hundred thousand footmen, all armed. They also seized on the passages by which they imagined the Hebrews might fly, shutting them up between inaccessible precipices and the sea; for there was [on each side] a [ridge of] mountains that terminated at the sea, which were impassable by reason of their roughness, and obstructed their flight; wherefore they were pressed upon the Hebrews with their army, where [the ridges of] the mountains were closed with the sea; which army they placed at the chops of the mountains, that so they might deprive them of any passage into the plain."
- Flavius Josephus and William Whiston, The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1980), 75.

Exodus 14:15-16

Then the LORD said to Moses,
“Why are you crying out to Me?

Tell the Israelites to go forward.

And as for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it,
so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.

Watch a short clip from Torah Family ministries with information on the Nuweibaa Crossing site.

The Split Rock

"The Hebrew word for split is the same as that which was used of the parting of the Red Sea: baqa, which means “to cleave, break open or through.” The biblical description of the miracle that occurred when Moses struck the rock doesn’t allow for a crack from which water bubbled out. The Bible says the rock was cleaved and split through. This is a perfect description of the towering rock north of Jebel al-Lawz."
- Joel Richardson, Sinai In Arabia, p 114

Psalm 78:15-16

He split the rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink as abundant as the seas. He brought streams from the stone and made water flow down like rivers.

1 Corinthians 10:4

...for they drank from the spiritual rock
that accompanied them,
and that rock was Christ.

Watch a short clip where Joel Richardson discusses the Split Rock site.

Rephidim

Exodus 17:1, 8-14

Then the whole congregation of Israel left the Desert of Sin, moving from place to place as the LORD commanded.
They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink...

After this, the Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim.
So Moses said to Joshua,
“Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on the hilltop with the staff of God in my hand.”
Joshua did as Moses had instructed him and fought against the Amalekites,
while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.
As long as Moses held up his hands, Israel prevailed; but when he lowered them, Amalek prevailed.
When Moses’ hands grew heavy, they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it.
Then Aaron and Hur held his hands up, one on each side, so that his hands remained steady until the sun went down.
So Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his army with the sword.

Then the LORD said to Moses,
“Write this on a scroll as a reminder and recite it to Joshua,
because I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.”

"Any candidate for the split rock must sit beside a large and open plain where such a large group could have camped and where such a massive battle could have taken place. Sure enough, just to the east of the split rock are indeed two massive plains roughly three miles long."
- Joel Richardson, Sinai In Arabia, p 115

The Altar of the Golden Calf

Exodus 32:1, 6

Now when the people saw that Moses was delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him!”

...

So the next day they arose, offered burnt offerings, and presented peace offerings.
And the people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.

Exodus 32:7-8

Then the LORD said to Moses,
“Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves.
How quickly they have turned aside from the way that I commanded them!
They have made for themselves a molten calf and have bowed down to it.
They have sacrificed to it and said,
‘These, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.’”

"This massive pile of rocks, a few hundred yards from the base of the mountain would seem to be an ideal spot to use as an altar.

In several places, the rocks are still covered with carvings and paintings of cows.

This certainly seems to be a profound confirmation that this was the actual altar where some of the Israelites returned to the idolatry that they had learned in Egypt."

- Joel Richardson, Sinai In Arabia, p 109

The Graveyard of the 3000

"In the 1990s while visiting with their two children, the Caldwells also found what appears to be a massive cemetery roughly three miles east of the base of the mountain.

It is a large field featuring numerous stones that have been stood up as possible grave markers.

The Saudi Arabian archeological authorities have fenced this area off as well."

- Joel Richardson, Sinai In Arabia, p 110

Exodus 32:26-28

So Moses stood at the entrance to the camp and said,
“Whoever is for the LORD, come to me.”
And all the Levites gathered around him.
He told them,
“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says:
‘Each of you men is to fasten his sword to his side, go back and forth through the camp from gate to gate, and slay his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.’”
The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people fell dead.

Moses' Altar & The Twelve Pillars

"...when sitting at the mouth of what is very likely the cave where Elijah stayed while on Sinai, my friends and I could look down and clearly see an altar below...

The structure is essentially three long angled stone walls; two walls form the outer walls of the structure, and a third dividing wall runs down the middle. The result is two long corridors that turn at a forty-five-degree angle at its midpoint. In accordance with the biblical description, the rocks are not hewn or cut stones; they are simply stacked stones...

Further validating the likelihood that this is the very altar that Moses built, in front of it there are several small marble columns or sections of pillars sitting on the ground. Again, this is exactly what the text describes..."

- Joel Richardson, Sinai In Arabia, p 106-107

Exodus 24:4-6

And Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD. Early the next morning he got up and built an altar at the base of the mountain, along with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. Then he sent out some young men of Israel, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as peace offerings to the LORD. Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and the other half he sprinkled on the altar.

Mount Sinai, Plateau of the Elders, & Elijah's Cave

"In chapter 5, I mentioned the beautiful view of the Jebel al-Lawz range that greets you as you step out of any of the caves believed to be the ancient home of Jethro and Moses. What I did not mention was how perfectly positioned the two mountains are. On the left, at about eighty-four hundred feet is what I believe to be Mount Horeb. To its right are three peaks that together make up what would be Mount Sinai at just under eight thousand feet. The view is absolutely breathtaking. By looking at a map, I estimate the mountains to be roughly twelve miles from the center of al-Bad. It is very easy to understand how both Philo and Josephus decribed Mount Sinai as the tallest mountain just outside of the ancient city of Midian."

- Joel Richardson, Sinai In Arabia, p 97

Exodus 3:12

“I will surely be with you,” God said,
“and this will be the sign to you that I have sent you:
When you have brought the people out of Egypt,
all of you will worship God on this mountain.”

Exodus 24:1, 9-11

Then the LORD said to Moses,
“Come up to the LORD—you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of Israel’s elders—and you are to worship at a distance.
...
Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and they saw the God of Israel. Under His feet was a work like a pavement made of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself. But God did not lay His hand on the nobles of Israel; they saw Him, and they ate and drank.

1 Kings 19:8-9

So [Elijah] got up and ate and drank. And strengthened by that food, he walked forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.

There Elijah entered a cave and spent the night. And the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

Petroglyphs

"In conclusion, there are several other important sites around the mountain that we haven’t discussed here. Our purpose was not to catalogue every important potential site around Jebel al-Lawz, but to simply highlight some of the more important and well known sites that may validate its legitimacy as Mount Sinai.

As we have seen, indeed the rocks around Jebel al-Lawz are crying out. When these various sites are considered alongside all of the other information that we’ve seen so far, they are a kind of cherry on top of the larger case."

- Joel Richardson, Sinai In Arabia, p 119

Petroglyphs found at the Valley of Rephidim

Deuteronomy 11:22-25

For if you carefully keep all these commandments I am giving you to follow—
to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, and to hold fast to Him—
then the LORD will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations greater and stronger than you.

Every place where the sole of your foot treads will be yours. Your territory will extend from the wilderness to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River to the Western Sea. No man will be able to stand against you; the LORD your God will put the fear and dread of you upon all the land, wherever you set foot, as He has promised you.