Uncovering the True Location of Mount Sinai

The most significant event in human history, the giving of the Torah, took place on Mount Sinai—this much is certain. Yet, a precise tradition regarding the mountain's identity and location has not been preserved. Apparently, even in the era of the Talmudic sages, identifying the exact mountain was uncertain. This is not surprising, as Mount Sinai is situated deep in the desert wilderness, far from habitation, and without a continuous human settlement, the tradition could not be retained. Additionally, the significance of Mount Sinai was a one-time event, and no holiness laws were maintained there after the Israelites left it and continued on their journey.

Nevertheless, over the generations, many efforts have been made to try to identify Mount Sinai with one of the mountains in various parts of the Sinai Desert and even beyond. The most well-known identification places Mount Sinai at Jebel Musa. Before Sinai was overtaken by jihadist presence, Israeli travelers could be seen trekking the 750 steep steps leading to the mountain's peak. Those travelers probably weren't aware that their arduous trek was in vain. The likelihood that Mount Sinai resides at Jebel Musa is about as probable as it residing at the intersection of Jabotinsky and Hashomer.

Dr. Avigdor Shachan, an expert in Israel studies, explains that the connection between Mount Sinai and Jebel Musa was fabricated by an old Christian woman named Helena 1,500 years ago. "Helena was the mother of Emperor Constantine, ruler of the Byzantine Empire," Shachan relays. "In her old age, she decided to visit Christian sites in Israel. She joined a camel caravan making its way from Egypt to Israel. One night, she was impressed by the beauty of a nearby mountain ridge and decided in her heart that this must surely be the mountain where Moses received the Torah. Consequently, it was deemed appropriate to call it Jebel Musa from then on. Thus, the legend was born that this mountain, and no other, is the authentic Mount Sinai. Her son, the emperor, ordered a monastery to be built there."

It turns out that Helena also initiated the practice of dumping trash around the slopes of the Temple Mount, to conceal the remnants of the Western Wall. In short, she was not exactly a great admirer of Jews, yet somehow her identification of Mount Sinai was accepted as authentic and true.

But if Mount Sinai is not at Jebel Musa, then where is it? There are countless proposals: Har Karkom in the southern Negev; Serabit al-Khadim in eastern Sinai; an extinct volcano in western Saudi Arabia; a mountain located in the northern Arava, near the Dead Sea.

The most original proposal surely belongs to Avigdor Shachan himself, who believes that Mount Sinai is none other than... Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain on the African continent.

For conclusive evidence of the Mount Sinai event, click here.