Jabal al-Lawz

Infobox Mountain
Name = Jabal al-Lawz
Photo =
Elevation = convert|2580|m|ft|0
Location = Saudi Arabia
Range =
Prominence = convert|1622|m|ft|0
Listing = Ultra
Coordinates = coord|28|41|N|35|18|E|display=title
Type=
Age=
First ascent =
Easiest route =
Translation = mountain of almonds
Language =

Jabal al-Lawz ( _ar. جبل اللوز) is a mountain of volcanic origin located in northwest Saudi Arabia, 28 degrees 41 minutes north, 35 degrees 18 minutes east, 2580 metres feet tall. The name means "mountain of almonds".
Howard Blum [cite book
last = Blum
first = Howard
authorlink = Howard Blum
coauthors =
title = The Gold of Exodus
url = ] [ [http://www.bibleprobe.com/sanai1.htm Where is Mount Sinai?] ] , Bob Cornuke [cite book
last = Cornuke
first = Bob
authorlink = Bob Cornuke
title = In Search of the Mountain of God
url = ] (of BASE Institute ), and Ron Wyatt have proposed that Jabal al-Lawz, and not the traditional Jebel Musa in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, was the Biblical Sinai. The claim is not widely supported by academically qualified biblical scholars or archaeologists, but supporters who have visited the al-Lawz site report observing features corresponding to the Biblical account.

Evidence

Blum, Wyatt, and their supporters cite the following observations as evidence that Jabal al-Lawz fits the Exodus accounts:
* The site is already recognized as an archaeological site. The fence surrounding the pile of boulders where the cow drawings appear has Saudi signs to warn people away as an archaeological site.
* Crossing the Red Sea is a requirement to be biblical (if "Sea of Reeds" translation is rejected).
* There is an underwater reef that spans the Red Sea at the suggested crossing point, about 50' below the surface. At this point on the peninsula there would have been no escape from the Egyptian army, except the reef, once it was revealed by the wind.
* The desert is a major requirement that exists at Jabal al Lawz, but does not exist at all, at the current site claimed to be Mt. Sinai.
*having a desert behind it that could fit the number of people described in the Bible (600,000 plus?) Exodus 19:2 [states "israel camped there before the mountain] and Exodus 12:37 [ 600,000 men not including children, women were not accounted for at all.] and Numbers 1:46 [All who were numbered were six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty.] and Numbers 1:47-49 [But the Levites were not numbered among them by their father's tribe; for and the lord said to Moses saying "only the tribe of Levi you shall not number, nor take a census of them among the children of Israel...]
*being located in ancient Midian
**thus being in Arabia Petraea, and so agreeing with Josephus, Philo, and the Apostle Paul
**and, in common with the southern Levant, and Sinai Peninsula, is on the migration path of quail
**while also not being in ancient Egypt or its dominions. Exodus 17:3 [Why have you brought us Up Out of Egypt?] and Exodus 33:1 [and the Lord said to Moses "Depart and go up from here you and the people whom you have brought out of Egypt.]
*it has evidence of an ancient spring (cf. Meribah) Exodus 17:7
*a large altar at the foot of the mountain has many calf drawings (cf. Golden Calf)Fact|date=July 2008. These drawings suggest a connection with the story of the Israelites instructing Aaron to build a golden calf idol.
*There is another man-made formation at the bottom of the mountain that appears to be a (cattle) chute formed of stones, with a pit at the end. This too agrees with a Biblical description. It appears to be a sacrificial fire pit, as Moses noted, "at the foot of the mountain of God".
*there is a cave in the mountain, fitting the description of Elijah spending the night on Mt. Horeb.
*there are large piles of rocks at the base (the biblical narrative states that the base of Sinai was marked out). Exodus 19:12 and 20:23. They are evenly distributed along the base of the mountain approximately convert|400|yd apart and do not seem to have been the result of random rock slides.
*the discovery of the remains of chariots in the Gulf of Aqaba nearby.

References