Sinai, Mount

Mountain near the tip of the Sinai Peninsula; height 2,285 m/7,500 ft. According to the Old Testament this is where Moses received the Ten Commandments from God. Its identity is not absolutely certain, but it is traditionally thought to be Jebel Musa (‘Mountain of Moses’).

In the 6th century AD many Anchorites inhabited the region; but today there is only one monastery, the Orthodox Convent of St Catherine, which is believed to possess her relics. Here were discovered the great Codex Sinaiticus and the Syriac Codex of the Gospels. Egypt established a religious complex (Jewish-Muslim-Christian) at Mount Sinai in 1979.