Scientists from Germany and Italy believe they’ve discovered the mountain on which Moses received the Ten Commandments some 3,000 years ago. The site in question is on the Har Karkom plateau in East Sinai. Catholic theologian Paul Imhoff of Istanbul and the Italian-Jewish archaeologist Prof. Emmanuel Anati have found a host of clues underlining biblical accounts.
According to a report in the German Catholic magazine Weltbild, there is little doubt that Har Karkom is a “holy mountain.” More than 2,000 individual archaeological finds — tools, ashes, graves, ritual caves, altars — fit descriptions from the book of Exodus. An engraving displays a tablet with 10 squares reminiscent of the stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written. Broken tablets were also found, prompting Weltbild to ask, “Was Moses acting according to an age old tradition when in his anger he smashed the tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written?”
Researchers also found 12 stones behind a sacrificial stone at the foot of the mountain. These stones fit with the description in Exodus 24:4, which says, “He [Moses] rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and put up 12 sacred pillars, one for each of the 12 tribes of Israel” (Exodus 24:4).
In addition, researchers found many rock engravings of scorpions, calling to mind Deuteronomy 8:15, which says, “He led you through that vast and terrible wilderness infested with poisonous snakes and scorpions …”
According to the German news service IDEA, Anati is convinced that Har Karkom is the mountain mentioned in reports of the exodus of Israelites from Egypt.
— E.P. News
