The Volcanic Theory of Mount Sinai: Biblical Evidence and Geographic Research

According to the biblical record of the Exodus, the Hebrews spent eleven months and five days encamped at Mount Sinai. And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly (Exod. 19:18). During the initial months of their stay, the mountain was associated with a frightening display of dense clouds, smoke, fire, thunder, lightning, earthquakes, the sound of a loud trumpet, and the voice of God.

The History of the Volcanic Theory

These pyrotechnic-like descriptions have led some investigators to suppose that the mountain was a volcano. In so doing, traditional mountain locations within the Sinai Peninsula had to be jettisoned because it lacked geological evidence of “recent” volcanic activity. The first investigator to propose the volcanic idea was British explorer and Bible scholar Charles T. Beke, who published the pamphlet “ Mount Sinai a Volcano” in 1873. Beke surmised that the mountain should be located along the route that Moses took on his return to Egypt from Midian (in northwest Arabia). The only area in the region potentially meeting this requirement are the lava fields ( ῌarrah) in northwest Arabia.

Geographic Candidates and Investigations

Beke focused on the mountains at the head of the Gulf of Aqaba, in particular, Mount Baghir (Mt. Sheikh Mohammed Baghir), or Jabal an-Nur (“mountain of light”). Its 1550 m (5090’)-high peak (at 29.592° N, 35.129° E) is about 10 miles northeast of Aqaba. When Beke visited his surmised “Mount Sinai,” he found that it was not volcanic and withdrew his volcanic theory. However, if Mount Baghir was in Mount Seir, and it was considered part Edom, then a conflict exists because the Hebrews were not permitted to violate Edomite territory (Num. 20:17-21; Deut. 2:5).

Further Scholarly Perspectives

Following Beke, other commentators persisted with the volcanic theory. German theologian Hermann Gunkel turned his attention to the volcanic areas of northwest Arabia, noting that the Sinai Peninsula lacked volcanos. Baltimore Professor Paul Haupt (1909) similarly opined that “Mount Sinai cannot be located on the Sinaitic Peninsula; it was a volcano in the land of Midian”. Professor Oberhummer, in his 1912 treatise, “The Sinai Problem,” proposed that Mount Sinai was likely Hala-l-Bedr, the dormant volcano described in 1910 by explorer Alois Musil.

Geographic Data Summary

• Mount Baghir (Jabal an-Nur): Peak elevation of 1550 m (5090’), located at 29.592° N, 35.129° E, approximately 10 miles northeast of Aqaba.
• Hala-l-Bedr: A dormant volcano in northwest Arabia identified as a likely location for Mount Sinai.
• Lava Fields (ῌarrah): Regions in northwest Arabia that provide the necessary geological evidence of volcanic activity.

Wellhausen suspected a northwest Arabia location for Mount Sinai based on its association with the Madian (Midian) of the ancient classical geographers. In our passage Sinai seems to be southeast of Edom; the way from Sinai to Kadesh is by Seir and Paran (1883, 364, n. 1; Wellhausen, et. al. 1885). Musil ultimately opted for a Mount Sinai location within the supposed domain of ancient Midian, noting that Hrob may be an Arabic form of the Hebrew Horeb.