While earlier scholars had proposed an Arabian Mount Sinai, Wyatt popularized a specific modern version identifying the Nuweiba crossing with the Jebel al-Lawz region. This argument is frequently illustrated with photographs of Jabal Maqla, a dark-topped peak nearby. Wyatt claimed this blackened summit was evidence of divine fire, interpreted local rock art as the altar of the Golden Calf, and identified a naturally split boulder as the rock of Horeb.
The dark rock at Jabal Maqla has a geological explanation: the mountain contains dark hornfels produced by metamorphism of volcanic rocks. A dark geological outcrop is therefore not evidence that the summit was burned by an external fire. No geological study has demonstrated a heat-altered zone corresponding to a miraculous divine fire.
The split rock is a common product of natural desert weathering; nothing about it demonstrates a connection to the Exodus period. The bovine petroglyphs at the base are authentic, but they fit within the broader tradition of ancient Arabian rock art, including pastoralist imagery.
The Wyatt Method: Observation to Interpretation
- Observation: Dark-colored rock at a mountain summit.
- Interpretation: A burned mountain.
- Further interpretation: Mount Sinai.
- Final interpretation: The biblical Mount Sinai scorched by divine fire.
What Is Actually Demonstrated?
- Demonstrated: The summit of Jabal Maqla consists of visually dark rock.
- Demonstrated: A naturally split boulder exists in the region.
- Demonstrated: Ancient rock art depicting bovines is present.
- Not demonstrated: That the dark coloration resulted from an external fire rather than the mountain’s documented geological composition.
- Not demonstrated: That the split rock or the bovine petroglyphs are archaeologically linked to the Exodus narrative rather than standard geological and pastoralist history.
Next in the Series: In Part 5, the final installment of our series, we travel to the desolate shores of the Dead Sea. We will explore the region’s unique sedimentary geology to understand the true origins of the formations Wyatt identified as Sodom and Gomorrah.
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