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28 Is Mt. Sinai the Mountain of YEHOVAH?

mountainous section by travelling over the dried-out riverbeds that run into each other.
Their route, according to him, could well have gone via the Wadi Feiran, connecting with
the Wadi El Akhdar, which in turn runs into the Wadi Salaqa, becomes the wadi Zaranek,
and eventually meets the Gulf of Aqaba via the well-known Wadi Watir. The Wadi Watir
is the only wadi that ends at a wide beach-like expanse whose southernmost end is cut off
by steep mountains. An escaping horde of people arriving at the Red Sea via the Wadi
Watir had ONLY TWO CHOICES: to be annihilated on the beach by the pursuing armies
that could enclose it from the north, while it was hemmed in by mountains on the west
and south; OR to go FORWARD INTO THE WATER. There simply could have been no
other (pp. 163-166).

Ronald E. Wyatt -- amateur archaeologist and theologian from Tennessee -- had long been
interested in the location of Mt. Sinai. In 1978 he did some exploratory work in the Red Sea; and, in
1984, after spending 75 days in a Saudi Arabian jail, returned to the U.S. to be interviewed by the
CBS MORNING NEWS on April 17. In the interview Mr. Wyatt explained the choice of Jabel El
Lawz as the REAL Mt. Sinai:

We found some chariot parts that looked like the chariots found in King Tut's tomb in the
Gulf of Aqaba, WEST OF THIS JABEL EL LAWZ. Now, we found these at depths from
60 feet out to 200 feet and over a stretch of about a mile and a half. And we believe that
was the crossing site, so in the Biblical narrative, they arrived at Mt. Sinai after crossing
the Red Sea. The language in the Bible indicated that they stayed 'IN' A MOUNTAIN;
ENCLOSED IN A MOUNTAIN. So, an aerial map showed that this JABEL EL LAWZ
HAD A LARGE VALLEY ENCLOSED IN THE RIM OF AN ANCIENT VOLCANO.
There's about 5,000 acres in there. We felt this was the place. And, in Exodus 24:4 and
Leviticus 6:28, 11:33 and 15:12, it tells of SOME ARTIFACTS that were to be found.
There would be TWELVE PILLARS OF STONE AND AN ALTAR AND SOME
POTTERY, and so this is why we looked at that particular mountain.

In the following year (1985) David Fasold of Port Salerno, Florida accompanied Ron Wyatt
to Jabel El Lawz to carry out an archaeological survey. Mr. Fasold relates the events of that fruitful
expedition:

On April 2, 3 and 4 of 1985, an archaeological survey was conducted by Mr. Ronald Wyatt
of Madison, Tennessee, at Jabel el Lawz, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The molecular survey,
leading to points of interest, was carried out by Mr. David Fasold of Port Salerno, Florida,
who accompanied Mr. Wyatt and Samran Al-Moteiri, a prominent citizen of Tabuk [town in
NW Saudi Arabia], who had gained permission to conduct the survey. The purpose of the
investigation was that Mr. Wyatt's premise that the mountain, JABEL EL LAWZ, repres-
ented the TRUE MT. SINAI IN THE LAND OF MIDIAN, which is, of course, IN
NORTHERN ARABIA, and NOT in the Sinai Peninsula.

The site is located some 144 kilometers by road from Tabuk towards Hagl. When soon after
crossing a bridge, a dry wadi is followed west for a distance of 48.7 kilometers.

Questioning a Bedouin tribesman proved very fruitful –

The Berean Voice September-October 2002