Jebel al-Madhbah

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The Siq, facing the Treasury, which lies at the foot of Jebel al-Madhbah

Jebel al-Madhbah is a mountain at Petra, in present-day Jordan, which a number of scholars have proposed as the Biblical Mount Sinai^[1], beginning with Ditlef Nielsen in 1927^[2]. The mountain is colloquially known as Zibb 'Atuf, meaning penis of love in Arabic, presumably on account of the two carved obelisks located at the summit. The top 8 metres of the original peak was carved away to form the obelisks, destroying evidence of whatever earlier structures had been located there, except for hints that shiny blue slate once covered the summit^[3].; the biblical description of Sinai mentions sapphire paving^[4], which at that time referred to shiny blue paving, rather than paving made from what is now called sapphire^[5].

The name Jebel al-Madbah means mountain of the altar, and is well deserved since it's summit is covered in a number of different altars, including some that are circular, and others that are square, carved into the rock. One possible reason for Madbah being considered sacred is the fact that there have been many reports and sightings of plasma phenomona at al-Madhbah over the centuries^[3], possibly equating with the dramatic biblical descriptions of devouring fire on the summit of Sinai^[6]. The sacred nature of the mountain is not limited to the summit; the Treasury building, which is thought to have a ritual purpose, is carved into the mountain's base, facing the Siq; the loud trumpeting sound caused by wind funnelling down the siq is referred to by local Bedouins refer to the sound as the trumpet of God^[3], matching the biblical description of a loud trumpet at Sinai^[7].

The mountain is over a thousand metres high, but a rock staircase winds its way from the top down to the valley below; the valley in which Petra resides is known as the Wadi Musa, meaning valley of Moses. At the entrance to the Siq is the Ain Musa, meaning spring of Moses; the 13th century Arab chronicler Numairi stated was Ain Musa was the location where Moses had brought water from the ground, by striking it with his rod.