Mount of Moses Gebel Musa
A very rewarding expedition from the monastery is the ascent of Gebel Musa, the Mount of Moses (7,497ft/ 2,285m), on which Moses is said to have received from God the Tables of the Law. There are two main routes, the more strenuous of which is the pilgrims' route, believed to have been established as early as the sixth C., which involves climbing some 2,500 steps, passing on the way the simple Chapel of St Elias (Elijah; 6,880ft/2,097m). The alternative route is by way of the unfinished Abbas Pasha Road. For those who feel unable to tackle the ascent on foot there is also the possibility of hiring a camel. Whichever method is chosen the trip takes at least 3 hours there and back.
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Gebel Musa - Views
From the summit of Gebel Musa there are breath taking views of the wild and desolate surrounding country, extending southwest beyond the highest peaks of Sinai to the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba and northwest over the hills of southern Sinai to the lower country in the north.
Gebel Musa - Chapel and Mosque
On the summit of the mountain are a small chapel (built in 1930 on the site of an earlier chapel which had been destroyed) and a small mosque which is much revered by Muslims. At the northeast corner of the crag on which the chapel stands visitors are shown a hollow in which Moses stood when God appeared to him. Beside the mosque is a cistern like cavity in which, according to Muslim tradition, Moses lived for 40 days, fasting, while writing down the Law on two tablets.
