The International Monthly, Volume 2, No. 4, March, 1851Various
History
The International Monthly, Volume 2, No. 4, March, 1851
Various
Art, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; Science -- History -- Periodicals
"It seems that one of them, however, accompanied the writer in his
further exploration of the ensuing day, for he uses the plural number,
and speaks of his 'friend.' We thus condense his statements: One day
(7th March) is described as having been spent in Wady es-Sabaiyeh, or
the plain before Mount Sinai. After having penetrated into this wady, he
says: 'We took our course along the base of Jebel Deir, until we came to
a point whence the peak of Sinai was no longer visible, because of the
intervening point of Jebel Deir; then striking across Sebaiyeh to the
right, keeping Sinai in view, we stopped to contemplate the scene. Here
the plain is very wide, and forms one with Wady Sedout, which enters it
from the south-east at a very acute angle, and in the whole of which
Sinai is plainly visible. These two wadys make a width of at least the
third of a mile. The hills rising from the east and south of Sebaiyeh,
in front of Sinai, are of gentle ascent, upon which flocks might feed,
and the people stand in full view of Sinai. For many miles, perhaps six
or more, on the eastern border of this plain, are seen many small plains
high up among the hills, from all of which Sinai is plainly visible.
Near where we stood, a high, rocky platform of granite arose from the
plain, upon which I seated myself, and took a sketch of the valley to
its junction with Wady esh-Sheikh on the north, where stands _Jebel
Fureia_, a very conspicuous and singular mountain. At this point, Wady
Sheikh turns from its eastern course, after leaving Wady Rahah, and runs
north around Jebel Fureia, where it receives Sebaiyeh from the south,
and with it forms one unbroken plain for about twelve miles to the north
of the place where I was seated. Turning back now to the south, we
traversed the plain towards the base of Sinai. The wady grew gently
narrower as we approached Neja, whose base projected far into the plain,
and whose head shuts off the view of Sinai for a distance of about
one-half the width of the plain at its base.
"'As we passed its foot, Sinai again appeared, and we measured the plain
near the pathway which leads up towards Sinai on the southern border of
Neja, and which appears to be the only entrance to the Holy Mountain.
The measured width here was four hundred and thirty feet. Passing on
three hundred and forty-five paces, we arrived at the narrowest part of
the plain, some few yards narrower than where we had measured it. This
may be considered as an entrance-door to the plain, which lies directly
in front of Sinai, which now spreads out level, clear, and broad, going
on to the south with varied widths for about three miles on gently
ascending ground, where it passes between two sloping hills and enters
another wady which descends beyond, from which it is most probable Sinai
may yet be clearly seen.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account