Mysterious mountain in the Karkom valley may be the sacred Mount Horeb

by Damien F. Mackey However, neither Flavio nor his brother, Claudio, believes that professor Anati is correct in his linking of both Sinai and Horeb as one and the same sacred mountain. They came to believe that the real Mount Horeb was an un-named mountain (no. 788) in the middle of the Karkom valley. The Midianites amongst whom Moses would dwell for forty years (from age 40-80) were descendants of Abraham by his second wife, Keturah (Genesis 25:1-2). The atmosphere living amongst those presumably God-fearing Semites must have been totally different from that of Moses’s first forty years of life, living amongst those fearers of the gods in “the land of Ham” (e.g., Psalm 78:51) - the Hamitic Egyptians and the Ethiopian descendants of Cush, the oldest son of Ham (Genesis 10:6, 8). Locating Midian and Mount Sinai Where was this land of Midian with its Holy Mountain, Horeb, or Sinai, that will become a central point of focus during this time? Here I substantially - but not entirely - follow professor Emmanuel Anati, who spent approximately the same time in the region as had Moses, about forty years, researching in the Negev and Paran deserts. In his books, e.g. The Mountain of God (1986), professor Anati was able to point out the locations of the local tribes of Moses’s day, the Midianites, the Amalekites, and so on, near the environs of Har (Mount) Karkom in the SW Negev desert. Australian archaeologist, Deb Hurn, who has also spent a lot of time in the region, basically concurs with his conclusions, though with some notable differences. Unlike many amateurish approaches - that attempt to locate holy Mount Sinai without any due regard for Israel’s trek to there from Egypt being described stage by stage in the Pentateuch - the more serious and informed researchers take fully into account such vital issues as wells for drinking water. Don’t forget that we are dealing with tens of thousands of nomadic people in a region that looks something like a moonscape. {I do not accept that there were over 2 million fleeing Israelites, as a typical interpretation, lacking in common sense - and also in an appreciation of the variety of meanings of Hebrew words, notably elef (אָ֫לֶפ) in this case - would insist upon}. Professor Anati has firmly concluded that the biblical mountain was - definitely not the popular Jebel Musa (“Mount of Moses”) of the tourists, in the Sinai Peninsula - but what is today called: Har Karkom (“Saffron Mountain”). And he is also steadfast in his view that Sinai and Horeb were one and the same sacred mountain. What is at least certain is that the Karkom valley is where the Exodus Israelites had sojourned. Flavio Barbiero, who, with his brother, Claudio, was heavily involved there with professor Anati, has been able brilliantly to pinpoint the specific location of the Tabernacle of the Hebrews, but also to re-create it on precise measurement lines: THE CAVE OF TREASURES ON MOUNT HOREB (3) THE CAVE OF TREASURES ON MOUNT HOREB Flavio Barbiero has no doubts that: It finally gave us certainty on two fundamental points: 1.- that the Exodus account is based on actual facts and is reliable 2.- that the Karkom valley is precisely where the events narrated by Exodus took place, and therefore, the sacred mountain of Moses had to be located in the valley itself. However, neither Flavio nor his brother, Claudio, believes that professor Anati is correct in his linking of both Sinai and Horeb as one and the same sacred mountain. They came to believe that the real Mount Horeb was an un-named mountain (no. 788) in the middle of the Karkom valley. A week ago, on May 6th, I received this Message from Flavio Barbiero: Dear Damien, I am pleased that you have downloaded my book "The Treasure Cave on Mount Horeb". I hope you have read all of it and you are aware of the historical and archaeological importance of my conclusions. I'd be gratefull if you could help me convincing the Israely archaeological authorities to complete my research, by excavating that cave (before somebody else would do it). I appreciate that you are on the good way to do it, by quoting my research on mont Horeb. I suggest you to quote also my conclusions about Moses' wife, the "cushite" Zipporah. I see that you agree on this point. Best wishes Flavio Barbiero. Here are some relevant excerpts from Barbiero’s ground-breaking article (pp. 64 ff.): The mountain without a name Since our first arrival at Har Karkom, we have been struck by a small mountain that stands isolated in the middle of the valley. Arriving from the Egyptian border, it impressively resembles an Egyptian pyramid, with the horizontal stratifications of the rocks giving a realistic idea of the various orders of stones. …. Seen from the north, the mountain had a particular shape, like a large crouching dragon, with a large stone slab at the top of its back, which resembled an enormous lectern. That little mountain was the most notable point in the whole valley and could be seen from any direction. It was the constant reference for knowing where one was. With its unmistakable silhouette constantly under the eyes, it was impossible to get lost or go wrong. We were especially attracted by that large flat rock on the top which from below almost looked like a ramp launched towards the sky. One evening, at the usual assembly after dinner, we asked Anati what that mountain was called and what was on the top. "It's a mountain without a name," was the reply. 'Only the quota is shown on the maps: 788 metres. The Israeli cartographers considered it part of the Karkom complex and did not consider giving it a specific name. …. At the plain's beginning, a large triangular stone was stuck in the ground; it showed clear signs of workmanship to give it a cuspidal shape. On its side, there was a flint "eye" set in the rock and underneath some engravings with a mysterious meaning. It was oriented north-south but pointed towards a small escarpment, a few tens of meters ahead, from which a path began that climbed towards the top of the mountain. On the left was the huge boulder … surrounded by stones, most of which were flat and stuck in the ground. It looked like a large altar surrounded by steles, at the foot of the mountain. A stone vaguely shaped like an animal's head, placed on the rock who knows when and by whom, recalled the image of a calf. We called that boulder "the altar of the golden calf ", jokingly at first, but then with more and more conviction. …. While we were in front of the altar, imagining the scene of dancers around it with a golden calf on top, we looked up towards the mountain and gasped: of the large rock that was on top, we could only see the north side, framed by a saddle formed by the gully along which the wadi descended. …. We decided to go up, heading towards the path indicated by the cusp stone. After a few meters of steep climb, we arrived at a false plain sloping gently down from the mountain. At this point the path passed through a gap created in a row of stones lined up along the edge of the escarpment, clearly a boundary line. On the sides of the gap were two steles, about sixty centimetres each, knocked down to the ground and, in the centre of the path, a serpent's head made of flint … facing those who climbed up. We couldn't help but think of the words of the Bible: “And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death." (Ex.19,12; 19,20; 24,1). … That gap seemed to be the only access to Mount 788 on that side … and that row of stones on the edge, with the two steles on either side, clearly constituted "limits". The serpent's head placed between the steles, in the centre of the path, was an all too evident threat of death addressed to those who climbed it. This is an undeniable indication that this was precisely the mountain to which the words of Exodus referred. …. The view that is disclosed to those who cross the entrance open into the wall is of extraordinary impact. The platform looks like a natural ramp to the sky, and it is paved by a sort of cyclopean natural tiles. …. We were fascinated by the sight of the "basolato", a sort of paved floor of large stones encrusted with green-blue lichens. One day, we had the chance to see the Acropolis after a short downpour. The wet lichens that covered the stones had become phosphorescent of an intense blue and offered an incredible, breathtaking spectacle, the same described in Ex 24,9: “Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness.” We had never seen anything like it. It instinctively came to us to follow the command of Ex. 3:5: "put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.." …. From the top of the acropolis, you can dominate the entire surrounding valley and the desert, in the direction of Egypt, up to the distant horizon; to the north, you can see the edge of Maktesh Ramon and the dome of the Mizpé Ramon Natural History Museum, on the edge of the crater, more than twenty kilometres as the crow flies. From there you can control every corner of the Karkom valley and the entire plateau. No one could approach that mountain without being seen. Isolated as it is in the centre of the valley, with its unmistakable silhouette, it constitutes a unique natural landmark …. … The perfect setting of the events narrated by Exodus As far as we could see at that moment, Mount 788 fully corresponded to the biblical account’s description of Mount Horeb. The limits, the snake head on the access paths, and the impressiveness of the acropolis were important clues, but another thing also proved it. Throughout the valley, you could meet rock engravings everywhere. All the hills around the valley and the valley itself were strewn with rock engravings and on the plateau of Har Karkom there was the largest concentration of the whole Sinai. We expected we would also find many on the 788 because of its central location in the valley. In the following years, my brother and I inspected the mountain from top to bottom, stone by stone, but found no engravings, not even a scratch. …. But what about the cave? Having read Barbiero’s article, I was vague about one thing. Whereas Har Karkom has a small cave atop, the un-named mountain did not appear to have anything so visible. Thus I put this query to Flavio Barbiero: …. One matter about which I am not clear at all after having read your paper. Apparently there is a small cave (cleft) on Mt. Karkom, but neither it nor the mountain seems to fit the [biblical] description. What exactly is the nature of the cave on your un-named mountain? It does not appear to be like the one on Har Karkom. Does it sink downwards into the mountain? Barbiero’s reply: …. the cave on mount Horeb is described with precision in my book, and also its entry is exactly identified and indicated. The cave consists of 9 subterranean chambers, one on top of the other, like the tombs of Judah's kings in Jersusalem. In these chambers Moses and his direct descendants were buried, and later on the high priests of Jerusalem until its destruction by Nebucadnezar. Solomon also and david were buried there, in a chamber that was visited by Hircanus I, son of the last of the Maccabees, who took away 3,000 silver talents. After 80 years the chamber was savagedly pillaged by Herods, who arrived to the point of stripping the jewels from the bodies of the two kings. All this information and many more are in my book “the cave of treasure on mount Horeb”. They are supported by strong evidence. ….