eastward from El Erbayin, it opens into the broader valley which leads south-eastward to the convent of St. Catharine. At this point, that is on the northern side of Sinai, the valley has considerable width, and forms, according to Mr. Carne, a plain capable of containing a large number of people.

There is another mountain, mount Serbal, at some distance to the west north-west of the Mount of Moses, which has been supposed by some to be the Sinai of the Scriptures. According to Burckhardt, "it is separated from the upper region of Sinai by some valleys, and forms, with several neighboring mountains, a separate cluster, terminating in peaks, the highest of which appears to be as high as Mount St. Catharine. It borders on Wady Feiran." But this very intelligent traveller says, "I am convinced, from a perusal of the Scriptures, that the Israelites encamped in the Upper Sinai, and that either Djebel Mousa, or the Mount St. Catharine, is the real Horeb. At present, neither the monks of Mount Sinai, nor those of Cairo, consider Mount Serbal as the scene of any events of sacred history; nor have the Bedouins any traditions among them respecting it."

There can be but little if any doubt, that the opinion of Burckhardt is the correct one; especially as the foundation of the convent of St. Catharine, and the tradition connected with it, date back to the fourth century.