Posted on 12/31/2021 11:47:42 AM PST by Theoria
On the year’s shortest day, hundreds of Israelis ventured deep into the desert to witness a strange natural phenomenon atop an ancient pilgrimage site that some argue is where God spoke to Moses.
The mountain kept its secrets for centuries, its air of sacred mystery enhanced by a remote location in the Negev Desert in southern Israel.
But one day last week, hundreds of Israeli adventurers headed deep into the wilderness to reach Mount Karkom, determined to get closer to answering a question as intriguing as it is controversial: Is this the Mount Sinai of the Bible, where God is believed to have communicated with Moses?
Mount Sinai’s location has long been disputed by scholars both religious and academic, and there are a dozen more traditional contenders, most of them in the mountainous expanses of the Sinai Peninsula across the border in Egypt.
But Mount Karkom’s claim has gained some popular support because of an annual natural phenomenon that an intrepid group of archaeology and nature enthusiasts had come to witness for themselves.
In 2003, a local Israeli guide and ecologist happened to be atop Karkom’s vast plateau one day in late December around the time of the winter solstice, when he came upon a marvel.
At midday, with the sun low in the sky on one of the shortest days of the year, he peered across a deep ravine and spotted a strange aura of light, flickering like flames, emanating from a spot on a sheer rock face.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
jeb
Some homeless guy cooking a camel for dinner?
That is pretty darn cool.
And thus Moses didst walk up to the burning bush.
And thus spoke The Lord: “Moses, remove thy shoes for this be holy ground upon which thou treadst.”
And Moses removed his shoes. And Moses began to dance and jump for the ground upon which he stood was very hot.
And then said The Lord, “Ha ha! Third one this week!”
Ping
Somebody dropped a CD or cellphone from the cliff above?
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