In early October Phil Roberts and I went
to Tabuk for the weekend to look at Jabal al-Lawz. This is a mountain located
in northwest Saudi Arabia, near the Jordan border, above the Gulf of Aqaba at
2580 metres above sea level. It is Saudi Arabia’s second highest mountain after
Jebal Soudah near Abha in the southwest of the Kingdom. Its name means the mountain
of almonds, but I certainly did not see any almonds or virtually any other
vegetation excepting a few Juniper trees. Geologically it is a light-colored,
calc-alkaline granite that is intruded by rhyolite and andesite dikes, which
generally trend eastward. Claims have been made by some writers such as Bob
Cornuke, Ron Wyatt and Lennart Moller that this is the real biblical Mount
Sinai, but these have subsequently been questioned by others. The mountain is
very beautiful, but it is not possible to get to the top as a closed security
gate prevents access. When we arrived, before first light, signs said not to
enter past the gate. We waited until security came and asked permission to
enter but were refused, so had to stay on the lower slopes.
