Some scholars have speculated the possibility of Har Karkom being the
biblical Mount Sinai. They suggest that the
Israelites travelled across the
Sinai Peninsula towards
Petra in a fairly straight line. Following this theory,
Emmanuel Anati excavated at the mountain, and discovered that it was a major
Paleolithic cult centre, with the surrounding plateau covered with shrines, altars, stone circles, stone pillars, and over 40,000
rock engravings. Although Anati, on the basis of his findings, advocates the identification of Har Karkom with Mount Sinai, the peak of religious activity at the site may date to 2350-2000 BCE, and it appears to have been abandoned perhaps between 1950 and 1000 BCE.
The Exodus is sometimes dated between 1600-1200 BCE. However, there is no archaeological evidence supported by scholars to maintain a date of 1600-1200 BCE. Anati instead places the Exodus, based on other archaeological evidence, between 2350 and 2000 BCE. ==References==