Wadi Feiran or Wadi Faran is Sinai 's largest and widest wadi . It is an intermittent stream and rises from the mountains around Saint Catherine's Monastery , at 2500 m above sea level.
15-653: It is one of the alleged sites of Rephidim , a station of the Exodus where Moses struck a rock caused it to spring water, allowing his people the Hebrews to drink. Wadi Feiran is an 81-mile (130 km) wadi on Egypt 's Sinai Peninsula . Its upper reaches, around Jebel Musa , are known as the Wadi el-Sheikh. It empties into the Red Sea 's Gulf of Suez 18 miles (29 km) southeast of Abu Zenima . Ptolemy identified
30-560: A journalistic photographer, photographed the Bedouins at Wadi Ferian. Travel guides, however, advise visitors not to wear out their welcome, reporting that Bedouin hosts believe a reasonable stay is three days: the first day is for greeting, the second day is for eating, and the third day is for speaking. By the fourth morning, the visitor who is not on his way out is as unwelcome "as the spotted snake". Pilgrims and interested tourists come here and to nearby Saint Catherine's Monastery . For
45-459: A time, a monk from Saint Catherine 's also maintained a small church and farmstead at Wadi Feiran. 28°43′07″N 33°37′13″E / 28.7187°N 33.6202°E / 28.7187; 33.6202 Rephidim Rephidim or Refidim ( Hebrew : רְפִידִים ) is one of the places visited by the Israelites in the biblical account of the Exodus from Egypt . This episode
60-622: Is described in the Book of Exodus . The Israelites under Moses have come from the Wilderness of Sin . At Rephidim, they can find no water to drink, and angrily demand that Moses give them water. Moses, fearing they will stone him, calls on Jehovah for help and is told to strike a certain "rock in Horeb ," in God's name which causes a stream to flow from it, providing ample water for the people. He names
75-510: Is granite and vegetation is sparse grassland with the occasional tree. The town of Al-Bad' is within the traditional Hejaz region of Saudi Arabia , and the population are Muslim . Some two kilometers south of the town of al-Bad' are caves called by the local people "Magha'ir Shu'ayb" (the Caves of Jethro ). Modern archaeologists hold that the caves are 1st century AD Nabatean tombs. Local tradition also holds that "Bir al Saidni" located in
90-645: The Wadi esh-Sheikh . When they leave Rephidim, the Israelites advance into the Sinai Wilderness, possibly marching through the passes of the Wadi Solaf and the Wadi esh-Sheikh, which converge at the entrance to the er-Rahah plain (which would then be identified with the "Sinai Wilderness"), which is three kilometers long and about eight hundred metres wide. Wadi Feiran was an oasis, which would explain
105-615: The Israelites gained the upper hand, but when they are down the Amalekites prevail. He sits with his hands held up by Aaron and Hur until sunset, securing the Israelite victory. The image of Moses raising his arms in battle against Amalek has been seen by allegorical Christian commenters as a prefiguration of Jesus's arms extended on the cross battling sin. One proposal places Rephidim in the Wadi Feiran , near its junction with
120-731: The area as the site of Paran. The nearby hill is the Tell Feiran. The Feiran Oasis, formerly known as El Hesweh, runs about 3 miles (4.8 km) of the length of the wadi, 28 miles (45 km) above its mouth. The Bedouins , nomadic people who lived in goat tents but now live in stone huts, traditionally offer their hospitality to guests at Wadi Feiran and the Feiran Oasis, near Mount Sinai . The Bedouins are generally honored to offer hospitality to travelers. They may offer tea, coffee and, as recently as 2003, may have felt obligated to slaughter an animal for their guest(s). Werner Braun ,
135-528: The battle with the Amalekites in terms of a struggle for control of water sources. Another proposed location for Rephidim is in northwestern Saudi Arabia north of the town of al-Bad , the ancient city of Midian . Some researchers suggest that Mount Sinai was not in the Sinai Peninsula, but in Midian, which is modern-day Saudi Arabia, and subsequently place Rephidim here as well. Jabal Maqla has been
150-458: The nearby coastal town of Makna , is the very well from which Moses rolled away the stone to draw water for the flocks of Jethro's daughters . The town of Makna (or Magna) is on the Red Sea coast to the southwest of al-Bad'. A Jewish community was known here from at least the 9th century AD. Evangelical writers Bob Cornuke , Ron Wyatt and Lennart Möller , hold that Jabal al-Lawz ,
165-458: The place Massah and Meribah (meaning "testing" and "quarreling"). In the Book of Numbers a similar event is described as taking place near Kadesh . Afterwards, the Amalekites attack the Israelites encamped at Rephidim, but are defeated. The Israelites are led in the battle by Joshua , while Moses, Aaron and Hur watch from a nearby hill. Moses notices that when his arms are raised
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#1732776383457180-583: The southwest Sinai. 28°43′N 33°39′E / 28.717°N 33.650°E / 28.717; 33.650 Al-Bad%27, Saudi Arabia Al-Badʿ ( Arabic : البدع [alˈbadʕ] ) is a town in Tabuk Region , Saudi Arabia . It is west of Tabuk, Saudi Arabia , between Tabuk and the Red Sea Coast . Located at 28° 41' N and 35° 18' E, it lies on the border of the Hejaz , and
195-487: The subject of several explorations since the early 1980s. To the northwest of this mountain is a large plain and a massive split rock that shows signs of water erosion (Rephidim is also where Moses is recorded as striking a rock and water coming from it for the parched Hebrews). The plain, or wadi runs from this split rock all the way to Jabal Maqla. The name "Rephidim" ( Hebrew : רְפִידִם ) means place of rest . More recent scholarship identifies Rephidim with Wadi Refayid in
210-720: The town is the Sarwat ranges , the northern end of the Hijaz Mountains . This area is known for Neolithic petroglyphs carved into the arid volcanic rock . Northeast of the town is the peak Jabal al-Lawz , ( Arabic : جبل اللوز ) which at 8400 feet is one of the highest peaks in Saudi Arabia . The mountain Jabal Maqla' is to the south of Jabal al Lawz. This 7600 foot high volcanic peak is, like Jabal Lawz, crowned with black basalt . Much of this volcanic region
225-570: Was in antiquity in Southern Midian . Al-Bad is located in the valley of the Wadi Aful in a highland area (218 m ASL ). It is near the town of Tayyib Al-Ism and approx. 25 km east of the eastern coast of the Gulf of Aqaba , part of the Red Sea where there are pristine coral reefs . In 1995, 2 people at Al-Bad' died during the Gulf of Aqaba earthquake . To the east of
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