Sinai, or the Sinai Peninsula
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(rocky; craggy)—the mountain and wilderness of Arabia Petraea reached by the Israelites in the third month after leaving Egypt. From its summit God gave Israel the Law; therefore Scripture calls Sinai the mountain of God and the mountain of the LORD. The source records the Arabic names Tur and Jebel Tur Sina. Both Old and New Testaments identify it with the giving of the Law (Ps. 68:8, 17; Acts 7:38; Gal. 4:24–25), as does ancient tradition. Egyptian Christians withdrew there in times of persecution.
Tradition associated Saint Catherine with the mountain, and the monastery dedicated to her has long stood there. By the fifth century the wilderness was dotted with hermitages. The source reports a tradition that Muhammad instructed his commanders not to disturb Sinai’s monks and observes that the monastery survived under Muslim rule.