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The Gold of Exodus: The Discovery of the
True Mount Sinai by Howard Blum Paperback - 432 pages Available at:
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CBD Book Description
For centuries, mankind has disputed the exact location of Mount Sinai -- the site
where God descended to give Moses the Ten Commandments and the ancient Hebrews buried
a fabled fortune in gold. Now, award-winning journalist Howard Blum tells the heart-pounding
true story of how Larry Williams, a two-time Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate from
Montana and self-made millionaire, and Bob Cornuke, a retired policeman and former
SWAT-team member, daringly infiltrated a top-secret Saudi Arabian military base to gain access
to Jabal al Lawz, the mountain they discerned from the Old Testament to be the true Mount
Sinai.
Philologos comments:
Excerpt from Exodus/Sharm al Sheikh file (based on hardcover edition):
I just finished reading "The Gold of Exodus" by Howard Blum. This book allegedly proves that what we traditionally refer to as
Mount Sinai is really a mountain in Saudi Arabia. There are a few things the author wrote about that seem plausible: 1. the two
men looking for the "gold" find an oasis of palms (Elim) approximately where they calculated it should be according to the Bible
record; 2. an altar with drawings of cows (calves?) on it; 3. stone boundary markers around the mountain they claim as the true
Mount Sinai ("And you shall set bounds for the people round about..."), etc. The thing that really caught my attention is the fact
that he says they had satellite photographs that show a well-worn path etched into the desert of Sinai that a friend of one of the
adventurers, "who had learned his trade in the military," analyzed. Here's what this friend wrote:
"First, there is a clear trail that comes into the photograph from the left side. It is south of the traditional Mount Sinai, and it goes right to the water's edge at the Strait of Tiran, at the Gulf of Aqaba. It is impossible to tell the exact age [of the trail] from the photographs, but it is certainly thousands of years old. That is for sure! It was used heavily, and has some real width to it at parts."There are some very large campsites along the way, on the other side of the strait, where it seems to come out of the Red Sea...the trail goes right down the strait and resumes on the other side. It goes about 11 miles south of the crossing site, then turns up north. There are three major campsites, or areas where there were towns or gatherings of many people. I can't tell you what went on there, only that there were large congregations of people. Finally, the trail turns east, about halfway up the gulf, and heads inland, going right to the area you marked on your map as representing Jabal al Lawz [Mount Sinai]. There is a huge, well-used campsite there."
He also had his friend look at photos of the traditional site, St. Catherine's (which was picked because either Constantine or his mother, Helena, had had a vision):
"There are several pathways around that mountain, but no major camping sites. And based on my study of and interpretation of the density of the colors in the photographs, I'd say the trails there are no more than three hundred to four hundred years old, at most. The trails there don't even come close to the size and apparent age of the one that goes into and out of the Red Sea."
Prologue: The Descent