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One of the highlights of our time in Dahab was an early morning ascent of Mt. Sinai to watch the sunrise from its peak. Mt. Sinai holds a special place in each of Christianity, Judaism and Islam--it was here, for instance, that the Old Testament says God delivered his Ten Commandments to Moses. Indeed, many of us, regardless of our faith, may already be familiar with the events believed to have occurred at Mt. Sinai (and in Egypt generally), given their depiction in the classic movie which can be seen on television every Easter: the "Ten Commandments", starring a robust Charlton Heston as none other than Moses. We left Dahab at 11:30pm for the roughly 2 hour ride to St. Catherine's Monastery, which sits at the foot of Mt. Sinai. From there it was a 2 hour hike along a darkened (we had our headlamps), but reasonably well-defined trail, to the summit. Below, captured in three stills, you can share with us the progression of the sunrise.
We were not alone as we sat on the summit--making this journey has become a very popular outing, and for good reason. The views were spectacular and the sunrise was beautiful. But even though we were in the desert, it was, very cold, as evidenced here by 3 fellow sunrise watchers bundled in blankets (as we were).
With the sun up, the desert and mountains around us were spectacularly lit, with a brilliant blue sky and wispy clouds as background.
One of the gnarled, craggy mountains below Mt. Sinai. Mt. Sinai is also referred to here in Egypt as Jebel Musa, or Moses' Mountain ("jebel" means "mountain" in Arabic). The peak of Mt. Sinai sits at 2285 meters, or roughly 7,540 feet.
1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image. . . 3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. . . 4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. . . 5. Honor thy father and thy mother. . . 6. Thou shalt not kill. 7. Thou shalt not commit adultery. 8. Thou shalt not steal. 9. Thou shalt not bear false witness. . . 10. Thou shalt not covet. . .
Rich strikes a pose in with Mt. Sinai as backdrop.
St. Catherine's sits at the foot of Mt. Sinai, and continues as a functioning monastery of the Greek Orthodox church and has been revered by Christians for over 16 centuries. Built stoutly as a fortress, its construction as such was intended so that it may serve as a refuge for the Christians of Sinai.
Here, two Greek monks that made the same ascent for sunrise that we did (they were singing hymns on the summit), prepare to reenter the Monastery for, undoubtedly, some much needed sleep.
Within the thick walls of the compound, the famed "Burning Bush" continues to prosper. It was with the aid of the Burning Bush that God first spoke to Moses, imploring him to go and free the children of Israel from their bondage at the hand of the Egyptian Pharaoh. The bush, though burning, was not consumed by the flames--thus allowing it to continue to prosper to this day, instead of having been reduced to ash. We know what you're thinking--"is that really the same bush?" Who knows, but it's nice to believe that it is.
After 25 days in Egypt, we had to say goodbye. Although we were sad, we were excited for our next destination.....the Ancient City of Petra in Jordan, another friendly country.
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Mt. Sinai,
as seen on our descent. Our descent ended more happily than did the descent of
Moses as the story is told. Carrying down the two stone tablets upon which the Ten Commandments
were etched by God, imagine his horror as he saw his people partying and cavorting around a golden calf, and in so doing violating
at least the first 2 of the very Commandments he was prepared to deliver. So disgusted was he that he threw the
tablets to the ground, smashing them to pieces. He then, of course, had to
go back up to get two more tablets (we are not kidding; this is a scene they
skipped in the movie version of the "Ten Commandments"). For
those of you who need a refresher (hey Bruce G.), as we certainly do, here they are (we
deliver them here in the interest of history, and not to proselytize or
preach): 
