Kuntillet ʿAjrud: Pilgrim’s Roadhouse to Mount Sinai (Har Karkom)

Abstract

In northeastern Sinai about 50 km (30 miles) south of Kadesh-Barnea lies the famous and mysterious Kuntillet ʿAjrud (c. 400 m asl), an Iron Age ruin yielding inscriptions mentioning Yahweh (the God of Israel), Teman, and Shomron (Samaria). Some scholars suggest it was a way-station for pilgrims to Mount Sinai. The ruin lies only 40 km from Har Karkom via an ancient trail through Wadi Quraya, compared to 200 km from Jebel Musa via several roads and regions. Its location in an agricultural floodplain at the crossroads of N-S/E-W Negev routes indicates that Kuntillet ʿAjrud was a monastery-type facility for Samarian pilgrims to Mount Sinai at Har Karkom.