Hala-'l Badr

Coordinates: 27°15′N 37°14′E / 27.250°N 37.233°E / 27.250; 37.233
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Hala-'l Badr

Ḥalā-'l Badr (or Hala-'l Bedr / Hallat al Badr, in

Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) of at least 2, so it is capable of producing an eruption column at least 3 miles (4.8 km) high.[2]

Hallat al Badr is located in the land of

Mount Sinai refers to an erupting volcano in the land of biblical Midian. Gunkel writes, "The characteristic Israelite narratives of Yahweh's appearance in the burning thorn bush (Exod. 3:2), in the burning and smoking Sinai (Exod. 19:9, 20:18; Deut. 4:11), and especially in the pillars of smoke and fire (Exod. 13:21)... can be explained originally from the fact that, in Israel's earliest belief, Yahweh was the god of the Sinai volcano."[10] This possibility would exclude all the peaks on the Sinai Peninsula and Mount Seir, but would match a number of places in northwestern Saudi Arabia
, of which Hala-'l Badr is worth considering as the basis of proto-Israelite theophanic tradition of a fiery mountain located in the remote desert.

Following Musil, Colin Humphreys has argued that the itinerary stations given in Numbers 33 lead directly to Hallat al Badr. He also reports that a volcano in the harrat region of NW Arabia erupted in 640 AD, but it is not known exactly which volcano this was. Conversely, James K. Hoffmeier argues that the route suggested by Humphreys would have put the supposed volcano behind the Israelites at times, not in front of the people. He also notes that the words for "cloud" and "pillar of cloud" appear frequently in Numbers - it covers the mountain, the temple built on top of the mountain, "it occupies the holy of holies in Solomon's temple" (I Kings 8:10) and "Numbers 12:5 specifically refers to God coming down in a pillar of cloud to denounce Miriam's charges against Moses after departing the mountain of God." Thus "fire and cloud are understood to be vessels of theophany."[11] Nissim Amzallag argues for a simpler solution to Yahweh's theophany, arguing that "in antiquity, metallurgy was the only activity that could cause stone to melt. For this reason, volcanism was approached as the specific marker of the presence and/or activity of the god who patronized the metallurgical act."[12]

According to Jacob E. Dunn, the original theophany of Yahweh may derive from ancient eyewitness accounts of volcanic eruptions along the ancient trade routes passing through the lava fields in proximity to Hallat al Badr.

tuff cone and not a cinder cone. As a final piece of evidence pointing to ancient human activity around this volcano, Dunn highlights a well-worn foot path also visible in satellite imagery, winding its way up the northern escarpment of the Thadra plateau, where it ultimately leads to the above mentioned oasis at the base of the Badr volcano. Various man-made stone structures in close proximity to Hallat al Badr, including cairns and mustatils –– often called "the works of the old men"[14] highlight the presence of nomadic tribes in this volcanic region of NW Arabia, as early as the Neolithic
period.

Midianite pottery (also known as 'Qurayyah Painted Ware') dating to the end of the Late Bronze Age was found not too distant from Hallat al Badr, at Tayma and Qurayyah in NW Arabia.[15] More recent excavations have unearthed sherds of Midianite pottery at al-Bad',[16]
confirming that the Midianites were in the right place at the right time.

Citations and notes

  1. ^ G. F. Brown, D. L. Schmidt, A. C. Huffman Jr., “Geology of the Arabian Peninsula: Shield Area of Western Saudi Arabia,” U.S. Geological Survey 560-‐A [Part 1] (1989): pp. 152-‐154.
  2. ^ T. Simkin, and L. Siebert, Volcanoes of the World (Tucson: Geoscience Press, in association with the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program, 2nd edn, 1994), p. 368
  3. ^ Lawrence E. Stager, “Forging an Identity: The Emergence of Ancient Israel,” The Oxford History of the Biblical World, ed. M. D. Coogan (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), pp. 142–148.
  4. ^ Charles Beke, Mount Sinai, a Volcano (1873)
  5. ^ Sigmund Freud, Moses and Monotheism (1939)
  6. ^ Colin Humphreys, The Miracles of Exodus: A Scientist's Discovery of the Extraordinary Natural Causes of the Biblical Stories (2003)
  7. ^ Eduard Meyer, Die Israeliten und ihre Nachbarstämme (Halle: Max Niemeyer, 1906), p. 69.
  8. ^ Martin Noth, Exodus: A Commentary (OTL; trans. J.S. Bowden; London: SCM Press, 1962), pp. 32-33
  9. ^ Hermann Gunkel and J. Begrich, Introduction to Psalms: The Genres of the Religious Lyric of Israel (Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1998), pp. 69, 77, 80.
  10. ^ Hermann Gunkel, Genesis (trans. M.E. Biddle; Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1997), p. 181.
  11. ISBN 978-0195155464
    .
  12. ISSN 2363-6696
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  13. ISSN 0309-0892
    .
  14. ISSN 0305-4403
    .
  15. OCLC 931613417. {{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link
    )
  16. ISSN 2031-5937
    .

External links

27°15′N 37°14′E / 27.250°N 37.233°E / 27.250; 37.233

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