Editing Sinai Peninsula (section)

==Name==
{{main|Mount Sinai (Bible)#Jabal Musa}}{{Hiero|bjꜣw<br>The Mining Country<ref name=Gauthier1925>{{cite book |last=Gauthier |first=Henri |author-link=Henri Gauthier |date=1925 |title=Dictionnaire des Noms Géographiques Contenus dans les Textes Hiéroglyphiques |volume=2 |url=https://archive.org/details/Gauthier1925_2 |location=Cairo |publisher=[[Egyptian Geographic Society|Egyptian Royal Geographic Society]] |page=[https://archive.org/details/Gauthier1925_2/page/n9/mode/2up 12] |isbn=}}</ref><ref name=H1135>The translation 'mining country' is not certain, see also Rainer Hannig: ''Großes Handwörterbuch Ägyptisch-Deutsch: (2800 – 950&nbsp;v.&nbsp;Chr.)''. p.&nbsp;1135.</ref>|<hiero>b-i-N41:bH-xAst</hiero>|align=right|era=ok}}
{{Hiero|ḫtjw mfkꜣt<br>The Ladders of Turquoise<ref name=Gauthier1927>{{cite book |last=Gauthier |first=Henri |author-link=Henri Gauthier |date=1927 |title=Dictionnaire des Noms Géographiques Contenus dans les Textes Hiéroglyphiques |volume=4 |url=https://archive.org/details/Gauthier1927 |location=[[Cairo]] |publisher=[[Egyptian Geographic Society|Egyptian Royal Geographic Society]] |page=[https://archive.org/details/Gauthier1927/page/n97/mode/2up 189] |isbn=}}</ref>|<hiero>xt:x*t-tyw-:*D12-m-f:kA-D12:niwt</hiero>|align=right|era=ok}}

Because the Sinai Peninsula was the main region where mining of [[turquoise]] was carried out in Ancient Egypt, it was called ''Biau'' (the "Mining Country")<ref name=Gauthier1925/> and ''Khetiu Mafkat'' ("Ladders of Turquoise")<ref name=Gauthier1927/><ref>[http://www.gemnantes.fr/documents/pdf/DUGs/Salanne_dug.pdf "Étude de la turquoise : de ses traitements et imitations"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131215115447/http://www.gemnantes.fr/documents/pdf/DUGs/Salanne_dug.pdf|date=15 December 2013}}, thesis by Claire Salanne, Université de Nantes, 2009.</ref> by the ancient Egyptians.

The origin of the modern name is a source of contention (see [[Biblical Mount Sinai]] for a fuller discussion). The name ''Sinai'' ({{langx|he|סִינַי}}, {{langx|syc|ܣܝܢܝ}}) may have been derived from the [[Ancient Mesopotamian religion|ancient Mesopotamian]] [[Lunar deity|moon-god]] [[Sin (mythology)|Sin]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Sinai Peninsula (peninsula, Egypt) |encyclopedia=Britannica Online Encyclopedia |access-date=14 January 2012 |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/545586/Sinai-Peninsula |archive-date=30 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150430212101/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/545586/Sinai-Peninsula |url-status=live }}</ref> The moon-deity Sin is associated with the area; the [[Egyptian mythology|ancient Egyptian]] moon-god [[Thoth]] is also associated with Sin, and his worship was widespread throughout the south tip of the Sinai Peninsula.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}{{clarify|reason=Who worshipped the Mesopotamian deity Sin in the Egyptian peninsula and when? Was it Sin or actually Toth? What are the sources for the worship of Toth in the south of the peninsula? If 'Sin' wasn't used in Egypt, but 'Toth' was, how is this relevant to the name Sinai? How did the Mesopotamian name Sin jump to the Egyptian peninsula and what is the link to the name?|date= December 2021}} ''[[The Jewish Encyclopedia]]'' (1901-1906) quotes a [[Rabbinic literature|Rabbinic source]], the 8th- or 9th-century [[Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer]], which derives the name from the [[biblical Hebrew]] word ''seneh'' ({{langx|he|סֶ֫נֶּה}}),<ref name="Eliezer">{{cite encyclopedia |author-link1=Joseph Jacobs |first1=Joseph |last1=Jacobs |author-link2=Max Seligsohn |first2=Max |last2=Seligsohn |author-link3=Wilhelm Bacher |first3=Wilhelm |last3=Bacher |title=Sinai, Mount |encyclopedia=[[Jewish Encyclopedia]] (1901–1906) |via=JewishEncyclopedia.com |access-date=14 January 2012 |url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=817&letter=S&search=horeb}}</ref> a word only known from two occurrences in the [[Hebrew Bible]], in both cases referring to the [[burning bush]].<ref name="JEBush">{{cite book |last1=Jastrow |first1=M. |last2=Ginzberg |first2=L. |last3=Jastrow |first3=M. |last4=McCurdy |first4=J. F. |year=1906 |chapter=Burning Bush |title=Jewish Encyclopedia |chapter-url=https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/3845-burning-bush |via=JewishEncyclopedia.com |access-date=2 December 2021 |archive-date=5 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211105175826/https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/3845-burning-bush |url-status=live }}</ref> Rabbi Eliezer opines that Mount Horeb only received the name ''Sinai'' after God appeared to Moses in the shape of a burning bush.<ref name="Eliezer" />

Its modern [[Arabic]] name is {{lang|ar|سِينَاء}} ''{{Transliteration|ar|ALA|Sīnāʼ&nbsp;}}'' ([[Egyptian Arabic]] {{lang|arz|سينا}} ''{{Transliteration|arz|Sīna}}''; {{IPA|arz|ˈsiːnæ|IPA}}). The modern Arabic is an adoption of the Biblical name; the 19th-century Arabic designation of Sinai was ''Jebel el-Tūr'',{{Dubious|Apparently mixing up the mountain (jebel) identified by Christian tradition, with the much larger peninsula. Or was the entire peninsula named after the mount? Very unclear right now!|date=December 2021}}<ref>[[William Cooke Taylor|Parker, J. W.]] (1843). ''The Bible Cyclopaedia'' vol. 2, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=jSNUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1143 1143] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326164811/https://books.google.com/books?id=jSNUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1143 |date=26 March 2023 }}.</ref><ref>[[Arthur Penrhyn Stanley|Stanley, A. P.]] (1877). ''Sinai and Palestine: In Connection with Their History''. p. [https://archive.org/details/sinaiandpalesti03stangoog/page/n103 29].</ref> and the name of the mountain is derived{{dubious|Either words missing or incomprehensible wording.|date=December 2021}} from the town of [[El Tor, Egypt|El Tor]] (formerly called "Tur Sinai"), whose name comes from the Arabic term for the mountain where the prophet [[Moses]] received the [[Tablets of Stone|Tablets of the Law]] from God, thus this mountain is designated as "''Jabal Aṭ-Ṭūr'' ([[Arabic]]: <big>جبل الطّور</big>)",{{dubious|More incomprehensible wording, plus: tor/tur just means 'mountain' in Arabic, lots of places called this way, why connect this one to Moses? Any REAL Muslim tradition, beyond adopting the Christian tradition?|date=December 2021}} and the town is also the capital of the [[South Sinai Governorate]] of [[Egypt]]. As another Arabic word for "mass of very high land going up to a peak – mountain" is ''"Ṭūr".''{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}{{dubious|try English for a change.|date=December 2021}}

The English name came from Latin, ultimately from [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] סִינַי‎, pronounced [[Biblical Hebrew|/siˈnái/]] ({{respell|see|NIGH|}}, in English phonetic spelling). In [[English language|English]], the name is now usually pronounced {{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|aɪ|n|aɪ}}.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Sinai |title=Definition of Sinai |publisher=The Free Dictionary |access-date=3 May 2014 |archive-date=3 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140503165937/http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Sinai |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite dictionary |url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Sinai |title=Sinai |dictionary=Dictionary.com |access-date=3 May 2014 |archive-date=3 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140503185233/http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Sinai |url-status=live }}</ref> An alternative, now dated pronunciation in English was {{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|aɪ|n|ɪ|aɪ}} {{respell|SY|nih|eye}}.<ref>{{Cite dictionary |url=http://www.lexico.com/definition/Sinai |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201202084713/https://www.lexico.com/definition/sinai |url-status=dead |archive-date=2020-12-02 |title=Sinai |dictionary=[[Lexico]] UK English Dictionary |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Merriam-Webster|Sinai|access-date=26 February 2019}}</ref>