The inscription of the Golden Calf is located in the Wadi al-Raha area at the foot of Mount Safsafa, to the right of the visitor heading to St. Catherine's Monastery.
This area is called Wadi al-Raha because in most opinions it is the place where the Israelites rested waiting for God's Prophet Moses to come down from the top of the mountain after receiving the tablets, and in another version that it was named so because God's Prophet Moses, while returning to Egypt with his family, and when he sensed from the side of Al-Tur a fire, he said to his family, "Stay, I have sensed a fire," so they stayed and rested in this area, so it was called Wadi al-Raha.
As for the inscription of the golden calf, several narratives have emerged regarding it. The commonly accepted narratives are numerous, and it is common among people that the inscription is considered a statue of the calf that the Israelites made to worship after the delay of Moses, and their belief that it had died and after the return of Moses, it was turned into stone, or that it is the mold that was used in making the Samaritan's golden calf.
According to an old local legend, the Samaritan used the shape of the calf carved in the rock as a model or mold to make the golden calf.
The other version says that when the Prophet Moses came down from the mountain and found his people worshipping the calf, he smashed the calf with his hand and glued it to the mountain, resulting in this trace that remains for our time as a lesson for us and a representation of what happened in the days of Moses.
In fact, none of the previous narratives have been proven because there is no evidence to confirm this, this area is considered one of the tourist attractions that tourists flock to visit the landmarks and mountains of St. Catherine's City.
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