peninsula, NE Egypt, at the N end of the Red Sea. The peninsula is separated from the continent of Africa by the Gulf of Suez (an arm of the Red Sea) and the Suez Canal. On the E, the peninsula is bounded by the Arabian Peninsula, from which it is partly separated by the Gulf of Aqaba, another arm of the Red Sea. The N extremity of the peninsula, which is about 225 km (about 140 mi) long, adjoins the Mediterranean Sea. The Sinai Peninsula is generally considered part of the continent of Asia. A level desert occupies most of the N portion of the peninsula; the S portion is traversed by several mountain ranges, with summits reaching more than 2606 m (more than 8550 ft) above sea level. Jabal Musa (Arab., “Mountain of Moses”), a peak of the Sinai range, is traditionally identified as the biblical Sinai (see SINAI, MOUNT,), where, according to the Old Testament, Moses received the Ten Commandments from Jehovah. Numerous Egyptian inscriptions dating from about 3400 to 1000 bc have been found on the peninsula. Near Jabal Musa stands the 6th-century Monastery of Saint Catherine, the autonomous Orthodox religious community in which was discovered (1844) the Codex Sinaiticus, an extant manuscript of the Bible from the 4th century. The Sinai Peninsula was the scene of major military encounters in 1956, 1967, and 1973; it was occupied by Israel in 1967, but Egypt resumed full control in the early 1980s.