Tablets of Stone in the context of "Ark of the Covenant"

The Horns of Moses are an iconographic convention common in Latin Christianity whereby Moses was presented as having two horns on his head, later replaced by rays of light. The idea comes from a translation, or mis-translation, of a Hebrew term in Jerome's Latin Vulgate Bible, and many later vernacular translations dependent on that. Moses is said to be "horned", or radiant, or glorified, after he sees God who presents him with the tablets of the law in the Book of Exodus.

The use of the term "horned" to describe Moses in fact predates Jerome, and can be traced to the Greek Jewish scholar Aquila of Sinope (fl. 130), whose Greek translations were well known to Jerome. The Hebrew qāran may reflect an allegorical concept of "glorified", or rings of light. Horns tend to have positive associations in the Old Testament, and in ancient Middle Eastern culture more widely, but are associated with negative forces in the Book of Revelation in the New Testament. These considerations may have influenced the translators in their choices, for Aquila as a positive, or for Jerome, as a negative.

The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew: עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים‎, romanized: ʿĂśéreṯ had-Dəḇārîm, lit. 'The Ten Words'), or the Decalogue (from Latin decalogus, from Ancient Greek δεκάλογος, dekálogos, lit. 'ten words'), are religious and ethical directives, structured as a covenant document, that, according to the Hebrew Bible, were given by God to Moses. The text of the Ten Commandments appears in three markedly distinct versions in the Hebrew Bible: at Exodus 20:1–17, Deuteronomy 5:6–21, and the "Ritual Decalogue" of Exodus 34:11–26.

The biblical narrative describes how God revealed the Ten Commandments to the Israelites at Mount Sinai amidst thunder and fire, gave Moses two stone tablets inscribed with the law, which he later broke in anger after witnessing the worship of a golden calf, and then received a second set of tablets to be placed in the Ark of the Covenant. Scholars have proposed a range of dates and contexts for the origins of the Decalogue. Interpretations of its content vary widely, reflecting debates over its legal, political, and theological development, its relation to ancient treaty forms, and differing views on authorship and emphasis on ritual versus ethics.

"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image" (Hebrew: לֹא-תַעֲשֶׂה לְךָ פֶסֶל, וְכָל-תְּמוּנָה, romanized: Lōʾ-t̲aʿăśeh lək̲ā p̲esel, wək̲ol-təmûnāh) is an abbreviated form of the second part of one of the Ten Commandments which, according to the Book of Deuteronomy, were spoken by God to the Israelites and then written on stone tablets by the Finger of God. It continues, "... any graven image, or any likeness [of any thing] that [is] in heaven above, or that [is] in the earth beneath, or that [is] in the water under earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them."

Rabbinical Judaism does not allow images. Christians abide by this law with their own interpretation depending on the denomination. As to Catholics and Orthodox there are mixed approaches, stating that they focus on images and icons rather than idols, sometimes with destruction of images (iconoclasm) occurring, particularly images of Christ and the saints. Aniconism is a common but not universal aspect of modern Islam.

El Tor (Egyptian Arabic: الطور aṭ-Ṭūr/et-Ṭūr  Egyptian Arabic pronunciation: [etˈtˤuːɾ]), also romanized as Al-Tur and At-Tur and known as Tur Sinai, formerly Raithu, is a city and the capital of the South Sinai Governorate of Egypt. The name of the city comes from the Arabic term for the mountain where the prophet Moses is believed to have received the Tablets of the Law from God; this mountain is designated Jabal Al Tor.

At-Tur itself appears to have been founded in the 13th century near the site of the ancient Raythou (medieval Raya). The El tor strain of cholera was discovered there in 1905. It was a quarantine camp for Muslim pilgrims returning from Hajj (the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca). Known for its springs, the city is an important tourist destination in the South Sinai Governorate along with Sharm El Sheikh and Saint Catherine.