I recall being taught that Mt. Sinai was full of smoke from the metallurgy taking place there. It was also a place where chemists operated. The minerals and furnaces operating there in ancient times are the reasons the mountain is associated with smoke and fire. It was not because of volcanic activity, and I also doubt it was mistaken for volcanoes in Arabia or another location. Even when Moses left Egypt the mountain was a place of “smoke and fire”.
I recall being taught that Mt. Sinai was full of smoke from the metallurgy taking place there. It was also a place where chemists operated. The minerals and furnaces operating there in ancient times are the reasons the mountain is associated with smoke and fire. It was not because of volcanic activity, and I also doubt it was mistaken for volcanoes in Arabia or another location. Even when Moses left Egypt the mountain was a place of “smoke and fire”.