In early Christian times, a number of Anchorites settled on Mount Serbal, considering it to be the biblical mountain, and in the 4th century a monastery was constructed at its base.[75] Nevertheless, Josephus had stated that Mount Sinai was "the highest of all the mountains thereabout",[76] which would imply that Mount Catherine was actually the mountain in question, if Sinai was to be sited on the Sinai peninsula at all.[3]