The preparation of SiC powder by SHS in the system of $SiO_2-Mg-C$ was investigated in this study. The effects of various processing parameters such as the initial pressure of inert gas in reactor, the content of Mg and C in mixture and the size of $SiO_2$ particles on the synthesis of SiC by SHS methode were investigated. The minimum initial pressure of inert gas in reactor for SHS reaction in this system was 5 atm, and as the pressure increased, and the concentration of unreacted Mg decreased. At 50 atm of the initial inert gas pressure in reactor, the optimum composition for the preparation of pure SiC was $SiO_2+2.5Mg+1.2C$. SiC powder synthesized in this condition had a mixture of ${alpha}-SiC;and;{eta}-SiC$ with an irregular shape and the particle size of $0.5{sim}0.8{mu}m$.