Located at the foot of Mount Moses, St. Catherine’s Monastery, was constructed by order of the Emperor Justinian between 527 and 565. It is built around what is thought to be Moses’ Burning Bush, which has a chapel built atop it. It is a spectacular natural setting for priceless works of art, including Arab mosaics, Greek and Russian icons, Western oil paintings, paintings on wax, fine sacerdotal ornaments, marbles, enamels, chalices, reliquaries, including one donated by Czar Alexander II in the 19th century, and another by Empress Catherine of Russia in the 17th century. But of perhaps even greater significance is that it is one of the largest and most important collection of illuminated manuscripts in the world (The Vatican has the largest). The collection consists of some 4,500 volumes in Greek, Coptic, Arabic, Armenian, Hebrew, Slavic, Syriac, Georgian and other languages.
St. Catherine’s has a rich history indeed. So rich that it is a sparkling example of an undiscovered jewel of travel. It has been called the oldest working Christian monastery and the smallest diocese in the world. The Chapel of the Burning Bush was originally ordered built by Empress Helen, the mother of Constantine the Great, but the monastery itself was actually built by Emperor Justinian to protect the monks in the region and to honor the site of the Burning Bush. St. Catherine, whose body was reportedly carried away by angels, was discovered five hundred years later at the top of the peak that now bears her name. Her relics are stored in a marble reliquary in the Basilica. We have additional pictures of this church, and of its interior.
St. Catherine’s is also a formidable fortification, with granite walls measuring 8 to 35 meters tall, surrounded by gardens and cypresses. Prior to probably the twentieth century, the only entrance to St. Catherine’s was a small door 30 feet high, where provisions and people were lifted with a system of pulleys, and where food was often lowered to nomads. It has withstood numerous attacks over its 14 hundred year existence, thus protecting a rich store of art. Today, while it is one of the oldest monasteries in the world, its original, preserved state is unmatched.
Though patronized during much of its history by the Russian Orthodox Church, it is now under the auspices of the Greek Orthodox Church. Most of its monks are also of Greek origin, though their ranks include an international flavor
While there have been a number of other locations suggested as the biblical site of Mount Sinai, also referred to as Mount Horeb, the traditional location is a peak in the central southern Sinai peninsula. This site and the surrounding area are steeped in Biblical tradition. All around Mount Sinai are locations and sites that have been associated with Biblical places named in the Exodus, and there is a long oral tradition of their authenticity. However, there is no proven archaeological evidence that this, or any of the other suggested 
alternate locations of Mount Sinai, is the actual one referred to in the Bible. Nevertheless, this mountain has drawn pilgrims for over a thousand years in the overwhelming belief that it is the Holy Mountain, and its tradition as the Biblical peak can be directly traced back to the fourth century AD. John Lloyd Stephens said that “Among all the stupendous works of Nature, not a place can be selected more fitting for the exhibition of Almighty power.”
The traditional Mount Sinai, located in the Sinai Peninsula, is actually the name of a collection of peaks, sometimes referred to as the Holy Mountains. The mountain was called Sinai, or “the mount of God” possibly before the time of Moses, according to Josephus. On its southern end is Mount Mousa (or Musa), sometimes referred to as Jebel Musa, Gebel Mousa, Mount Moses or the Mountain of Moses (all of which basically means the same thing). This peak is traditionally considered to be biblical place where Moses communicated with God and received the Ten Commandments. It also has considerable religious significance to Islam as the place where Mohammed’s horse, Boraq, ascended to heaven.
The Chapel of the Holy Trinity, surrounded by a throng of Brazilian Pilgrims
Mount Musa is 7,495 feet (2,285 meters) high. It is not he highest peak in the Sinai, That distinction, as well as the highest in Egypt, belongs to nearby Mount Catherine, which is 8652 feet (2637 meters) high. Visitors to Mount Musa may climb it using several routes. The shortest route, known as Siket Syidna Musa, is a steep stairway consisting of 3,750 steps, known as the “steps of penitence”, that were hewn out of stone by the monks of St. Catherine’s Monastery, located at the northeastern foot of the mountain, and enclosing what is traditionally thought to be the Burning Bush. However, this route may not be climbed at night, actually when most people 
ascend the mountain in order to arrive at the peak for the sunrise.
The longer, less steep track, known as Siket El Bashait, may be climbed at night either on foot or by camel. It takes an average of about two and one half hours to ascend on foot. At a number of locations along the longer route, often referred to as the camel route, there are vendors where one may buy water, food and other items. Both of the routes lead to a natural amphitheater known as the “Seven Elders of Israel”, where the wise men are thought to have waited while God spoke to Moses. From there, one must ascend the remaining 750 steps on foot to reach the summit
A view from just below the peak of Mount Sinai
The Chapel of the Holy Trinity, built in 1934 (on the location of the original chapel built in 363 and rebuilt by Justinian in 530), is located on the summit, but is not open to the public, though it is said to enclose the rock from which God made the tablets of the Ten Commandments. There is also a small mosque and a cave where Moses is thought to have waited to receive the Tablets. Of course, the summit also provides a breathtaking view of the surrounding mountain ranges and valleys. While the monuments on the peak of Mount Musa are well known, there are a number of other monuments and historical site located on the mountain, many of which are located along the stairway, and on the surrounding mountains.
Another View from the Top of Mount Sinai
There are other peaks in this range, some of which have also been contested as the true Mount Sinai. Jebel Serbal is also a candidate. Other peaks in this range include Jebel Megafa and Jebel Moneiga.
Mount Sinai
St. Catherine Protected Area
 Location: Mid-Southern SinaiArea: 5,750 km2 Type: National Park Year of establishment: 1996 Objective: The basis of the National Park’s rationale is the conservation of biological diversity or biodiversity. This phenomenon has increased over geological time, the world’s biodiversity is richer now than at any time in its evolutionary history. At the same time, global biological diversity is being lost at a rate many times faster than ever before, largely as a result of human activities.Management: The Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA).
Geographical aspects: St. Catherine mountain is the highest peak in Egypt 2,624 m above sea-level. The Sinai massif contains some of the world’s oldest rocks. Around 80% of the rocks are 600 million years old. Importance: Flora: Fauna:
The Saint Katherine National Park abuts the coastal reserves of Ras Mohammed National Park, the Nabq and Ras Abu Galum Managed Resource Areas that lie along the Gulf of Aqaba. The coastal resorts, a mainstay of the Egyptian economy, are among the fastest growing tourism developments in the world. Their relative proximity to the Saint Katherine monastery and Mount Sinai has resulted in a growing number of visitors to the National Park. The protection of the area\routes, unique natural and cultural values was a primary goal in the declaration of the St. Catherine National Park. But, a wider national objective was to underpin and expand the tourist industry in Sinai. The aim was to enhance the quality of tourism by promoting environmental and cultural tourism in premium wilderness areas. In so doing it was concluded that conservation would become an attractive option to rural people by linking sustainable tourism with local community development. In pursuit of these goals the management unit of the St. Catherine National Park actively promotes environmental and cultural tourism in these areas. A list of all these types of activities:
Fully operational now are several low impact stays based on trekking, camping or simply finding a quiet place beneath a palm tree. |
region of Precambrian igneous and metamorphic rock, which includes Egypt’s highest peaks (St. Catherine mountain, Moussa mountain, Serbal mountain, Umm Shomer mountain and Tarbush mountain).
species; some found nowhere else in the world. The mountains are relic outposts for the Sinai rose finch from Asia, the ibex and wolf from Europe, and the striped hyena and Tristram’s grackle which came from Africa. Several species are unique to the National Park including two species of snakes and about twenty plant species, such as a beautiful native primrose.
In the Middle East there are four primary sacred mountains: Mt Ararat in eastern Turkey, the traditional landing place of Noah’s ark; Mount Sinai in the Sinai peninsula, the peak where Moses received the Ten Commandments; Mount Moriah or Mount Zion in Israel, where lies the city of Jerusalem and the temple of Solomon; and Mt. Tabor in Israel, the site of the transfiguration of Jesus. Mount Sinai, also called Mount Horeb and Jebel Musa (the ‘Mountain of Moses’) is the center of a greatly venerated pilgrimage destination that includes the Monastery of St. Catherine and the Burning Bush, Elijah’s Plateau, and Plain of ar-Raaha, near Mount Sinai.
The Monastery of St. Catherine, also known as the Monastery of the Transfiguration, is located in a triangular area between the Desert of El-Tih, the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Aqaba in the Sinai. It is situated at an altitude of 4854 feet in a small, picturesque gorge. It is a region of wilderness made up of granite rock and rugged mountains which, at first glance, seems inaccessible. In fact, while small towns and villages have grown up on the shores of the two gulfs, only a few Bedouin nomads roam the mountains and arid land inland. Well known mountains dominate this region, including Mount Sinai (2,285 meters), Mount St. 
Catherine (2,637 meters), Mount Serbal (2,070 meters) and Mount Episteme.
This is the region through which Moses is said to have led his people, eventually to the Promised Land, and there are legends of their passing in many places. Of course, one of the most exceptional locations is that of Mount Sinai, where Moses met with God who delivered to him the tablets containing the Ten Commandments. Obviously, the region is sacred to Christians, Jews and Muslims alike.
While grazing his flocks on the side of Mt. Horeb, Moses came upon a burning bush that was, miraculously, unconsumed by its own flames. A voice speaking out of the fire (Exodus 3:1-13) commanded him to lead his people out of bondage in Egypt and return with them to the 
mountain. Upon his return Moses twice climbed the mountain to commune with God. Regarding the second ascent, Exodus 24: 16-18 states: And the glory of the Lord abode upon Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days; and the seventh day God called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud. And the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel. And Moses entered into the midst of the cloud, and went up into the mount; and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights. During this time on the mountain Moses received two tablets upon which God had inscribed the Ten Commandments, as well as precise dimensions for the Arc of the Covenant, a portable box-like shrine that would contain the tablets. Soon thereafter, the Arc of the Covenant was constructed and Moses and his people departed from Mount Sinai.
The Arc of the Covenant and its supposedly divine contents are one of the great mysteries of antiquity. According to archaic textual sources the Arc was a wooden chest measuring three feet 
nine inches long by two feet three inches high and wide. It was lined inside and out with pure gold and was surmounted by two winged figures of cherubim that faced each other across its heavy gold lid. Some scholars believe that the Arc may have contained, in addition to the Tablets of the Law, pieces of meteorites and highly radioactive rocks. In the ensuing two hundred and fifty years, between the time it was taken from Mount Sinai to when it was finally installed in the temple in Jerusalem, the Arc was kept for two centuries at Shiloh, was captured by the Philistines for seven months, and then, returned to the Israelites, it was kept in the village of Kiriath-Jearim. During this entire time it was associated with numerous extraordinary phenomena, many of which involved the killing or burning of often large numbers of people. Passages in the Old Testament give the impression that these happenings were divine actions of Yahweh, the god of the Hebrews. Contemporary scholars, however, believe that there may be another explanation.
Some have suggests that the Arc, and more precisely its mysterious contents, may have been a product of ancient Egyptian magic, science and technology. Moses, being highly trained by the Egyptian priesthood, was certainly knowledgeable in these matters and thus the astonishing powers of the Arc and its ‘Tablets of the Law’ may have derived from archaic Egyptian magic rather than the mythical god Yahweh. However, it should be noted that this comes from an alternative school of thought.
On the peak of Jebel Musa stands a small chapel dedicated to the Holy Trinity. This chapel, constructed in 1934 on the ruins of a 16th century church, is believed to enclose the rock from which God made the Tablets of the Law. In the western wall of this chapel is a cleft in the rock where Moses is said to have hidden himself as God’s glory passed by (Exodus 33:22). Seven hundred and fifty steps below the summit and its chapel is the plateau known as Elijah’s Basin, where Elijah spent 40 days and nights communing with God in a cave. Nearby is a rock on which Aaron, the brother of Moses, and 70 elders stood while Moses received the law (Exodus 24:14). Northwest of Elijah’s plateau hardy pilgrims visit Jebel Safsaafa, where Byzantine hermits such as St. Gregory lived and prayed. Beneath the 2168 meter summit of Ras Safsaafa stands the Plain of ar-Raaha, where camped the Israelites at the time Moses ascended the mountain and where Moses erected the first tabernacle.
Currently there is no archaeological evidence that the granite peak of Jebel Musa Mount Sinai on the Sinai Peninsula is the actual Mount Sinai of the Old Testament and various scholars, such as Emmanuel Anati, writing in his comprehensive study, The Mountain of God, have proposed several alternative locations. The association of Jebel Musa with the Biblical Mount Sinai seems to have first developed in the 3rd century AD when hermits living in caves on the mountain began to identify their mountain with the ancient holy peak.
Monastic life started at a very early period in the region around Mount Sinai. Christian hermits began to gather at Sinai from the Middle of the 3rd Century. St. Antony, who retreated into Egypt’s Eastern Desert, inspired many others to cast off their worldly possessions and many of them settled at the foot of Mount Sinai, along with other nearby mountains, especially Mount Serbal, where they led a life of strict spiritual and corporal discipline.
The life that these early hermits followed was neither easy or safe. The 4th and 5th centuries were particularly troublesome times, when Christians were not only persecuted, but suffered from barbarian assaults. The monk, Ammonius of Egypt, wrote a Discourse upon the Holy Fathers slain on Mount Sinai and at Raitho, and there is much other documentation of the massacre and martyrdom of the Holy Fathers of the Sinai and Raitho by the Hagarenes and the 
Blemmyes of Africa, particularly during the Roman reign of Diocletian. This nevertheless did not prevent the development of monasticism in the Sinai desert, nor did it prevent the fame of many of the hermits from spreading both East and West.
Small monastic communities formed very early in the Sinai, particularly at Mount Horeb, thought to be the site of the Burning Bush and in the Wadi Feiran (ancient Pharan). The anchorites lived in caves, stone-built cells and huts. They spent their days in silence, prayer and sanctity.
Tradition holds that, in 330 AD, in response to a request by the ascetics of the Sinai, the Byzantine empress Helena (St. Helen) ordered the building of a small church, dedicated to the Holy Virgin, at the site of the Burning Bush, as well as a fortified enclosure where the hermits 
could find refuge from the attacks of primitive nomadic tribes.
Now, the South Sinai became a place of pilgrimage that was visited by many from far away lands. In 1884, a manuscript was discovered that relates a visit to the area by Aetheria between 372 and 374 AD. She was a Spanish noblewoman who was accompanied by a retinue of clerics. She relates finding a small church on the summit of Mount Sinai, another one on Mount Horeb and a third one at the site of the Burning Bush, near which there was a fine garden with plenty of water.
Her account clearly reveals the expansion of monasticism in the Sinai desert. In fact, by the 5th century, the growing population of hermits was apparently headed by a dignitary, mentioned as the Bishop of Pharan, who’s office was eventually taken over by the Bishop of Sinai. With this development apparently came a request by the Sinai monks, to Justinian, the Byzantium emperor, for assistance. He thus founded a magnificent church, which he enclosed within walls strong enough to withstand attacks and protect the monks against nomadic raids, which today is known to us as the Monastery of St. Catherine.
By the 7th century, the Monastery faced a dangerous situation and a grave crisis, mainly due to the Arab conquest. Although information on this period is scant, one source tells that by the year 808, the number of monks in the monastery had been reduced to thirty, while Christian life on the Sinai peninsula had all but vanished. However, the monastery itself did not vanish.
According to tradition, and evident from indirect information, the Fathers of the Monastery requested the protection of Mohammed himself, who saw the Christians as brothers in faith. Apparently, the request was favorably accepted and the so called ahtiname, or “immunity covenant” by Mohammed instructed his followers to protect the monks of the Sinai. Though this document has been a matter of controversy, it is doubtful that the monastery could have survived without the protection afforded by Mohammed and his successors.
The 11th century marked a new period for the monks of the Sinai. There was a transfer of relics of St. Catherine to France, and the presence of Crusaders in the Sinai between 1099 and 1270 spurred the interest of European Christians for the security and independence of the monks and for the safeguard of the land properties (dependencies) owned by the Monastery in Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Crete, Cyprus and Constantinople.
The fact that a castle presupposes a military force accounts for the mention some authors make of a military order of St. Catherine, founded in 1063, which would thus antedate any other military order. No trace has been found, however, of the rule of any such order, or of a list of its grand masters. From the Crusades the Monastery of St. Catherine attracted many Latin pilgrims, who gradually formed a brotherhood, the members of which pretended to the knighthood. In return for a vague promise to protect sacred shrines and pilgrims, they were granted the coveted St. Catherine’s Cross. The carved wooden portal giving access to the Narthex of the Katholikon (the earliest church in the monastery, built about the same time as the enclosure wall) and the various lain inscriptions in the old Refectory date from those years. Interestingly though, the Monastery had a Muslim garrison during the same period, so the Fathers had to maintain a delicate balance between the Christians of the West and the Muslims of the region. In fact, to this day an ancient Mosque, dating from the 10th or 11th century, sits within the walls of the Monastery.
The Roman Popes at times defended the rights of the Monastery with various bulls and proclamations. Pope Honorius III in 1217, Pope Gregory X (1271-1276), Pope John XXII (1316-1334), Pope Benedict XII in 1358, Pope Innocent VI in 1360, all expressed in many ways their goodwill for the monastery, and interceded in favor of the Monastery’s privileges in Crete, Cyprus and other places.
Others also came to their aid. The Doges of Venice regulated with official documents the attitude of the Dukes of Crete concerning the Monastery’s dependencies on the island. They ruled in 
favor of the monks’ interests, granted tax exemptions and sometimes permitted even the collection of funds to aid the monastery.
The Venetians, as well as other Christians of the West, respected the monastery’s ships, which sailed the seas flying the banner of St. Catherine with the Saint’s monogram (AK).
Even though the Monastery of St. Catherine, since the time of the Arab conquest of Egypt, has been situated in a mostly Islamic region, communication with Constantinople never stopped and the relations with Byzantium were close. A number of documents reveal decisions and actions on the part of a number of Byzantine emperors, extending financial assistance to the monastery. The official attitude and opinion of the Byzantines with regard to the Monastery and its prestige is expressed in a letter by the patriarch of Constantinople Gennadio (1454), addressed to “the most honorable among monks, Kyr Maximos, by his worldly name Sophianos, and to all the most blessed hieromonks and monks practicing asceticism in the holy Monastery of Sinai“. He calls the Sinai “our pride”, indicating the great esteem and reverence in which the Orthodox held one of the worlds oldest Christian monasteries.
Even Turkish Sultans, in particular Selim I and Suleiman the Magnificent, at times issued favorable decrees exempting the Monastery from custom duties, which helped it attain great prosperity. On several different occasions, the Turkish Sultans defended the interests of the Monastery against the claims of powerful Jews on the Sinai. At the same time, Christian kings of Europe and other important rulers gave financial assistance and presented the monastery with generous donations.
When Napoleon conquered Egypt in 1798, he placed the monastery under his protection. The documents confirming this status, and which recognizes older privileges granted to the monastery, are now kept in the monastery’s gallery.
Through the 14th century, many thousands of pilgrims came annually to the monastery, even though the journey from Cairo took eight days by foot and camel. Following the Reformation, the popularity of Christian pilgrimage drastically declined until, during the mid 1900’s, no more than 80 to100 pilgrims made the arduous journey each year. In the 1950’s the Egyptian government paved roads leading to oil fields and mines along the western Sinai coast and also developed a dirt track to the foot of Jebel Musa and the monastery, which allowed increasing numbers of secular tourists to travel in taxis from Cairo. The completion of a paved road further increased the number of visitors to Jebel Musa. Bus service to and from Cairo became available on a daily basis in 1986 and today it is not uncommon for a hundred or more pilgrims and tourists to visit the ancient sacred site in a single day. Currently Greek Orthodox monks tend the monastery and its extraordinary collection of Byzantine art and illuminated manuscripts.
It is not known when or how the monastery obtained possession of the remains of St Catherine of Alexandria and adopted her name. According to legend her body was transported thither by the hands of angels. The name, however, does not appear in literature before the tenth century
