MOUNT SINAI

Saint Catherine and Mount Sinai

Later on Sinai's summit, Moses received the ten commandments:
"tables of stone, written with the finger of God."(Exodus 20:1-17,31 : 18 & 34 : 1,28,29)

Today, St. Catherine's Monastery and the image of "the calf" carved into the mountain stone by nature, stand where these biblical events took place. Both are reserved and visited by pilgrims. Saint Catherine, the renowned Greek Orthodox monastery lies above sea level at the foot of Mount Sinai or Gebel Musa as it is know locally.

In 337A.D. empress Helen ordered the construction of a sanctuary around the site of the burning bush, that was to attract thousands of pilgrims and hermits in search of safety during the persecutions of the Christians by Rome. However, the continuous attacks of neighbouring nomadic tribes led Justinian, emperor of Byzantium to convert the sanctuary into a fortress-monastery in 537. He dispatched one of the court architects to build this fortified enclosure that still survives sixteen turbulent centuries later. It stands not only as one of the vivid links to early Christianity but as a monument to the vanished world of Byzantium.

According to one account, failure to build the fort on top of the mountain displeased the emperor so much that he had the architect beheaded. Emperor Justinian assigned slaves from present day Romania to do the construction work. After completing the monastery, the slaves were set free. The slaves lived as nomads(wandering) in the neighbourhood of the monastery, and continued to serve the monks.

Saint Catherine's has been a centre of Christian worship and thought for over 1600 years, containing one of the world's most ancient and important libraries. Its 2000 manuscripts in Greek, 700 in Arabic, 300 in Syriac, 100 in Georgian and Armenian, 40 in Slovonic and 1 Latin recall sixteen centuries of Christianity. Unfortunately the Codex Sinaiticus - a bible dating back to the 4th century - was taken from the monastery in 1844 by K.von Tischendorf, a German scholar who sold it to the Tsar of Russia.

At a later date, the manuscript found its way to the display cases of the British Museum in London who acquired it from the Soviet government in 1933. A letter from the scholar dated September 1859 promising to return the manuscript after the completion of his studies hangs on the wall of the library, without comment.

From an architectural point of view, the entire compound is typically Byzantine in style with its thick high surrounding walls and the recently restored nine metres high picturesque entrance gate. Pilgrims and suppliers were transported into the monastery by means of a basket and pulley. Such security measures were necessary due to the perils of 'outsider' attacks in former centuries.

The interior is equally mysterious and impressive with its narrow passages and steep staircases leading to different levels on each floor. Another aspect of Byzantine construction is the entrance immediately followed by an imposing staircase that leads to the guest rooms on the first floor. Apart from the many chapels and bronze bells, the monastery contains a beautiful 6th century church dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It is separated from the Burning Bush area and the Shrine of Saint Catherine of Alexandria (the monastery's patroness) by an impressive 17th century ikonostasis. The monastery also houses one of the richest collections of silver lamps, 5-6th century icons and Fatimide mosaics.

Throughout its history the monastery has received gifts from popes, Christian princes, and most of all from the Russian tsars who considered themselves the natural successors of the Byzantine emperors. The tower of the church which houses 9 bells of different sizes, was donated by Tsar Alexander II of Russia in 1871. It also contains an ancient wooden bell that is used daily while the metal bells are only used during festive periods. The summons to morning mass are beaten on a wooden board called simandro.

The remains of countless Orthodox monks kept in a charnel in the garden might seem rather shocking. However, it is something of a miracle to see how the remains of Saint Stephen defied time and remained intact. During his life he had always guarded the way up to Mount Sinai and expressed his wish to continue to do so even after death.

In 580 A. D. his colleagues respected his will and set his body up, fully dressed, beside the thousands of skulls belonging to other dead monks in the ossuary. Dressed as in life, he guards the chapel, just as in the 6th Century he guarded the Holy Mountain as he sat on the 3750 step path leading to the peak of Mount Sinai. No pilgrim, in those times, was allowed to pass him without confessing first.

On top of the same mount stands another chapel that was built in 1934 on the remains of a church erected by Justinian in 532A.D. Visitors to the monastery should not miss the opportunity to climb Mount Sinai at dawn to contemplate the sunrise and its beautiful reflections on the blueish mountains.

The dome ornamented with a magnificent fresco representing the Transfiguration glows above the principal altar of the church.

Tradition has it that St. Catherine died a virgin martyr's death in the beginning of the 4th century. She came from a noble family in Alexandria. In addition to being beautiful, she was very talented having expert knowledge in many areas including philosophy, mathematics, languages and poetry.

She was she was severely tortured for her Christian faith, and eventually put to death by Emperor Maximus whom she tried to convert from paganism. He decided to execute her - blades were fixed to 4 wooden wheels, which were set on 2 axes rotating in opposite directions. She was strapped to that killing machine. To the Emperor's surprise the virgin was not harmed, so he decided that she should be beheaded, and she was executed on November 25, 305. The church of St. Catherine in Alexandria stands on the spot where she was martyred. Inside the church is a marble block to which she was strapped.

According to religious tradition St. Catherine became associated with Mount Sinai, (previously known as Mount Catherine) 5 centuries after her death. A monk received a vision that her incorruptible body was emitting light from the top of Mount Sinai. On climbing the mountain, the monks saw the vision and collected the sweet smelling myrrh in bottles which was defusing from her body.

Two hundred years later, in the 11th century, monks started distributing parts of her body mainly to churches in western Europe. Three fingers reached the Abbey of Trinity in Rouen in France. In 1229 King Louis IX of France built a church in Paris dedicated to St. Catherine. In the 12th century the monks collected her remains from the peak of Mount Sinai and replaced them in the church of the Monastery. In fact, her skull and her hand are still placed in the church of the Transfiguration. The monks also changed the monastery name from Monastery of the Holy Virgin to its current name - St Catherine's Monastery.