Saint Catherine's Monastery
Saint Catherine's Monastery on the Sinai Peninsula, at the mouth of
an inaccessible gorge at the foot of Mount Sinai, in Egypt
is one of the oldest continuously functioning Christian monasteries.
It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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| Saint Catherine's
Monastery |
History
In 1884 an old handwriting fragment was found in
a library in Italy, coming from a monastery that was built
somewhere near the year 500. The handwriting fragment contained
parts of a travel journal from "The Holy Land" and a detailed
description of the Easter celebration in Jerusalem. The manuscript
was written in Latin by a woman named Egeria. She visited
many places around the Holy Land and Mount Sinai, where, according
to the Old Testament, Moses received the Ten Commandments
from God.
Saint Catherine was a Christian martyr initially
sentenced to death on the wheel. However, when this failed
to kill her, she was beheaded. According to tradition, angels
took her remains to Mount Sinai. Around the year 800, monks
from the Sinai Monastery found her remains. At this time Egypt
was a Muslim country so this Christian monastery in the enormous
mountain passes of Sinai could use an Egyptian saint from
the Early Church.
The monastery was built by order of Emperor Justinian
I between 527 and 565, enclosing the Chapel of the Burning
Bush ordered built by Helena, the mother of Constantine I,
at the site where Moses is supposed to have seen the burning
bush; the living bush on the grounds is purportedly the original.
The site is sacred to three major world religions - Judaism,
Christianity, and Islam.
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Saint Catherine's Monastery |
Though it is commonly known as Saint Catherine's,
the actual name of the monastery is the Monastery of the Transfiguration.
The site was associated with St. Catherine of Alexandria (whose
relics were purported to have been miraculously transported
there by angels) and it became a favorite site for pilgrimages.
According to a document in the possession of the
monastery purportedly signed by Mohammed himself, Mohammed
gave his protection to the monastery after it granted, at
some point, political asylum to Mohammed from his enemies.
For this reason, and because a Fatimid mosque was built within
the walls of the monastery, the monastery survived Islamic
dominance of the region over many centuries. The mosque is
sealed and has never been used, since it is oriented incorrectly
with Mecca.
During the 7th century, the isolated anchorites of
the Sinai were eliminated: only the fortified monastery remained.
The monastery is still surrounded by the massive fortifications
that have preserved it. Until the 20th century, access was
through a door high in the outer walls. From the time of the
Crusades, the presence of Crusaders in the Sinai between 1099
and 1270 spurred the interest of European Christians and increased
the number of intrepid pilgrims who visited the monastery.
The monastery was supported by its dependencies in Egypt,
Palestine, Syria, Crete, Cyprus and Constantinople.
About the Monastery
The monastery library preserves the second largest
collection of early codices and manuscripts in the world,
outnumbered only by the Vatican Library. Its strength lies
in Greek, Coptic, Arabic, Armenian, Hebrew, and Syriac texts.
The complex houses irreplaceable works of art: mosaics,
Greek and Russian icons, encaustic paintings, as well as sacerdotal
ornaments, chalices and reliquaries. Most importantly, it
is home to some of the earliest icons in the world, dating
to the 5th and 6th centuries. The oldest icon on the Old Testament
theme is also preserved there. A project to catalogue the
works held in the library is currently being undertaken.
The monastery also comprises the entire Orthodox
Church of Mount Sinai, an autonomous (as distinct from autocephalous)
Orthodox Christian church headed by an archbishop, who is
also the abbot of the monastery. The archbishop is traditionally
consecrated by the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem.