Mount Sinai—A Jewel in the Wilderness

I WILL never forget the thrill I felt the first time I saw the traditional Mount Sinai. As we wove our way through the hot, dusty terrain of the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, our taxi suddenly emerged onto the wide, open Plain of er-Raha. The awe-inspiring face of Mount Sinai rose sharply from the floor of the plain. It looked like a jewel, set in the desert. To think that this may have been the very mountain where Moses received the Law from God!

While there is still some debate over the exact location of the Biblical Mount Sinai, pilgrims have been coming here for many centuries because they believe this to be the famous mountain. As far back as the third century C.E., ascetics arrived, intent on isolating themselves in religious thought. In the sixth century, Byzantine Emperor Justinian I ordered a fortresslike monastery to be built here to protect these ascetics, as well as to ensure a Roman presence in the area. That monastery, located near the base of the traditional Mount Sinai, is now known as St. Catherine’s. Why not accompany me on my trip to Mount Sinai?

Exploring the Mountain

After we travel through the arid valley, our Bedouin taxi driver drops my companion and me off just below the monastery. The scene is framed by crags of naked rock, and the monastery’s tree-lined walls and verdant garden are a welcome sight. But we pass it by, as our immediate objective is to climb the southern peak and to camp there overnight. This peak, Gebel Musa, meaning “Mountain of Moses,” is traditionally identified with Mount Sinai.

A two-hour hike brings us to the so-called Basin of Elijah, a small valley that bisects the two-mile-long ridge of Mount Sinai. According to tradition, it was in a nearby cave that Elijah heard the voice of God. (1 Kings 19:8-13) We catch our breath under a 500-year-old cypress tree. There is also an ancient well here. How we enjoy its clear, cool water, offered to us by a friendly Bedouin!

Following the normal tourist route, we struggle for another 20 minutes up the 750 stone steps to the summit. There we find a small church. The monks assert that it is built on the precise location where Moses received the Law. Abutting the church is a cleft in the rock where they claim Moses hid himself as God passed by. (Exodus 33:21-23) But the truth is, no one knows the exact location of these places. Be that as it may, the view from the top is spectacular! We gaze across row after row of reddish granite mountains receding behind the rock-strewn plain below. To the southwest rises Gebel Katherina, or Mount Catherine—at 8,652 feet [2637 m], the highest point in the area.

Ascending Adjoining Ras Safsafa

Another day provides us with the opportunity to climb Ras Safsafa, the peak situated on the same two-mile ridge as Gebel Musa. Ras Safsafa is the northern peak, and it is slightly lower than Gebel Musa. Ras Safsafa rises abruptly from the Plain of er-Raha, where the Israelites may have been camped when Moses went up to receive the Law from Jehovah.

As we hike toward Ras Safsafa through a landscape of smaller peaks and valleys, we pass abandoned chapels, gardens, and springs—vestiges of a time when more than a hundred monks and hermits dwelt here in caves and stone cells. Now there is only one monk left.

We encounter this lone monk in a garden surrounded by a high barbed-wire fence. Admitting us, he explains that he has been working in this garden for five years, descending to the monastery only once a week. The monk directs us on toward Ras Safsafa, and we weave our way upward until, at last, we stand elevated above the surrounding peaks. We can see the broad Plain of er-Raha below us. Particularly from this vantage point, I can imagine this to be the place where Moses ascended the mountain from the Israelite camp to stand in the presence of God. I picture in my mind three million Israelites assembled “in front of the mountain” on this spacious plain. I visualize Moses descending an adjacent ravine, carrying in his arms the two tablets with the Ten Commandments written on them.—Exodus 19:2; 20:18; 32:15.

Satisfied that our strenuous climb has been worth the effort, we amble back to our tent as the sun goes down. By the light of a small fire, we read the portions of Exodus describing Moses’ experiences here, and then we retire. By late the next morning, we are knocking at the door of St. Catherine’s monastery.

Inside the Monastery

St. Catherine’s is regarded as one of the most important monuments in Christendom. Manned by Greek Orthodox monks, it is famous not only for its location but also for its icons and its library. For most of its history, St. Catherine’s was so isolated that the arrival of visitors was a rare and welcome event. The monks would embrace their guests, give them hearty kisses, and even wash their feet. The guests could freely roam the extensive jumble of buildings behind the monastery’s 45-foot-high walls. ‘Stay for a week, a month, as long as you like’ was the monks’ polite refrain. These days, however, the hospitality of the dozen or so remaining monks is sorely overtaxed. Now as many as 50,000 visitors come to see the monastery each year.

Because of these crowds, visiting is limited to three hours a day, five days a week. Tourists may visit only a small part of the monastery—a courtyard containing the Well of Moses (where legend has it that Moses met his wife-to-be), the Church of the Transfiguration (reputedly the world’s oldest active church), and a bookstore. Tourists are also shown the Chapel of the Burning Bush—the very spot, the monks tell the tourists, where Moses first witnessed God’s presence. Since the monks consider this to be the holiest place on earth, visitors here are asked to take off their shoes, as God directed Moses to do.—Exodus 3:5.

We are disappointed not to be allowed a glimpse of the monastery’s famous library, our main interest here. Our request for an exception is met with the guide’s exclamation: “Impossible! The monastery will close in a few minutes.” Moments later, however, when we are away from the tour group, the guide whispers to us: “Come this way!” Passing under ropes, up staircases, and past a French monk who looks surprised to see us there, we find ourselves standing in one of the world’s oldest and most famous libraries! It contains over 4,500 works, in Greek, Arabic, Syriac, and Egyptian. At one time, it also held the priceless Codex Sinaiticus.—See box on page 18.

A Somber Parting

Our tour concludes outside the monastery walls with a visit to the charnel. There the bones of generations of monks and hermits are heaped high, separated into piles of leg bones, arm bones, skulls, and so on. The skulls reach almost to the ceiling. Why is such a gruesome place considered necessary? The monks have only a tiny cemetery. So when one dies, it is their custom to remove the bones from the oldest grave to make a burial site available. Each monk anticipates that one day his bones will join those of his fellows in the charnel.

Our visit thus ends on a somewhat somber note. But it has certainly been worth all the effort. We have enjoyed seeing the awesome vistas and the famous monastery. But as we leave, we are most deeply impressed by the thought that perhaps we have walked the same paths that Moses and the nation of Israel trod 3,500 years ago here on Mount Sinai—a jewel in the wilderness.—Contributed.

[Box on page 18]

A Momentous Discovery

During the last century, German Bible scholar Konstantin von Tischendorf discovered in St. Catherine’s monastery a fourth-century Greek Bible manuscript, now called the Codex Sinaiticus. It includes much of the Hebrew Scriptures, from the Greek Septuagint version, as well as the entire Greek Scriptures. The manuscript is one of the oldest known complete copies of the Greek Scriptures.

Tischendorf wanted to publish the contents of this “incomparable gem,” as he called it. According to Tischendorf, he suggested to the monks that the manuscript should be given to the Russian czar—who, as protector of the Greek Orthodox Church, could use his influence in favor of the monastery.

Displayed on the wall of the monastery is a translation of a letter left by Tischendorf, promising to ‘return the manuscript, undamaged and in a good state of preservation, to the Holy Confraternity of Mount Sinai at its first request.’ Tischendorf, however, felt that the monks did not appreciate the great importance of the manuscript or the need for publishing it. It has not been returned to St. Catherine’s. Although the monks eventually accepted 7,000 rubles from the Russian government for the manuscript, to this day they remain very suspicious of scholarly attempts to uncover their treasures. The Codex Sinaiticus eventually made its way to the British Museum, where it may be seen today.

Significantly, 47 crates of icons and parchments were discovered in 1975 under St. Catherine’s north wall. This discovery included more than a dozen missing leaves of the Codex Sinaiticus. So far, these leaves have been inaccessible to all but a very small circle of scholars.

[Maps on page 17]

Mount Sinai

[Credit Lines]

NASA photo

Mountain High Maps® Copyright © 1997 Digital Wisdom, Inc.

[Picture on page 16, 17]

Plain of er-Raha, and Ras Safsafa

[Credit Line]

Pictorial Archive (Near Eastern History) Est.

[Pictures on page 18]

Gebel Musa and St. Catherine’s monastery

[Credit Lines]

Pictorial Archive (Near Eastern History) Est.

Photograph taken by courtesy of the British Museum