Mount Sinai and Saint Catherine.
Mount Sinai.
 A
few ours away from Dahab you can find a mountain called Jebel
Musa also known as Mount Sinai or Moses Mountain. According to
the history this is where Moses was supposed to receive the 10
commandments. This has for a long time been up for discussion
because of some historians and theologists claim that according
to the old testament the mountain where Moses received the commandments
the mountain was supposed to have a granite peak. There have been
many alternative locations set by scholars.
Anyway this is the original claimed location for the Jebel Mousa
all the way back to the 3rd century AD and is still considered
the holy ground. This is probably one of the biggest attractions
in Sinai beside diving and other water sports. All the visitors
who wish to go there has to go through Dahab and if you wish to
visit the mountain feel free to contact us in Stay Young and we
can arrange it for you.
 According
to the bible moses was up in these mountains when he encountered
a burning bush. The burning bush was unconsumed by its own fire
and began to speak to Moses as the voice of god. God instructed
moses to enter Egypt an free his people from slavery and return
them to the mountain. Moses did as God told him and after the
encounter with the faro and the aftermath of the 10 plagues Moses
returned to the mountain. Upon his return God handed down the
10 commandments to Moses to guide the people away from their evil
and stray ways. Moses also received the dimensions for the Arc
Covenant and after constructing this Moses and his people left
Mount Sinai.
At the top of the mountain is a small chapel built in the honor
of the holy trinity. It was built as late as 1934, but it was
built inside the ruins of a 16th century church. It is said that
the church is built around a stone that god was supposed to have
made the tablets from. There are many other historical and biblical
references to this site, but personally i recommend looking it
up in wicki pedia for a complete reference.
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Saint Catherine Monastery
 At
the foot of the mountain you can find the saint Catherine Monastery,
it was built by the order of Emperor Justinian between 527 and
565 AD. The Monastery was built around a chapel called chapel
of the burning bush that was ordered built by Empress Helena who
some people find fascinating was the mother of Emperor Constantin.
Emperor Constantin is a historical person who is most famous
for being the first emperor of rome to end the prosecution of
Christians. He is also in some cases accused for censoring the
bible when they chose witch part should be a part of the fully
official bible.
For most people it goes under the name saint Catherine monastery
because the full name is, well... long. The full name is "The
Sacred and Imperial Monastery of the God-Trodden Mount of Sinai".
The reason for the name saint Catherine monastery is because it
contains the relics of Catherine of Alexandria. Her relics is
according to the story was transported here by angels in year
800 around 500 years after her death.
Inside the walls you can also find a fatimid mosque that has
never been used because its not properly aligned with mekka.
The monastery holds a very important historical and cultural
value in Sinai and in the world. It has the second biggest library
in the world for codices and manuscripts and the only one bigger
is the Vatican library. It also has the biggest collection of
early icons in the world.
One of the most important codecies you can find in this library
is the Codex Sinaiticus. Its dated back to the second quarter
of the 14th century and is supposed to have contained the complete
old and new testament. Ironically it was borrowed to a German
scholar by the name Constantine Tischendorf who borrowed it from
the monastery in 1844. He borrowed 43 of the falios with him,
but when he discovered the importance of the work he returned
for the full work to study it further in Russia. He promised that
he would return it at any point when the monastery wanted it,
but what happened in the real world was that the Russian government
kept it till 1933 when they decided to sell it to england for
£100,000. Still the Russians retained some of it. Basically
a lot of it is very damaged, but what is remaining is being restored
by computer and uploaded for anyone to see on their web page.
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The Town and Getting There
 There
are now several ways to go to Saint Catherine Monastery. You can
take a direct bus from Cairo that leaves from New Turgoman Bus
Station at 11:00 AM and arrives at 19:00 PM. There is also a return
bus from Saint Catherine to Cairo that leaves 6:00 AM.
There are mini buses arranged from El-Tur at 14:00 PM and 21:00
PM that goes from the front of Mecca hotel. You can also catch
a mini bus from Suez, but I am not sure about the time table.
There is other towns that have mini buses that goes to Dahab like
Nuweiba and Taba, but they don't have direct service to Saint
Catherine.
You can also take the Bedouin bus from Dahab at 8:00 AM and 16:00
PM from Sheikh Salem House or 07:45 AM and 15:45 PM from Alaska
Camp. There is also a return option with the Bedouin bus going
from Saint Catherine to Dahab at 11:00 AM and 19:00 PM. The Bedouin
bus goes from and to the El-Milga camp not to far from the monastery
and cost 45 Le each way, but this is not included national park
fee. In this area you can also find camps or hotels to spend the
night.
 If
you would like to visit visit the monastery we can arrange this
for you for only 90Le (Egyptian pounds) this equals 12 Euro and
all entry charges covered. You will leave Dahab around 10 PM and
return the morning after. In this trip you go from Dahab by mini
bus. The bus takes about two hours before you reach Saint Catherine
Monastery and from there you walk up to the mountain top during
the night. When you reach the top you wait for the sunrise witch
is the highlight of the trip. After the sunrise you go down to
the monastery where you get a tour of a few essential areas, but
most of it is closed of for the public.
Personally I am not a very big fan of the monastery since i feel
that it is very touristic, crowded and i feel that most of it
is closed of from the public by the 25 monks that are living there.
One thing i can say is that i really like the town of Saint Catherine,
its a Bedouin town that has such a calm and natural beauty over
it. There are Coffey shops, restaurants and camps where you can
stay for weeks just enjoying the area of the desert mountains.
I can arrange overnight stay in a small selection of Bedouin
camps with respective people that we know well and work along
with. Many of these camps are quite small and are very basic,
but its a really nice ambiance and you can almost get the feel
of the life the Bedouins had in those days when the monastery
was built.
If you are interested please contact me at stayyoung@fiksdal.be
or use the form below.
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