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{{Short description|Greek Orthodox monastery
{{Infobox monastery
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| image =
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| full = Sacred Autonomous Royal Monastery of Saint Catherine of the Holy and God-Trodden Mount Sinai {{br}} {{lang-el|Ιερά Αυτόνομος Βασιλική Μονή Αγίας Αικατερίνης του Αγίου και Θεοβαδίστου Όρους Σινά}}
| other_names = Monastery of Saint Katherine {{br}} {{Transliteration|el|Moni tis Agias Aikaterinis}}
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}}
'''Saint Catherine's Monastery''' ({{lang-ar|دير القدّيسة كاترين}} {{Transliteration|ar|Dayr al-Qiddīsa Katrīn}}; {{Lang-el|Μονὴ τῆς Ἁγίας Αἰκατερίνης}}), officially the '''Sacred Autonomous Royal Monastery of Saint Catherine of the Holy and God-Trodden Mount Sinai''', is a [[Monastery#Christianity|Christian monastery]] located in the [[Sinai Peninsula]] of [[Egypt]]. Located at the foot of [[Mount Sinai]], it was built between 548 and 565, and is the world's oldest continuously inhabited Christian monastery.<ref>Din, Mursi Saad El et al.. Sinai: The Site & The History: Essays. New York: [[New York University Press]], 1998. p. 80. {{ISBN|0814722032}}</ref><ref name="LeroyCollin2004">{{cite book |author1=Jules Leroy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bX9KvgAACAAJ |title=Monks and Monasteries of the Near East |author2=Peter Collin |publisher=[[Gorgias Press]] |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-59333-276-1 |pages=93–94 |author-link1=Jules Leroy}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-05-24 |title=St Catherine Monastery – The Oldest in the World |url=https://www.keepcalmandwander.com/st-catherine-monastery-mt-sinai-oldes-world/ |access-date=2022-04-21 |website=KEEP CALM and WANDER |language=en-US}}</ref>
The monastery was built by the orders of the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] emperor [[Justinian I]], enclosing what is claimed to be the [[burning bush]] seen by [[Moses]].<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":0" /> Centuries later, the purported body of [[Catherine of Alexandria|Saint Catherine of Alexandria]], said to have been found in the area, was taken to the monastery; Saint Catherine's [[Relic|relics]] turned it into an important [[pilgrimage]] site, and the monastery was eventually renamed after the saint.
Controlled by the autonomous [[Church of Sinai]], which is part of the wider [[Greek Orthodox Church]], the monastery became a [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Site]] in 2002 for its unique importance in the traditions of [[Christianity]], [[Islam]], and [[Judaism]].<ref name=":02">{{Cite news |last=Georgiou |first=Aristos |date=December 20, 2017 |title=These spectacular ancient texts were lost for centuries, and now they can be viewed online |language=en |work=[[International Business Times]] |url=https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/these-spectacular-ancient-texts-were-lost-centuries-now-they-can-be-viewed-online-1652320 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180702023242/https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/these-spectacular-ancient-texts-were-lost-centuries-now-they-can-be-viewed-online-1652320 |archive-date=July 2, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Saint Catherine Area |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/954 |access-date=7 September 2021 |website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre |publisher=United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization}}</ref>
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The site also holds the world's oldest continually operating library,<ref name="sinai.library.ucla" /> with unique or extremely rare works, such as the [[Codex Sinaiticus]] and the [[Syriac Sinaiticus]],<ref>Sebastian P. Brock, Two Hitherto Unattested Passages of the Old Syriac Gospels in Palimpsests from St Catherie's Monastery, Sinai, Δελτίο Βιβλικῶν Μελετῶν 31A, 2016, pp. 7–18.</ref><ref name="sinai.library.ucla" /> as well as possibly the largest collection of early Christian [[icon]]s, including the earliest known depiction of [[Jesus]] as [[Christ Pantocrator]].
Saint Catherine's has as its backdrop the three mountains it lies near: [[Willow Peak|Ras Sufsafeh]] (possibly the Biblical [[Mount Horeb]], peak c.{{cvt|1|km}} west); Jebel Arrenziyeb, peak c.{{thinspace}}1km south; and [[Mount Sinai]] (locally, {{transliteration|ar|
==Christian traditions==
The monastery was built around the location of what is traditionally considered to be the place of the [[burning bush]] seen by the prophet [[Moses]].<ref name="EB 1998">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Saint Catherine's Monastery |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Saint-Catherines-Monastery |access-date=23 January 2021 |date=July 1998 |language=en}}</ref> Saint Catherine's monastery also encloses the "Well of Moses", where Moses is said to have met his future wife, [[Zipporah]]. The well is still today one of the monastery's main sources of water. The
Centuries after its foundation, the body of [[Catherine of Alexandria|Saint Catherine of Alexandria]] was said to be found in a cave in the area. Catherine was a popular saint in Europe during the Middle Ages; her story says that, for defending Christianity,<ref name="eb StC">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Saint Catherine of Alexandria |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Catherine-of-Alexandria |date=March 2017 |orig-date=First published July 1998}}</ref> she was sentenced to death on a spiked [[breaking wheel]], but, at her touch, the wheel shattered.<ref>{{
|page=133}}</ref>
The relics of Saint Catherine, kept to this day inside the monastery, have made it a favourite site of [[pilgrimage]].<ref name="EB 1998" /> The patronal feast of the monastery is the [[Feast of the Transfiguration]].
<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px" class="center">
File:Saint Catherine Sinai.jpg|Saint Catherine's Monastery with [[Willow Peak]] (traditionally considered [[Mount Horeb]]) in the background
File:Burning Bush, St Catherine's Monastery.jpg|The monastery's centuries-old [[Rubus|bramble]] is considered to be the biblical [[burning bush]].
File:Moses-well-saint-catherine-church.jpg|"Well of [[Moses]]", where Moses is said to have met his future wife, [[Zipporah]]
File:Ossuary Sinai.jpg|Skeleton of the monk Stephanos, in his robe, in front of the [[ossuary]]
</gallery>
==History==
The oldest record of monastic life at Mount Sinai comes from the travel journal written in Latin by a pilgrim woman named [[Egeria (pilgrim)|Egeria]] (Etheria; [[Sylvia of Aquitaine|Saint Sylvia of Aquitaine]]) about 381/2–386.<ref>John Wilkinson (2015), Egeria's travels (Oxford: Oxbow Books). {{ISBN|978-0-85668-710-5}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Pilgrimage of Egeria |url=https://www.ccel.org/m/mcclure/etheria/etheria.htm |access-date=2023-07-22 |website=www.ccel.org}}</ref>
The monastery was built by order of Emperor [[Justinian I]] (reigned 527–565), enclosing the Chapel of the Burning Bush (also known as "Saint Helen's Chapel") ordered to be built by [[Helena (empress)|Empress Consort Helena]], mother of [[Constantine the Great]], at the site where Moses is supposed to have seen the [[burning bush]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/in-the-sinai-a-global-team-is-revolutionizing-the-preservation-of-ancient-manuscripts/2012/08/30/1c203ef4-ca1f-11e1-aea8-34e2e47d1571_story.html|title=In the Sinai, a global team is revolutionizing the preservation of ancient manuscripts|last=Schrope|first=Mark|date=September 6, 2012|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=July 2, 2018|language=en-US|issn=0190-8286}}</ref> The living bush on the grounds is purportedly the one seen by Moses.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=http://www.mountsinaimonastery.org/news-blog/is-the-burning-bush-still-burning|title=Is the Burning Bush Still Burning?|work=Friends of Mount Sinai Monastery|access-date=July 2, 2018|language=en-US}}</ref> Structurally the monastery's [[king post]] truss is the oldest known surviving roof [[truss]] in the world.<ref>Feilden, Bernard M.. Conservation of historic buildings. 3rd ed. Oxford: Architectural Press, 2003. p. 51. {{ISBN|0750658630}}</ref>
{{multiple image | align = left
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| caption2 = 2011 photo from the north of the monastery, facing southwards
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A [[mosque]] was created by converting an existing chapel during the [[Fatimid Caliphate]] (909–1171), which was in regular use until the era of the [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluk Sultanate]] in the 13th century and is still in use today on special occasions. During the [[Ottoman Empire]], the mosque was in desolate condition; it was restored in the early 20th century.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/954 | title=Saint Catherine Area }}</ref>{{multiple image▼
From the time of the [[First Crusade]], the presence of Crusaders in the Sinai until 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. Throughout the Middle Ages, the monastery had a multiethnic profile, with monks of Arab, Greek, Syrian, Slavonic and Georgian origin. However, in the Ottoman period the monastic community became almost exclusively Greek, possibly due to the decline and depopulation of Transjordanian Christian towns. From the 1480s onwards, the [[Wallachia|Wallachian]] princes started sending out alms to the monastery.<ref name="Panchenko">{{cite book |last1=Panchenko |first1=Constantine A. |title=Arabic Christianity between the Ottoman Levant and Eastern Europe |date=24 August 2021 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-46583-1 |pages=33–36 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SnU_EAAAQBAJ |access-date=18 January 2024 |chapter=The "Dark Age" of Middle Eastern Monasticism}}</ref>
For most of the time of the [[Mamluk Sultanate]] the monastery was able to prosper, but as the sultanate started to decline, it went through a crisis. While there had been several hundred monks in the mid-14th century, a hundred years later there were only several dozens. Local [[Bedouin]] tribes started harassing the community, robbing their property of the Christian coastal village of [[El Tor, Egypt|Al-Tur]] and in 1505, the monastery was captured and sacked. Though the sultan demanded that the property be returned to the monks, the Mamluk government was unable to subdue the Bedouin nomads and preserve order. The German explorer [[Martin Baumgarten]] visited the monastery in 1507 and noticed its decline.<ref name="Panchenko" />
{{multiple image
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| caption1 = Saint Catherine's Monastery by [[Leavitt Hunt]],
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▲A [[mosque]] was created by converting an existing chapel during the [[Fatimid Caliphate]] (909–1171), which was in regular use until the era of the [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluk Sultanate]] in the 13th century and is still in use today on special occasions. During the [[Ottoman Empire]], the mosque was in desolate condition; it was restored in the early 20th century.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/954 | title=Saint Catherine Area }}</ref>
During the seventh century, the isolated Christian [[anchorite]]s of the Sinai were eliminated: only the fortified monastery remained. The monastery is surrounded by the massive fortifications that have preserved it. Until the twentieth century, access was through a door high in the outer walls. From the time of the [[First Crusade]], the presence of Crusaders in the Sinai until 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.▼
▲During the seventh century, the isolated Christian [[anchorite]]s of the Sinai were eliminated: only the fortified monastery remained. The monastery is surrounded by the massive fortifications that have preserved it. Until the twentieth century, access was through a door high in the outer walls.
The monastery, along with several dependencies in the area, constitute the entire [[Church of Sinai]], which is headed by an [[archbishop]], who is also the [[abbot]] of the monastery. The exact administrative status of the church within the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] is ambiguous: by some, including the church itself,<ref>The official Website describes the Church as "διοικητικά "αδούλωτος, ασύδοτος, ακαταπάτητος, πάντη και παντός ελευθέρα, αυτοκέφαλος" or "administratively 'free, loose, untresspassable, free from anyone at any time, autocephalous'" (see link below)</ref> it is considered [[autocephaly|autocephalous]],<ref>Weitzmann, Kurt, in: Galey, John; ''Sinai and the Monastery of St. Catherine'', p. 14, Doubleday, New York (1980) {{ISBN|0-385-17110-2}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last =Ware | first =Kallistos (Timothy) | title =Part I: History | work =The Orthodox Church | publisher =Penguin Books | year =1964 | url =http://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets/english/history_timothy_ware_1.htm | access-date =2007-07-14}} Under ''Introduction'' Bishop Kallistos says that Sinai is "autocephalous"; under ''The twentieth century, Greeks and Arabs'' he states that "There is some disagreement about whether the monastery should be termed an 'autocephalous' or merely an 'autonomous' Church."</ref> by others an [[autonomy#Religion|autonomous]] church under the jurisdiction of the [[Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem]].<ref>[http://www.cnewacanada.ca/ecc-bodypg-ca.aspx?IndexView=toc&eccpageID=29 The Orthodox Church of Mount Sinai] [[CNEWA]] Canada, "A papal agency for humanitarian and pastoral support" {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100530032612/http://www.cnewacanada.ca/ecc-bodypg-ca.aspx?IndexView=toc&eccpageID=29|date=May 30, 2010}}</ref> The archbishop is traditionally [[consecration|consecrated]] by the [[Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem]]; in recent centuries he has usually resided in [[Cairo]]. <!--Strangely, Weitzman states that the Orthodox Church of Mount Sinai is in communion with both the Eastern Orthodox churches and with the [[Roman Catholic Church]].,<ref>Weitzmann, Kurt, in: Galey, John; ''Sinai and the Monastery of St. Catherine'', pp. 11–14, Doubleday, New York, 1980, {{ISBN|0-385-17110-2}}</ref> though ecclesiastic authorities say that this is plainly not the case.--> During the period of the [[Crusades]] which was marked by bitterness between the Orthodox and Catholic churches, the monastery was patronized by both the [[List of Byzantine emperors|Byzantine emperors]] and the rulers of the [[Kingdom of Jerusalem]], and their respective courts.
Dominican theologian [[Felix Fabri]] visited the monastery in the 15th century and provided a detailed account of it. He also described the monastery's gardens, noting the presence of "tall fruit trees, salad herbs, grass, and grain," and mentioning "more than three thousand olive trees, many fig-trees and pomegranates, and a store of almonds and other fruits." The olives were used to produce oil for lighting lamps and as a relish in the kitchen.<ref>[[Felix Fabri]], Vol II. Pt. II. [[Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society]]. [[iarchive:libraryofpalesti02paleuoft/page/582/mode/2up|p. 582]]</ref>
On April 18, 2017, an attack by the Islamic State group at a checkpoint near the Monastery killed one policeman and injured three police officers.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-39637439|title=Deadly attack near Egypt's old monastery|date=April 19, 2017|work=[[BBC News]]|access-date=July 2, 2018|language=en-GB}}</ref>▼
▲On April 18, 2017, an attack by the [[Islamic State]] group at a checkpoint near the Monastery killed one policeman and injured three police officers.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-39637439|title=Deadly attack near Egypt's old monastery|date=April 19, 2017|work=[[BBC News]]|access-date=July 2, 2018|language=en-GB}}</ref>
==Manuscripts and icons==
The library, founded sometime between 548 and 565, is the oldest continuously operating library in the world.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Esparza |first1=Daniel |title=The library of St. Catherine at Mount Sinai has never closed its doors. |date=19 August 2019 |url=https://aleteia.org/2019/08/19/the-oldest-continuously-operating-library-in-the-world-is-in-an-egyptian-monastery/ |access-date=11 August 2020}}</ref> The [[monastery]] library preserves the second largest collection of early [[codex|codices]] and [[manuscript]]s in the world, outnumbered only by the [[Vatican Library]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-44144527|title=Hidden writing in ancient manuscripts|last=Macdonald|first=Fleur|date=June 13, 2018|work=[[BBC News]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180702023740/https://www.bbc.com/news/business-44144527|archive-date=July 2, 2018|url-status=live|language=en-GB}}</ref> It contains [[Greek language|Greek]], [[Christian Palestinian Aramaic]], [[Syriac language|Syriac]], [[Georgian language|Georgian]], [[Arabic language|Arabic]], [[Ethiopic|Ethiopic/Ge‘ez]], [[Latin language|Latin]], [[Armenian language|Armenian]], and [[Church Slavonic
[[File:The Patent of Mohammed.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|''[[Ashtiname of Muhammad]]'', granting protection and other privileges to the followers of Jesus]]▼
[[File:Petersinai.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|6th-century [[encaustic painting|hot wax icon]]]]▼
▲[[File:The Patent of Mohammed.jpg|thumb|left|upright=
▲The library, founded sometime between 548 and 565, is the oldest continuously operating library in the world.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Esparza |first1=Daniel |title=The library of St. Catherine at Mount Sinai has never closed its doors. |date=19 August 2019 |url=https://aleteia.org/2019/08/19/the-oldest-continuously-operating-library-in-the-world-is-in-an-egyptian-monastery/ |access-date=11 August 2020}}</ref> The [[monastery]] library preserves the second largest collection of early [[codex|codices]] and [[manuscript]]s in the world, outnumbered only by the [[Vatican Library]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-44144527|title=Hidden writing in ancient manuscripts|last=Macdonald|first=Fleur|date=June 13, 2018|work=[[BBC News]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180702023740/https://www.bbc.com/news/business-44144527|archive-date=July 2, 2018|url-status=live|language=en-GB}}</ref> It contains [[Greek language|Greek]], [[Christian Palestinian Aramaic]], [[Syriac language|Syriac]], [[Georgian language|Georgian]], [[Arabic language|Arabic]], [[Ethiopic|Ethiopic/Ge‘ez]], [[Latin language|Latin]], [[Armenian language|Armenian]], [[Church Slavonic]], and [[Caucasian Albanian language|Caucasian Albanian]]<ref>Jost Gippert, The Creation of the Caucasian Alphabets as Phenomenon of Cultural History, in ''Referate des Internationalen Symposiums (Wien, 1.-4. Dezember 2005)'', ed. by Werner Seibt, Johannes Preiser-Kapeller, pp. 39–50, Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften 2011.</ref> manuscripts and books, including very rare [[Hebrew]]<ref>Bo Isaksson, "The Monastery of St. Catherine and the New Finds", in ''Built on Solid Rock: Studies in Honour of Professor Ebbe Egede Knudsen on the Occasion of his 65th Birthday April 11th 1997'', edited by Elie Wardini, pp. 128–140, Oslo: Novus forlag, 1997.</ref> and [[Coptic language|Coptic]] books.<ref name="sinai.library.ucla">{{cite web |url=https://sinai.library.ucla.edu |title=Sinai Palimpsests project |website=sinai.library.ucla.edu}}</ref>
In May 1844 and February 1859, [[Constantin von Tischendorf]] visited the monastery for research and discovered the [[Codex Sinaiticus]], dating from the 4th century, at the time the oldest almost completely preserved manuscript of the Bible. The finding from 1859 left the monastery for [[Russia]], in circumstances that had been long disputed. But in 2003 Russian scholars discovered the donation act for the manuscript signed by the Council of Cairo Metochion and Archbishop Callistratus on 13 November 1869. The monastery received 9000 rubles as a gift from Tsar [[Alexander II of Russia]].<ref>[http://www.nlr.ru/eng/exib/CodexSinaiticus/zah/3.html The History of the acquisition of the Sinai Bible by the Russian Government in the context of recent findings in Russian archives (english Internetedition)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221151357/http://www.nlr.ru/eng/exib/CodexSinaiticus/zah/3.html|date=2019-12-21}}. The article from A.V. Zakharova was first published in Montfaucon. Études de paléographie, de codicologie et de diplomatique, Moscow–St.Petersburg, 2007, pp. 209–266) see also Alexander Schick, Tischendorf und die älteste Bibel der Welt. Die Entdeckung des Codex Sinaiticus im Katharinenkloster (Tischendorf and the oldest Bible in the world – The discovery of the Codex Sinaiticus in St. Catherine's Monastery), Muldenhammer 2015, pp. 123–128, 145–155.</ref> The Codex was sold by Stalin in 1933 to the British Museum and is now in the [[British Library]], London, where it is on public display. Prior to September 1, 2009, a previously unseen fragment of Codex Sinaiticus was discovered in the monastery's library,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2009-09-01 |title=Fragment from world's oldest Bible found hidden in Egyptian monastery |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/fragment-from-world-s-oldest-bible-found-hidden-in-egyptian-monastery-1780274.html |access-date=2023-07-22 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2005-08-03 |title=Oldest known Bible to go online |language=en-GB |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4739369.stm |access-date=2023-07-22}}</ref> as well as among the New Finds of 1975.<ref>David C. Parker (2010), ''CODEX SINAITICUS: The Story of the World's Oldest Bible.'' London. British Library, p. 18. {{ISBN|9780712358033}}</ref><ref name="sinai.library.ucla"/> On other visits (1855, 1857) [[Constantin von Tischendorf]] also amassed their more valuable manuscripts ([[Greek language|Greek]], [[Christian Palestinian Aramaic]], [[Georgian language|Georgian]], [[Syriac Language|Syriac]]) and took them with him to St. Petersburg and Leipzig, where they are stored today.<ref>M. F. Brosset (1858), Note sur un manuscrit géorgien de la Bibliothèque Impériale publique et provenant de M. Tischendorf, ''Mélanges Asiatiques'' 3, pp. 264–280.</ref><ref>N. Pigoulewsky (1934), Fragments syro-palestiniens des Psaumes CXXIII-IV, ''Revue Biblique'' 43, pp. 519–527.</ref><ref>N. Pigoulewski (1937), Manuscrits syriaques bibliques de Léningrad, ''Revue Biblique'' 46, pp. 83–92; N. Pigoulewski, Manuscrits syriaques bibliques de Léningrad (suite), ''Revue Biblique'' 46, 1937, pp. 225–230; 556–562.</ref><ref>Julius Assfalg (1963), ''Georgische Handschriften'' (= Verzeichnis der orientalischen Handschriften in Deutschland, III) (Wiesbaden); Julius Assfalg (1965), ''Syrische Handschriften'' (= Verzeichnis der orientalischen Handschriften in Deutschland, V) (Wiesbaden).</ref><ref>Sebastian P. Brock (2012), Sinai: a Meeting Point of Georgian with Syriac and Christian Palestinian Aramaic, in The Caucasus between East & West (Tbilisi), pp. 482–494.</ref><ref>Grigory Kessel (2016), Membra Disjecta Sinaitica I: A Reconstitution of the Syriac Galen Palimpsest, in André Binggili, et al. (eds.), ''Manuscripta Graeca et Orientalia: Mélanges monastiques et patristiques en l'honneur de Paul Géhin'' (Louvain: Peeters), pp. 469–498.</ref><ref>Paul Géhin (2017), Les manuscrits syriaques de parchemin du Sinaï et leur membra disjecta, CSCO 665 / Subsidia 136 (Louvain: Peeters).</ref>
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[[Palimpsest]]s are notable for having been reused one or more times over the centuries. Since parchment was expensive and time-consuming to produce, monks would erase certain texts with orange juice or scrape them off and write over them.<ref>Reviel Netz and William Noel (2008), ''The Archimedes Codex: Revealing the Secrets of the World's Greatest Palimpsest'' (London, UK: Phoenix), pp. 120–124.</ref><ref name="sinai.library.ucla"/> Though the original texts were once assumed to be lost,<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/archaeologoists-only-just-beginning-reveal-secrets-hidden-ancient-manuscripts-180967455/|title=Archaeologists Are Only Just Beginning to Reveal the Secrets Hidden in These Ancient Manuscripts|last=Marchant|first=Jo|date=December 11, 2017|work=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]]|access-date=July 2, 2018|language=en}}</ref> imaging scientists used narrowband [[Multispectral image|multispectral imaging]] techniques and technologies to reveal features that were difficult to see with the human eye, including ink residues and small grooves in the parchment.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /> These images have subsequently been digitized and are now freely available for research at the [[University of California, Los Angeles|UCLA]] Online Library for scholarly use.<ref name="sinai.library.ucla"/>
As of June 2018, at least more than 160 palimpsests were identified, with over 6,800 pages of texts recovered.<ref name="sinai.library.ucla"/> The newer finds were discovered in a secluded storage area of the St George Tower in 1975.<ref>Ioannis E. Meïmaris (1985), ''Κατάλογος τῶν νέων ἀραβικῶν χειρογράφων τῆς ἱερᾶς Μονῆς Ἁγίας Αἰκατερίνης τοῦ Ὄρους Σινᾶ, Ἱερὰ Μονὴ Ἁγίας Αἰκατερίνης'' (Athens).</ref><ref>Ioannis C. Tarnanidis (1988), ''The Slavonic Manuscripts Discovered in 1975 at St Catherine's Monastery on Mount Sinai'' (Thessaloniki).</ref><ref>Sebastian P. Brock (1995), ''Catalogue of the Syriac Fragments (New Finds) in the Library of the Monastery of Saint Catherine, Mount Sinai'' (Athens).</ref><ref>Panayotis G. Nicolopoulos (1999), ''The New Finds of Sinai. Holy Monastery and Archdiocese of Sinai'' (Athens).</ref><ref>Zaza Alekzidse, M. Shanidze, L. Khevsuriani, M. Kavtaria (2005), ''The New Finds of Sinai. Catalogue of Georgian Manuscripts Discovered in 1975 at Saint Catherine's Monastery on Mount Sinai'' (Athens).</ref><ref>Philothee du Sinaï (2008), ''Nouveaux manuscrits syriaques du Sinaï'' (Athens).</ref> Highlights include "108 pages of previously unknown Greek poems and the oldest-known recipe attributed to the Greek physician [[Hippocrates]];" additional folios for the transmission of the Old Syriac Gospels;<ref name="Sebastian P. Brock 2016, pp. 7"/> two unattested witnesses of an early Christian apocryphal text the [[Dormition of Mary]] ([[Transitus Mariae]]) of which most of the Greek text is lost;<ref>Christa Müller-Kessler, Three Early Witnesses of the «Dormition of Mary» in Christian Palestinian Aramaic. Palimpsests from the Cairo Genizah (Taylor-Schechter Collection) and the New Finds in St Catherine's Monastery, ''Apocrypha'' 29, 2018, pp. 69–95.</ref> a previously unknown martyrdom of Patriklos of [[Caesarea Maritima]] ([[Israel]]), one of the eleven followers of [[Pamphilus of Caesarea]]; some
==Works of art==
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==Icons==
<gallery
▲
File:Encaustic Virgin.jpg|Icon of the enthroned Virgin and Child with saints and angels, 6th century
File:Spas vsederzhitel sinay.jpg|The oldest known icon of ''[[Christ Pantocrator (Sinai)|Christ Pantocrator]]'', [[encaustic painting|encaustic on panel]]
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File:Icon Iakovos Moskos.jpg|The monastery, 18th century
File:Vethiy Denmi (Icons from Saint Catherine's Monastery).jpg|Christ as the [[Ancient of Days]], 7th century
File:Icon of St. George and a Bagratid Georgian king. Sinai, Monastery of Saint Catherine..jpg|12th century [[icon]] of [[Saint George]] and [[David IV of Georgia]]
</gallery>
==Historical images==
<gallery
File:Saint Catherine's Monastery, Carsten Niebuhr, 1762.jpg|[[Carsten Niebuhr]] (1762)
File:Monastery of Saint Catherine at Mount Sinai- drawing from the Description de l'Égypte (1809).jpeg|''[[Description de l'Égypte]]'' (1809)
File:David Roberts - Convent of St. Catherine with Mount Horeb - 1927.90 - Cleveland Museum of Art.jpg|[[David Roberts (painter)|David Roberts]]
File:Die Gartenlaube (1861) b 060.jpg|[[Ernst Keil]] (1861)
File:Adolf Von Meckel - The Saint Catherine Monastery in Sinai.jpg|[[Adolf Meckel von Hemsbach]] (1892)
</gallery>
{{Wide image|St CatherinesPanorama.JPG|1200px|A [[panorama]] of St Catherine's Monastery}}▼
==Panoramic view==
==See also==
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* Paul Géhin (2017). ''Les manuscrits syriaques de parchemin du Sinaï et leur membra disjecta''. CSCO 665 / Subsidia 136. Louvain: Peeters. {{ISBN|978-90-429-3501-3}}
* Margaret Dunlop Gibson (1893). ''How the Codex was Found. A Narrative of Two Visits to Sinai from Mrs. Lewis's Journals. 1892–1893''. Cambridge: Macmillan & Bowes.
*
<!--J K--><!--L M N-->
* Agnes Smith Lewis (1898). ''In the Shadow of Sinai. A Story travel and Research from 1895 to 1897''. Cambridge: Macmillan & Bowes.
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<!--U V W-->
* Elena Ene D-Vasilescu, "The Monastery of St. Catherine, Sinai and the Romanians", ''Revue des Études Sud-Est Européennes'' [Journal of South-East European studies], '''XLVII''', 1–4, 2009, pp. 75–87
* {{Cite book |last=Weitzmann |first=K. |title=The Monastery of Saint Catherine at
* {{Cite book |first1=K. |last1=Weitzmann |first2=G. |last2=Galavaris |title=The Monastery of Saint Catherine at Mount Sinai. The Illuminated Greek Manuscripts, Volume I. From the Ninth to the Twelfth Century |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton |year=1991 |isbn=0-691-03602-0}}
{{colend}}
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[[Category:Byzantine sacred architecture]]
[[Category:Christian monasteries established in the 6th century]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Churches completed in the 560s]]
[[Category:Eastern Orthodox churches in Egypt]]
[[Category:Eastern Orthodox pilgrimage sites]]
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