అనుబంధం B: సినాయ్ కోసం శోధిస్తోంది

APPENDIX B

Searching for Sinai At least on the basis of modern tourist maps of the Sinai peninsula, there seems to be no special difficulty in identifying the most important places mentioned in the biblical stories of the wandering and the giving of the Law. Mount Sinai and other biblical places have been readily identified and visited since medieval times and even earlier, in the Byzantine period. In fact, the first full-fledged archaeological theory on the route of the wandering in the desert and the location of Mount Sinai is about fifteen hundred years old. It goes back to early Christian traditions related to the monastic movement, and to pilgrimage to the holy sites in the desert, in the fourth–sixth centuries CE. These traditions are still venerated today by tourists and pilgrims to Mount Sinai and the site of the burning bush. In the heart of the mountainous region of southern Sinai, surrounded by awe- inspiring granite peaks, stands the Saint Catherine Monastery. Built in the sixth century CE by the Byzantine emperor Justinian to memorialize the supposed site of the burning bush (which is still shown today to visitors), the monastery acquired its present name in medieval times. Surrounded by high walls to protect it from marauders, the monastery evokes images of bygone ages. Its magnificent church and much of its fortifications belong to the original sixth century construction. Towering over the monastery is the peak of Jebel Musa (“the Mountain of Moses” in Arabic), which was identified, as early as the Byzantine period, with Mount Sinai. On this peak, which commands one of the most spectacular views of the desert, one can still identify the ruins of a sixth century chapel. And in the mountains around Jebel Musa and the Saint Catherine monastery there are other remains, of ancient, isolated monasteries with churches, hermit cells, and water installations. References to some of these sites can be found in contemporary texts. A relatively large number of Byzantine sources describe the life of the Sinai monks and the construction of the monastery of the burning bush. No less interesting are texts related to the pilgrimage to the mount of God. The most detailed of these is the description of a late fourth century pilgrim named Egeria, who relates how she and

her companions climbed the mount of God and how the monks living there showed her each of the places mentioned in the biblical accounts of Mount Sinai. The historical reliability of these traditions, however, is open to question. While it is possible that the Byzantine monks preserved even more ancient traditions, there is no way to verify them, since there are absolutely no early remains from biblical times in this region. The most plausible explanation for the origins of the early Christian traditions in southern Sinai is their general location and environmental characteristics. The monastery of the burning bush and Mount Sinai of the Byzantine monks are located in a region of exceptional beauty, in the midst of great mountain scenery that could easily trigger veneration by monks and pilgrims. Moreover, continuous occupation of these sites was possible. The area around the monastery presented the monks with unique advantages, due to the particular combination of microclimate and geological formations. The high mountains of southern Sinai receive substantially more precipitation than the surrounding areas, and the red granite of the region is impermeable. The runoff of rainwater can therefore be collected in pools and cisterns. In addition, the wadis contain a large quantity of water in their subsoil, which can be reached in shallow wells. As a result, the Byzantine monks were able to cultivate fields and orchards in the small wadis between the mountains (as bedouin groups have continued to do up to present times). It seems, therefore, that this combination of awe-inspiring scenery and relatively friendly environmental conditions encouraged pilgrimage and continuous veneration of sites in this part of the Sinai Peninsula. The power of the biblical story of Mount Sinai has always encouraged attempts to identify particular localities. Yet these remain in the realm of folklore and geographical speculation—not archaeology.