Gallery 60--of Sinai Penninsula and

St. Catherine's Greek Orthodox Monastery

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The Sinai Peninsula is a triangular peninsula in Egypt which is about 60,000 km

Sinai landscape

The monastery was built by order of Emperor Justinian I between 527 and 565, enclosing the Chapel of the Burning Bush ordered to be 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.

Catherine of Alexandria 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.

In 628 C.E. Prophet Muhammad granted a Charter of Privileges to the monks of St. Catherine Monastery in Mt. Sinai. It consisted of several clauses covering all aspects of human rights including such topics as the protection of Christians, freedom of worship and movement, freedom to appoint their own judges and to own and maintain their property, exemption from military service, and the right to protection in war.

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, Arabic, Armenian, Hebrew, Georgian, Syriac and old Udi texts.

To protect the numerous monks who had settled around the Burning Bush, and to withstand the attacks of marauding Bedouins and many others who at one time are another attempted to assault the monks then living in caves and simple huts, Justinian's builders under the direction of the architect, Stephanos of Aila (Elath), constructed a fortress of such monumental design that its walls stand little changed after fourteen centuries,

The height of the walls varies from 8 meters on the south, to 35 meters on the north. The thickness of the enclosure ranges from 2 to 3 meters, mostly depending on the space that was needed for towers, crypts and such.

The monastery church has seen little essential change since the time of its imperial founder. Its great western portal is still closed by the original 1400 year old wooden door, which still functions perfectly on its first pins and hinges. The wood roof of the nave, also of 6th century construction, rests on beams that bear inscriptions honoring Justinian and his famous wife Theodora.

A Christian Greek Orthodox cat

The Monastery's main church (Katholikon), usually referred to as the Church of St. Catherine (Katherine), was built at the same time as the walls and also of massive granite blocks. Work on it was begun in 542 AD, and completed nine years later.

In the late 4th century BC, Alexander the Great sent Greek naval expeditions down the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean. Greek navigators continued to explore and compile data on the Red Sea. Agatharchides collected information about the sea in the 2nd century BC.

The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, written sometime around the 1st century AD, contain a detailed description of the Red Sea's ports and sea routes. The Periplus also describes how Hippalus first discovered the direct route from the Red Sea to India.

Ismaïlia is a city in north-east Egypt, on the west bank of the Suez Canal .

Ismaïlia owns the 3rd most successful club in Egypt in the field of Football. Ismaïlia's Sporting Club's football team which is considered one of the best clubs in Africa.

A friend

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