The God-Trodden Mountain

Last Friday we set off on a delayed honeymoon, well that’s how I thought of it anyway. We set out on Friday morning for the Sinai Peninsula, the south Sinai in particular.



Leaving Cairo via the Round Road we headed for Suez. As you can see you can’t miss the road, or if you did, just follow the power lines. All the power for Cairo comes from the Aswan High Dam and so from every road you can see the massive power lines everywhere, basically following the road. But I had never seen them as thick as they were along the Suez Road. I presume the lines go on to supply towns and industry along the Suez Canal.




I didn’t get to see the famous Suez Canal – you actually take a 2 km tunnel underneath the water. We got to the intersection before the tunnel just after noon and made a stop, along with many other travellers, at the mosque for Masry to attend Friday prayers. All men attending here although women do attend mosque as well. The mosque was not extra large and the crowd spilled out into the surrounds, but the sermon and prayers were broadcast over a loud speaker, as they are from many mosques. (Where I lived in Mohandessin I could hear 3 of them, all in competition at noon on Fridays.)




As you can maybe see it was a beautiful 25 degrees at 12.50 when we arrived at the tunnel. The tunnel is at the bottom end of the canal and the closest I came to seeing the canal itself was a quite incredible sight as we were coming back a few days later. On our approach you could see a ship that looked just like it was sailing along the desert. I’ve seen a similar effect along Golden Beach as the ships go up and down along the east side of Bribie but at least you are close to the ocean there. This just looked completely out of place and very surreal.

As we got onto the Sinai we were on a road that followed the edge of the Red Sea south. We passed many resorts both complete and incomplete including Golden Beach Resorts 1 and 2. None of the incomplete ones appeared to have any building activity going on. All of them were on the sand sort of in the middle of nowhere and many of them gave me the disconcerting feeling that they were not half built but rather half demolished. It looked like it could be the set for some SciFi movie where life on earth has basically come to an end and nature is taking the land back. And in the background you could see the big ships heading down or up the Red Sea, the oil platforms (with small refineries and wells also in the sand along the edge of the water) and fishing boats. And the Red Sea is an amazing blue.








We passed through a number of police and army check points as we travelled south. At each we needed to produce the car licence, Masry’s ID and his licence, my passport and our marriage certificate. As a man and a woman alone in a private car together we must be able to demonstrate that we are married. And with me a westerner we seemed to be under even more scrutiny. Sometimes we’d hand it all over together, sometimes Masry would decide to play a small game and just hand over a bit at a time. At one I didn’t need to know any Arabic to understand. The guy was plainclothes and armed (a number of the police were plainclothes, all armed) and he was the only one to come to my side of the vehicle. He checked the licences and ID and passport and then in Arabic he asked Masry why he had a tourist in a private car (not allowed, must be tourism registered vehicle). And Masry said (in Arabic) she’s not a tourist she’s my wife. And I just KNOW the guy said, “Come on, pull the other one.” And he said it with a smile. So Masry also smiled and pulled out the very impressive piece of paper that carries our photos and purple thumbprints which I handed over also with a smile. And with a small chuckle he handed it back with a BIG hand-on-heart apology and we all smiled as we went on our way.

As we got further south and in about the middle of the afternoon we made a left turn at yet another check point and headed into the Santa Caterina Protectorate, a large tract of mountains and desert peopled by scattered Bedouins. In its heart is the Greek Orthodox monastery of Santa Caterina (St. Catherine) and some of the big biblical sites. While the road had been fairly deserted it became almost completely empty now and we hardly saw a vehicle. But – perhaps this one is only in Egypt….








At times it seemed that there would be no way through the rugged mountains. The geology was really interesting with layered rocks and bands of what looked to me like a sort of dark rust-coloured ironstone, obviously harder than the rest of the stone as it often rimmed the ridges, projecting upwards like a row of teeth. And there was yellow and red and gray stone, sometimes in tilted layers. My guide book said the mountains of the southern Sinai are granitic, but they weren’t what I expected. It also says this is the home of the wolf, the hyena, the wild goat, the gazelle and the eagle; however I saw none of these. However, there were many wadis and even running along beside the road at times were what were obviously sand-filled watercourses, sometimes with acacia or date palms or other small bushes growing in them.




And we passed a few villages around oases, poor-looking, rough villages (although occasionally there were stone houses) which Masry says are peopled by Bedouin. We saw many men lounging around and occasionally women, fully covered, working around rough homes. Many children, playing in the sand. And when a vehicle without any registration passed us Masry explained that these cars and utes belong to Bedouin, who have no ID and therefore are unable to register their vehicles. The predominant clothing colour for the men was a beautiful jacaranda colour – sometimes pants, sometimes long shirts like gallibiya but most often head scarves. I didn’t see it on any of the women.




All-in-all, for such an apparently desolate land there was much to see and be fascinated by on the trip.

We arrived at the very small town of Santa Caterina in the late afternoon and found a room at the Catherine Plaza, a hotel full of Asian and European tourists. Many were wearing crosses and appeared to be Christians who were visiting this biblically significant place.



I think that this is Mt Horeb but it's difficult to tell in this rugged mountain range



A lone date palm grows at the foot of this mountain just near the monastery. It’s hard to see how it survives.



At the entrance to the grounds of the monastery, you can choose to take a camel ride, a taxi ride or walk up to the monastery itself. This is also the beginning of the hike to Mount Moses (as the locals call it). We walked, I can’t imagine that Masry would ever pay money to ride a camel. 



The monastery has been here for 1700 years and has both extensive gardens and an orchard.



Wall detail





According to the Bible, at the age of forty, Moses left Egypt and came to Mount Horeb, which sits behind the monastery. Here’ he found Jethro’s seven daughters watering their father’s flocks at the well, which is still visible to this day on the north side of the monastery’s Abbatical Church, the “Katholikon”, within the fortress precinct of the Holy Monastery. After marrying one of Jethro’s daughters, Moses then lived for forty years in the Sinai Desert, pasturing his flocks with his father-in-law. Here God revealed himself to Moses in the Miracle of the Burning Bush and ordered him to return to Egypt and to bring the Children of Israel to Mount Horeb. And of course there’s the whole Ten Commandments thing as well. Six hundred years later the Prophet Elijah also came to this area and on Mount Sinai you can still see the cave in which Elijah lived.

The Holy Peak of Mount Moses is situated a two hour walk from the monastery and can be climbed in one of two ways. The first entails going up 3,750 steps built with rocks by the pious monks. The other is a meandering road which was created and cut into the mountain in the nineteenth century by the Viceroy of Egypt. All in all it’s a significant climb and you commence around 2.00 am so that you experience sunrise on the mountain. I think much to Masry’s disappointment I declined to make the climb – I really didn’t want the sunrise to be the last I ever saw. He says it’s OK; he’ll wait until the kids visit and climb it with them. If I go on a really intensive fitness program before then maybe I’ll be able to attempt it next time.

On the top of the mountain is a chapel dedicated to the Trinity, built with rocks that had been previously used by the Emperor Justinian to build another church there. To the north of the chapel is the small cave where Moses, who saw God but not his face, entered and stayed for forty days and forty nights.

The Katholikon also houses the Chapel of the Burning Bush and the altar stands above the roots of the bush. My book says that the Bush flourishes several yards from the Chapel, where it has been transplanted in order that it was possible to consecrate the altar on its roots.

However, I didn’t see any of these biblical wonders. There was a large crowd when we went up to the monastery and although we stood in the first line for quite a long time to get into where we thought we would see the remains of St. Catherine, when we got through the door we saw we were just the last in an even much bigger line to get in so, as we had the drive to Sharm El Sheikh to make, we opted not to wait. Again, maybe we’ll organize ourselves better next time. However, the monastery is interesting even around the outside and I was pleased that we made the trip through this rugged but fascinating landscape.



From the monastery looking south (I think)



And I was on the road as well







And the road stretches on and on - no traffic worries here



These appeared to be abandoned military installations



A Bedouin camp we passed with camels and goats. I have no idea how they survive.

Saint Catherine, born in Alexandria in 294 AD was martyred in the 4th century AD by the Emperor Maximinus. Again, according to my book, following her decapitation, holy angels took her body and deposited it to rest at the peak of the highest mountain in Sinai, which now bears her name. About three centuries later, guided by a dream, the monks of the monastery which had already been erected by Justinian, found her body and brought it down from the mountain and laid it to rest in a marble casket in the choir of the Katholikon. I quote: “The sweet fragrance of her sacred remains is up to this day a continuous miracle.” The devotion of St. Catherine was promulgated in the west by the Crusaders and she became a major saint. Thus, ever since the 11th century the Monastery of The Saviour’s Transfiguration has been also known as Saint Catherine’s Monastery or the Monastery of Saint Catherine at the God-Trodden Mountain.

I must admit that I would be fascinated to see inside the monastery as it appears to be filled with amazing religious artifacts, art work, icons, mosaics and architectural features preserved since the building of the monastery so many centuries ago. Again, maybe next time.

When you come to Egypt, put Santa Caterina on your agenda.

This is enough to wade through for now. We had a pleasant and relaxed drive to Sharm El Sheikh, taking the long road, but I’ll tell you all about the beautiful Sharm next time.

Love to everyone

Lyndall

PPS Forgot to say that one of the most amazing things close to Suez is that you come upon these farms in the middle of the sand. Rich green crops and ripe grain, orchards etc. Once again I reminded of how rich the sand is obviously you just need to add water.