SAINT CATHERINES
MONASTERY
This trip takes you through the Sinai desert where Moses spent forty days and forty nights. Past the tents and villages of Bedouin tribesmen, to Santa Katerina, the oldest Christian monastery in the world. You will see the Chamber of Skulls and the famous Burning Bush, mentioned in the Bible. Located at the foot of Mount Moses, also known as Mount Sinai. This is the mountain where Moses spoke with God, and received the Ten Commandments. The monastery was constructed by the Emperor Justinian between 527 and 565 A.D.
Mount Sinai is also revered by Muslims as Jebel Musa (Mount Moses), the place where God handed down his Law. In 623, a document signed by the Prophet Muhammad himself, the Actiname (Holy Testament), exempted the Christian monks of St. Catherine's from the usual taxes and military service and commanded that Muslims provide the community with every help.
In 2002, the area centering on St. Catherine's Monastery was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO because of Mt. Sinai's importance in three major world religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), the natural environment of the area and St. Catherine's historic architecture and art.