use. that equally humble structure has done and to a dark pew, satin-polished by long its bit. Bombardment by the Moslems was imminent. The monks hurriedly raised a minaret beside the church tower. "Shoot if you must this Christian fort, but spare the mosque," was their retort. And it worked. Under the mosque is an olive-oil mill on which the dust is three years deep, this being the first year in four that the olives in the monastery garden have budded. On a flat roof the unground grain spread out in the sun had some illegible blessing written on its surface, as a flattened bit of sand bears occult symbols of hope and fear traced by a fortune teller (p. 732). A THREE-DIMENSIONAL VILLAGE WITHIN MONASTERY WALLS There are only a score of monks in Sinai now instead of 400, and many of the old buildings have been torn down. Yet the inclosure seems packed as it is. Rickety stairways ascend from one shaky porch to another and archways carrying rooms over streets make this a three-dimensional village within monastery walls. The church is below the average level and, lofty though it is within, gives the sense of being in a crypt. Back of the main apse is another, this double bulkhead of sanctity being divided into three small chapels which give the Christian visitor such a feeling as he usually associates with a mosque. Thick rugs cover the floor and one is obliged to remove the shoes from his feet, as the spot on which he stands is holy ground. This is the Chapel of the Burning Bush and marks the spot where Moses, called by God, ceased being hired man for his father-in-law and became leader and lawgiver for his people. Although this chapel seems to be added to the church, it is really the oldest part. Peacock-blue tiles surround the room, ornate lamps hang in such profusion that one must change position to see the overcrowded picture gallery of icons on the upper walls, and above the silver plate through which one is shown the root of a "burning bush" there is a fine half-dome of rich mosaic. The evening of our arrival a lay brother led me through the pitch-dark vestibule. into the Church of the Transfiguration, The darkness hung an invisible curtain between me and the one white-haired monk who slowly turned the crackling parchment pages of a sacred book, on which a soft light poured down from a single lamp. Then came a novice with a taper on a long pole, and as he shuffled from place to place in the gloom, one spot after another glowed or glittered with richness and gilt. THE MONASTERY RETAINS ITS MYSTERY Seen thus, the magnificent but crowded interior retains its mystery and does not reveal the clutter of rich lamps, ostrichegg pendants, icons and all the bric-a-brac that accumulates even in a place of worship (see page 724). The novice carried his spot of light along the intricately carved and decorated altar screen (see pages 726, 728). Another ghostly attendant swung the gilt doors of the screen back into the void, in which some mystic disks of burnished silver shone. With a quiet, musical voice one monk started the service. Then another read some spirited passage full of staccato repetitions. An old monk with a long white beard passed about the church, shaking acrid incense smoke from a clattering censer. And bent forward in a narrow pew, like a Chinese sedan chair, another graybeard, his patriarchal head bowed against the darkness of his robe, quietly snored. His bony fingers clutched the arm rests, polished by monkish hands which would long since have become dust were they not piled like seasoned cordwood in the gruesome crypt or charnel house below the dark cypresses in the monastery garden. PRECIOUS RELIGIOUS DOCUMENTS HOUSED IN A FLIMSY STRUCTURE Small bells rang. Beyond the altar screen occult things were happening. The reading and chanting under the lights in the body of the church were accompanied by mysterious activities back there beside the coffin of St. Catherine. It was with a sense of awaking from a dream that I stole out through the dark vestibule, found my way along the somber pathways THE ORNATE ALTAR SCREEN OF THE CHURCH OF THE TRANSFIGURATION, IN THE MONASTERY OF ST. CATHERINE Through the holy door can be seen the altar table in the sanctuary, with its brocadedecked high altar and its tortoise-shell and mother-of-pearl canopy, or ciborium (see, also, illustration, page 726). THE INNER SANCTUARY OF THE CHURCH OF THE TRANSFIGURATION, AT THE FOOT OF MOUNT SINAI The mosaic in the half-dome of the apse shows the Transfiguration, in memory of which the church is named. Circular portraits of saints and prophets frame the central scene. At the right is the communion table. THE PILGRIM STAIRWAY UP THE HOLY MOUNTAIN There are about 3,000 stairs in the 2,500-foot climb from the Monastery of St. Catherine to the top of Jebel Musa, the Mount of Moses. The path winds in and out among the granite bowlders and, although four hours are allotted to the ascent, it can be made by the pilgrim steps in two hours of strenuous climbing (see page 735). Photograph by American Colony Photographers A TINDER-BOX LIBRARY FULL OF PRICELESS VOLUMES In 1844 Tischendorf rescued from a rubbish heap at the Monastery of St. Catherine 43 pages of the famous Codex Sinaiticus. In this fourth century uncial manuscript of the Bible, the New Testament is complete. After 15 years of secrecy and negotiation, he secured the remainder, now the prize exhibit in the State Library in Leningrad (see text, page 733). |