View source for Saint Catherine's Monastery

{{Short description|Greek Orthodox monastery in Sinai}}
{{Infobox monastery
| name = Saint Catherine's Monastery
| image = Katharinenkloster Sinai BW 2.jpg
| caption = General view of Saint Catherine's Monastery, looking down from [[Mount Sinai]]
| full = Sacred Autonomous Royal Monastery of Saint Catherine of the Holy and God-Trodden Mount Sinai {{br}} {{langx|el|Ιερά Αυτόνομος Βασιλική Μονή Αγίας Αικατερίνης του Αγίου και Θεοβαδίστου Όρους Σινά}}
| other_names = Monastery of Saint Katherine {{br}} {{Transliteration|el|Moni tis Ayas Ekaterinis}}
| map_type = Egypt Sinai#Egypt
| order = [[Church of Sinai]]
| established = AD 565
| founder = [[Justinian I]]
| denomination = [[Greek Orthodox Church]]
| location = [[Saint Catherine, Egypt|Saint Catherine]], [[South Sinai Governorate]], [[Egypt]]
| coord = {{Coord|28|33|20|N|33|58|34|E|region:EG-JS_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| website = {{url|http://www.sinaimonastery.com}}
| embedded = {{designation list | embed=yes
   | designation1 = WHS
   | designation1_offname = Saint Catherine Area
   | designation1_date = 2002 <small>(26th [[World Heritage Committee|session]])</small>
   | designation1_type = Cultural
   | designation1_criteria = i, iii, iv, vi
   | designation1_number = [https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/954 954]
   | designation1_free1name =  Region
   | designation1_free1value = [[List of World Heritage Sites in the Arab States|Arab States]]
}}
| map_caption = Location within the [[Sinai Peninsula]]##Location within [[Egypt]]
| country = Egypt
| remains = [[Catherine of Alexandria]]
}}

'''Saint Catherine's Monastery''' ({{langx|ar|دير القدّيسة كاترين}} {{Transliteration|ar|Dayr al-Qiddīsa Katrīn}}, {{langx|el|Ιερά Μονή Αγίας Αικατερίνης Όρους Σινά|Yerá Moní Ayías Ekaterínis Órus Siná}}{{efn|{{Langx|grc-x-koine|Μονὴ τῆς Ἁγίας Αἰκατερίνης}}}}), officially the '''Sacred Autonomous Royal Monastery of Saint Catherine of the Holy and God-Trodden Mount Sinai''', is a [[Monastery#Christianity|Christian monastery]] located in the [[Sinai Peninsula]] of [[Egypt]]. Located at the foot of [[Mount Sinai]], it was built between 548 and 565, and is the world's oldest continuously-inhabited Christian monastery.<ref>Din, Mursi Saad El et al.. Sinai: The Site & The History: Essays. New York: [[New York University Press]], 1998. p. 80. {{ISBN|0814722032}}</ref><ref name="LeroyCollin2004">{{cite book |author1=Jules Leroy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bX9KvgAACAAJ |title=Monks and Monasteries of the Near East |author2=Peter Collin |publisher=[[Gorgias Press]] |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-59333-276-1 |pages=93–94 |author-link1=Jules Leroy}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-05-24 |title=St Catherine Monastery – The Oldest in the World |url=https://www.keepcalmandwander.com/st-catherine-monastery-mt-sinai-oldes-world/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160524230620/http://keepcalmandwander.com/st-catherine-monastery-mt-sinai-oldes-world/ |url-status=usurped |archive-date=May 24, 2016 |access-date=2022-04-21 |website=KEEP CALM and WANDER |language=en-US}}</ref> 

The monastery was built by order of the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine emperor]] [[Justinian I]], enclosing what is claimed to be the [[burning bush]] seen by [[Moses]].<ref name="Vetus Testam."/><ref name=":3"/><ref name=":0"/> Centuries later, the purported body of [[Catherine of Alexandria]], said to have been found in the area, was taken to the monastery; Catherine's [[relic]]s turned it into an important [[Christian pilgrimage]], and the monastery was eventually renamed after the saint.

Controlled by the autonomous [[Church of Sinai]], which is part of the wider [[Greek Orthodox Church]], the monastery became a [[World Heritage Site]] in 2002 for its unique importance to the three major [[Abrahamic religions]]: [[Judaism]], [[Christianity]], and [[Islam]].<ref name=":02">{{Cite news |last=Georgiou |first=Aristos |date=December 20, 2017 |title=These spectacular ancient texts were lost for centuries, and now they can be viewed online |language=en |work=[[International Business Times]] |url=https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/these-spectacular-ancient-texts-were-lost-centuries-now-they-can-be-viewed-online-1652320 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180702023242/https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/these-spectacular-ancient-texts-were-lost-centuries-now-they-can-be-viewed-online-1652320 |archive-date=July 2, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Saint Catherine Area |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/954 |access-date=7 September 2021 |website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre |publisher=United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization}}</ref> 

The monastery library holds unique and rare works, such as the [[Codex Sinaiticus]] and the [[Syriac Sinaiticus]],<ref>Sebastian P. Brock, Two Hitherto Unattested Passages of the Old Syriac Gospels in Palimpsests from St Catherie's Monastery, Sinai, Δελτίο Βιβλικῶν Μελετῶν 31A, 2016, pp. 7–18.</ref><ref name="sinai.library.ucla"/> as well as a collection of early [[Christian icon]]s, including the [[Christ Pantocrator (Sinai)|earliest known depiction of Christ Pantocrator]].

Saint Catherine's has as its backdrop the three mountains it lies near: [[Willow Peak]] (possibly the biblical [[Mount Horeb]], peak c.{{cvt|1|km}} west); Jebel Arrenziyeb, peak c.{{thinspace}}1km south; and [[Mount Sinai]] (locally, {{transliteration|ar|Jabal Musa}}, by tradition identified with the [[biblical Mount Sinai]]; peak {{circa|{{cvt|2|km}}}} south).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Visit Saint Catherine Monastery, Egypt |url=https://visitafrica.site/destinations/experience-egypt/saint-catherine-monastery/ |access-date=2020-09-25 |website=visitafrica.site |language=en-GB}}</ref>

==Christian traditions==
The monastery was built around the location of what is traditionally considered to be the place of the [[burning bush]] seen by the [[Prophets in Judaism|Hebrew prophet]] [[Moses]].<ref name="Vetus Testam."/><ref name="EB 1998">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Saint Catherine's Monastery |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Saint-Catherines-Monastery |access-date=23 January 2021 |date=July 1998 |language=en}}</ref> Saint Catherine's monastery also encloses the "Well of Moses", where Moses is said to have met his future wife, [[Zipporah]].<ref name="Vetus Testam.">{{cite journal |author-last=Gray |author-first=John |author-link=John Gray (mythologist) |date=January 1954 |title=The Desert Sojourn of the Hebrews and the Sinai-Horeb Tradition |journal=[[Vetus Testamentum]] |location=[[Leiden]] and [[Boston]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] on behalf of the [[International Organization for the Study of the Old Testament]] |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=148–154 |doi=10.1163/156853354X00136 |issn=1568-5330 |jstor=1515877}}</ref> The well is still today one of the monastery's main sources of water. The site is considered sacred by the three major [[Abrahamic religions]]: [[Judaism]], [[Christianity]], and [[Islam]].<ref name=":02"/><ref>{{cite web | url=http://st-katherine.net/en/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14&Itemid=29 | title=The Monastery | publisher=St-Katherine-net | access-date=23 October 2014}}</ref>

Centuries after its foundation, the body of [[Catherine of Alexandria|Saint Catherine of Alexandria]] was said to be found in a cave in the area. The relics of Saint Catherine, kept to this day inside the monastery, have made it a favourite [[Christian pilgrimage|site of pilgrimage]].<ref name="EB 1998" /> The patronal feast of the monastery is the [[Feast of the Transfiguration]].

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px" class="center">
File:Saint Catherine Sinai.jpg|Saint Catherine's Monastery with [[Willow Peak]] (traditionally considered [[Mount Horeb]]) in the background
File:Burning Bush, St Catherine's Monastery.jpg|The monastery's centuries-old [[Rubus|bramble]] is considered to be the biblical [[burning bush]].
File:Moses-well-saint-catherine-church.jpg|"Well of [[Moses]]", where Moses is said to have met his future wife, [[Zipporah]]
File:Ossuary Sinai.jpg|Skeleton of the monk Stephanos, in his robe, in front of the [[ossuary]]
</gallery>

==History==
The oldest record of monastic life at Mount Sinai comes from the ''Itinerarium Egeriae'', a [[travel journal]] written in [[Latin]] by a female Christian pilgrim from the [[Atlantic]] coast of [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]] or [[Roman Gaul]] named [[Egeria (pilgrim)|Egeria]] about 381/2–386.<ref>John Wilkinson (2015), Egeria's travels (Oxford: Oxbow Books). {{ISBN|978-0-85668-710-5}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Pilgrimage of Egeria |url=https://www.ccel.org/m/mcclure/etheria/etheria.htm |access-date=2023-07-22 |website=www.ccel.org}}</ref>

The monastery was built by order of the [[Byzantine emperor]] [[Justinian I]] (reigned 527–565), enclosing the Chapel of the Burning Bush (also known as "Saint Helen's Chapel") ordered to be built by [[Empress Consort]] [[Helena, mother of Constantine I]], at the site where [[Moses]] is supposed to have seen the [[burning bush]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/in-the-sinai-a-global-team-is-revolutionizing-the-preservation-of-ancient-manuscripts/2012/08/30/1c203ef4-ca1f-11e1-aea8-34e2e47d1571_story.html|title=In the Sinai, a global team is revolutionizing the preservation of ancient manuscripts|last=Schrope|first=Mark|date=September 6, 2012|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=July 2, 2018|language=en-US|issn=0190-8286}}</ref> The bush on the grounds is said to be the one seen by Moses.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=http://www.mountsinaimonastery.org/news-blog/is-the-burning-bush-still-burning|title=Is the Burning Bush Still Burning?|work=Friends of Mount Sinai Monastery|access-date=July 2, 2018|language=en-US}}</ref> Structurally the monastery's [[king post]] truss is the oldest known surviving roof [[truss]] in the world.<ref>Feilden, Bernard M.. Conservation of historic buildings. 3rd ed. Oxford: Architectural Press, 2003. p. 51. {{ISBN|0750658630}}</ref>

{{multiple image
| align             = left
| image1            = MACCOUN(1899) p057 MT. SINAI OR JEBEL MUSA.jpg
| width1            = 88
| caption1          = 1899 map of the monastery surroundings
| image2            = Skt Katharina Klosteret.jpg
| width2            = 300
| alt2              = 
| caption2          = 2011 photo from the north of the monastery, facing southwards
| footer            = Saint Catherine's Monastery is located in the shadow of a group of three mountains: [[Willow Peak|Ras Sufsafeh]]/"[[Mount Horeb]]" (peak {{circa|1}} km west), Jebel Arrenziyeb (peak {{circa|1}} km south) and [[Mount Sinai|Jebel Musa]]/"[[Biblical Mount Sinai]]" (peak {{circa|2}} km south)
}}

From the time of the [[First Crusade]], the presence of Crusaders in the Sinai until 1270 spurred the interest of European Christians. It increased the number of intrepid pilgrims who visited the monastery. Its dependencies in Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Crete, Cyprus and Constantinople supported the monastery. Throughout the Middle Ages, the monastery had a multiethnic profile, with monks of Arab, Greek, Syrian, Slavonic and Georgian origin. However, in the Ottoman period, the monastic community became almost exclusively Greek Orthodox, possibly due to the decline and depopulation of [[Transjordan (region)|Transjordanian]] Christian towns. From the 1480s onwards, [[Wallachia]]n princes began sending alms to the monastery.<ref name="Panchenko">{{cite book |last1=Panchenko |first1=Constantine A. |title=Arabic Christianity between the Ottoman Levant and Eastern Europe |date=24 August 2021 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-46583-1 |pages=33–36 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SnU_EAAAQBAJ |access-date=18 January 2024 |chapter=The "Dark Age" of Middle Eastern Monasticism}}</ref>

A [[mosque]] was created by converting an existing chapel during the [[Fatimid Caliphate]] (909–1171), which was in regular use until the era of the [[Mamluk Sultanate]] in the 13th century and is still in use today on special occasions. During the [[Ottoman Empire]], the mosque was in desolate condition; it was restored in the early 20th century.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/954 | title=Saint Catherine Area }}</ref>

During the seventh century, the isolated Christian [[anchorite]]s of the Sinai were eliminated: only the fortified monastery remained. The monastery is surrounded by the massive fortifications that have preserved it. Until the twentieth century, access was through a door high in the outer walls. 

The monastery, along with several dependencies in the area, constitutes the entire [[Church of Sinai]], which is headed by an [[archbishop]], who is also the [[abbot]] of the monastery. The exact administrative status of the church within the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] is ambiguous: by some, including the church itself,<ref>The official Website describes the Church as "διοικητικά "αδούλωτος, ασύδοτος, ακαταπάτητος, πάντη και παντός ελευθέρα, αυτοκέφαλος" or "administratively 'free, loose, untresspassable, free from anyone at any time, autocephalous'" (see link below)</ref> it is considered [[autocephaly|autocephalous]],<ref>Weitzmann, Kurt, in: Galey, John; ''Sinai and the Monastery of St. Catherine'', p. 14, Doubleday, New York (1980) {{ISBN|0-385-17110-2}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last =Ware | first =Kallistos (Timothy) | title =Part I: History | work =The Orthodox Church | publisher =Penguin Books | year =1964 | url =http://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets/english/history_timothy_ware_1.htm | access-date =2007-07-14}} Under ''Introduction'' Bishop Kallistos says that Sinai is "autocephalous"; under ''The twentieth century, Greeks and Arabs'' he states that "There is some disagreement about whether the monastery should be termed an 'autocephalous' or merely an 'autonomous' Church."</ref> by others an [[autonomy#Religion|autonomous]] church under the jurisdiction of the [[Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem]].<ref>[http://www.cnewacanada.ca/ecc-bodypg-ca.aspx?IndexView=toc&eccpageID=29 The Orthodox Church of Mount Sinai] [[CNEWA]] Canada, "A papal agency for humanitarian and pastoral support" {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100530032612/http://www.cnewacanada.ca/ecc-bodypg-ca.aspx?IndexView=toc&eccpageID=29|date=May 30, 2010}}</ref> The archbishop is traditionally [[consecration|consecrated]] by the [[Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem]]; in recent centuries, he has usually resided in [[Cairo]]. During the period of the [[Crusades]], which was marked by bitterness between the Orthodox and Catholic churches, the monastery was patronized by both the [[List of Byzantine emperors|Byzantine emperors]] and the rulers of the [[Kingdom of Jerusalem]], and their respective courts.

Dominican theologian [[Felix Fabri]] visited the monastery in the 15th century and provided a detailed account. He also described the monastery's gardens, noting the presence of "tall fruit trees, salad herbs, grass, and grain," and "more than three thousand [[olive]] trees, many [[fig]]-trees and [[pomegranate]]s, and a store of [[almond]]s and other fruits." The olives were used to produce oil for lighting lamps and as a relish in the kitchen.<ref>[[Felix Fabri]], Vol II. Pt. II. [[Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society]]. [[iarchive:libraryofpalesti02paleuoft/page/582/mode/2up|p. 582]]</ref>

{{multiple image
| align             = right
| image1            = LeavittHuntSinai.jpg
| width1            = 200
| alt1              = 
| caption1          = Saint Catherine's Monastery by [[Leavitt Hunt]], 1852
| image2            = PikiWiki Israel 8612 Sanatah Kattarina Monastery in the Sinai Desert in.jpg
| width2            = 230
| alt2              = 
| caption2          = Saint Catherine's Monastery, 1968
| footer            = 
}}
The monastery prospered for most of the Mamluk Sultanate, but as the Sultanate declined, it went through a crisis. While there had been several hundred monks in the mid-14th century, a hundred years later, there were only several dozen. [[Bedouin]]s began harassing the community, robbing their property in the Christian coastal village of [[El Tor, Egypt|el-Tor]]. In 1505, the monastery was captured and sacked. Although the [[Mamluk Sultanate]] demanded that the property be returned to the monks, they were unable to subdue the [[Bedouin]]s and maintain order. The German explorer [[Martin von Baumgarten]] visited the monastery in 1507 and noticed its decline.<ref name="Panchenko" />

On April 18, 2017, an attack by the [[Islamic State – Sinai Province]] at a checkpoint near the monastery killed one policeman and injured three police officers.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-39637439|title=Deadly attack near Egypt's old monastery|date=April 19, 2017|work=[[BBC News]]|access-date=July 2, 2018|language=en-GB}}</ref>

==Manuscripts and icons==
The monastery's library, founded sometime between 527 and 565, is recognized by [[Guinness World Records]] as the world's oldest continuously operating library.<ref>{{cite web|title=Oldest continuously operating library|access-date=November 2, 2024|publisher=[[Guinness World Records]]|url=https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/677662-oldest-continuously-operating-library}}</ref> It preserves the world's second-largest collection of early [[codex|codices]] and [[manuscript]]s, outnumbered only by the [[Vatican Library]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-44144527|title=Hidden writing in ancient manuscripts|last=Macdonald|first=Fleur|date=June 13, 2018|work=[[BBC News]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180702023740/https://www.bbc.com/news/business-44144527|archive-date=July 2, 2018|url-status=live|language=en-GB}}</ref> It contains [[Greek language|Greek]], [[Christian Palestinian Aramaic]], [[Syriac language|Syriac]], [[Georgian language|Georgian]], [[Arabic language|Arabic]], [[Geʽez]], [[Latin language|Latin]], [[Armenian language|Armenian]], and [[Church Slavonic]]<ref>Jost Gippert, The Creation of the Caucasian Alphabets as Phenomenon of Cultural History, in ''Referate des Internationalen Symposiums (Wien, 1.-4. Dezember 2005)'', ed. by Werner Seibt, Johannes Preiser-Kapeller, pp. 39–50, Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften 2011.</ref> manuscripts and books, along with very rare [[Hebrew]]<ref>Bo Isaksson, "The Monastery of St. Catherine and the New Finds", in ''Built on Solid Rock: Studies in Honour of Professor Ebbe Egede Knudsen on the Occasion of his 65th Birthday April 11th 1997'', edited by Elie Wardini, pp. 128–140, Oslo: Novus forlag, 1997.</ref> and [[Coptic language|Coptic]] books.<ref name="sinai.library.ucla">{{cite web |url=https://sinai.library.ucla.edu |title=Sinai Palimpsests project |website=sinai.library.ucla.edu}}</ref>

[[File:The Patent of Mohammed.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.9|''[[Ashtiname of Muhammad]]'', granting protection and other privileges to the followers of [[Jesus]]]]

In May 1844 and February 1859, [[Constantin von Tischendorf]] visited the monastery for research and discovered the [[Codex Sinaiticus]], dating from the 4th century, at the time the oldest almost completely preserved manuscript of the Bible. The finding from 1859 left the monastery for [[Imperial Russia]] in circumstances that had been long disputed. But in 2003 Russian scholars discovered the donation act for the manuscript signed by the Council of Cairo Metochion and Archbishop Callistratus on 13 November 1869. The monastery received 9000 rubles as a gift from Tsar [[Alexander II of Russia]].<ref>[https://nlr.ru/eng_old/exib/CodexSinaiticus/zah/3.html The History of the acquisition of the Sinai Bible by the Russian Government in the context of recent findings in Russian archives (english Internetedition)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221151357/http://www.nlr.ru/eng/exib/CodexSinaiticus/zah/3.html|date=2019-12-21}}. The article from A.V. Zakharova was first published in Montfaucon. Études de paléographie, de codicologie et de diplomatique, Moscow–St.Petersburg, 2007, pp. 209–266) see also Alexander Schick, Tischendorf und die älteste Bibel der Welt. Die Entdeckung des Codex Sinaiticus im Katharinenkloster (Tischendorf and the oldest Bible in the world – The discovery of the Codex Sinaiticus in St. Catherine's Monastery), Muldenhammer 2015, pp. 123–128, 145–155.</ref> The Codex was sold by Stalin in 1933 to the British Museum and is now in the [[British Library]], London, where it is on public display. Prior to September 1, 2009, a previously unseen fragment of Codex Sinaiticus was discovered in the monastery's library,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2009-09-01 |title=Fragment from world's oldest Bible found hidden in Egyptian monastery |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/fragment-from-world-s-oldest-bible-found-hidden-in-egyptian-monastery-1780274.html |access-date=2023-07-22 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2005-08-03 |title=Oldest known Bible to go online |language=en-GB |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4739369.stm |access-date=2023-07-22}}</ref> as well as among the New Finds of 1975.<ref>David C. Parker (2010), ''CODEX SINAITICUS: The Story of the World's Oldest Bible.'' London. British Library, p. 18. {{ISBN|9780712358033}}</ref><ref name="sinai.library.ucla"/> On other visits (1855, 1857) [[Constantin von Tischendorf]] also amassed their more valuable manuscripts ([[Greek language|Greek]], [[Christian Palestinian Aramaic]], [[Georgian language|Georgian]], [[Syriac Language|Syriac]]) and took them with him to St. Petersburg and Leipzig, where they are stored today.<ref>M. F. Brosset (1858), Note sur un manuscrit géorgien de la Bibliothèque Impériale publique et provenant de M. Tischendorf, ''Mélanges Asiatiques'' 3, pp. 264–280.</ref><ref>N. Pigoulewsky (1934), Fragments syro-palestiniens des Psaumes CXXIII-IV, ''Revue Biblique'' 43, pp. 519–527.</ref><ref>N. Pigoulewski (1937), Manuscrits syriaques bibliques de Léningrad, ''Revue Biblique'' 46, pp. 83–92; N. Pigoulewski, Manuscrits syriaques bibliques de Léningrad (suite), ''Revue Biblique'' 46, 1937, pp. 225–230; 556–562.</ref><ref>Julius Assfalg (1963), ''Georgische Handschriften'' (= Verzeichnis der orientalischen Handschriften in Deutschland, III) (Wiesbaden); Julius Assfalg (1965), ''Syrische Handschriften'' (= Verzeichnis der orientalischen Handschriften in Deutschland, V) (Wiesbaden).</ref><ref>Sebastian P. Brock (2012), Sinai: a Meeting Point of Georgian with Syriac and Christian Palestinian Aramaic, in The Caucasus between East & West (Tbilisi), pp. 482–494.</ref><ref>Grigory Kessel (2016), Membra Disjecta Sinaitica I: A Reconstitution of the Syriac Galen Palimpsest, in André Binggili, et al. (eds.), ''Manuscripta Graeca et Orientalia: Mélanges monastiques et patristiques en l'honneur de Paul Géhin'' (Louvain: Peeters), pp. 469–498.</ref><ref>Paul Géhin (2017), Les manuscrits syriaques de parchemin du Sinaï et leur membra disjecta, CSCO 665 / Subsidia 136 (Louvain: Peeters).</ref>
====Agnes Smith Lewis and Margaret Dunlop Gibson====
{{main|Agnes Smith Lewis and Margaret Dunlop Gibson}}
In February 1892, Agnes S. Lewis discovered an early [[palimpsest]] manuscript of the [[Gospel]] in St Catherine Monastery's library that became known as the [[Syriac Sinaiticus]] and it remains in the monastery's possession. The text was deciphered by [[Francis Crawford Burkitt]] and [[Robert Lubbock Bensly]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Gibson|first=Margaret Dunlop|title=How the Codex was Found|year=1893|publisher=Macmillan & Bowes|location=Cambridge|pages=36–38}}</ref> The twins [[Agnes Smith Lewis and Margaret Dunlop Gibson]] returned in 1893 with the Cambridge team of the two scholars that included their wives, and also [[J. Rendel Harris]] to photograph and transcribe the manuscript in its entirety, as well as to prepare the first catalogues of the Syriac and Arabic manuscripts.<ref>{{cite book|last=Gibson|first=Margaret Dunlop|title=How the Codex was Found|year=1893|publisher=Macmillan & Bowes|location=Cambridge|pages=60–67}}</ref><ref>Agnes Smith Lewis (1894), ''Catalogue of the Syriac MSS. in the Convent of S. Catharine on Mount Sinai'', Studia Sinaitica, I (London: C. J. Clay and Sons).</ref><ref>Margaret Dunlop Gibson (1894), ''Catalogue of the Arabic mss. in the Convent of Saint Catharine on Mount Sinai.'' Studia Sinaitica, III (London: C. J. Clay and Sons).</ref> Among the new finds two additional palimpsest manuscripts came to light containing additional passages of the [[Old Syriac Gospels]].<ref name="Sebastian P. Brock 2016, pp. 7">Sebastian P. Brock, Two Hitherto Unattested Passages of the Old Syriac Gospels in Palimpsests from St Catherine's Monastery, Sinai, ''Δελτίο βιβλικῶν Μελετῶν'' 31, 2016, pp. 7–18.</ref>

{{external media | width = 210px |float=right| 
headerimage=[[File:Moses & Bush Icon Sinai c12th century.jpg|210px]] | video1 = {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20131112152708/http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/videoDetails?segid=3950 The Icons of Saint Catherine's Monastery, Sinai, Egypt {{small|(Archived)}}]}}, [[J. Paul Getty Museum]]}}

The Monastery also has a copy of the [[Ashtiname of Muhammad]], in which [[Muhammad]] is claimed to have bestowed his protection upon the monastery.<ref>Brandie Ratliff, "The monastery of Saint Catherine at Mount Sinai and the Christian communities of the Caliphate." [http://www.saintcatherinefoundation.org/files/8013/2983/0724/Sinaiticus_2008-email.pdf ''Sinaiticus. The bulletin of the Saint Catherine Foundation'' (2008)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150213034339/http://www.saintcatherinefoundation.org/files/8013/2983/0724/Sinaiticus_2008-email.pdf |date=2015-02-13 }}.</ref>

Additionally, the monastery houses a copy of Mok'c'evay K'art'lisay, a collection of supplementary books of the ''[[The Georgian Chronicles]]'' dating to the 9th century.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kavtaradze |first1=Giorgi |title=The Georgian Chronicles and the Raison D'ètre of the Iberian Kingdom |journal=Journal of Historical Geography of the Ancient World |date=2001}}</ref>

The most important manuscripts have since been filmed or digitized and are therefore accessible to scholars. With planning assistance from Ligatus, a research center of the [[University of the Arts London]], the library was extensively renovated, reopening at the end of 2017.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Building renovation {{!}} The St. Catherine's Project |url=https://www.ligatus.org.uk/stcatherines/node/3877 |access-date=2023-07-22 |website=www.ligatus.org.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.voanews.com/middle-east/egypt-reopens-ancient-library-st-catherine-monastery|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227091343/https://www.voanews.com/middle-east/egypt-reopens-ancient-library-st-catherine-monastery|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 27, 2021|title=Egypt Reopens Ancient Library at St. Catherine Monastery|website=Voice of America|language=en|access-date=2019-11-23}}</ref><ref name="sinai.library.ucla"/>

=== Sinai Palimpsests Project ===
Since 2011, a team of imaging scientists<ref>Keith Knox (Chief Science Advisor, EMEL, USA); Roger Easton (Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science, Rochester, New York, USA); William Christens-Barry (Chief Scientist, Equipoise Imaging, LCC, Maryland, USA); David Kelbe (Centre for Space Science Technology, Alexandra, New Zealand)</ref><ref name="sinai.library.ucla"/> and experienced scholars in the decipherment of palimpsest manuscripts<ref>Zaza Aleksidze (Tbilisi, Georgia); André Binggeli (Paris, France); Sebastian Brock (Oxford, UK); Michelle Brown (London, UK); Guglielmo Cavallo (Rome, Italy); Steve Delamarter (Portland, Oregon, USA); Alain J. Desreumaux (Paris, France); David Ganz (Cambridge, UK); Paul Géhin (Paris, France); Jost Gippert (Frankfurt, Germany); Sidney Griffeth (Washington DC, USA); Getachew Haile (Minnesota; New York, USA); Dieter Harlfinger (Hamburg, Germany); Hikmat Kashouh (Metn, Lebanon); Vasilios Katsaros (Thessaloniki, Greece); Grigory Kessel (Vienna, Austria); Daniela Mairhofer (Princeton, New Jersey, USA); Heinz Miklas (Vienna, Austria); Christa Müller-Kessler (University of Jena, Germany); Panayotis Nicolopoulos (Athens, Greece); Pasquale Orsini (Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities, Central Institute for Archives, Italy); Bernard Outtier (Paris, France); Claudia Rapp (Vienna, Austria); Giulia Rossetto (Vienna, Austria); Alexander Treiger (Nova Scotia, Canada); Agammenon Tselikas (Athens, Greece); Nigel Wilson (Oxford, UK).</ref><ref name="sinai.library.ucla"/> from the U.S. and Europe have photographed, digitized, and studied the library's collection of palimpsests during the international Sinai palimpsests project.<ref>The project's original heads were the professor of Byzantine studies [[Claudia Rapp]] of the [[University of Vienna]] and Michael Phelps of the Early Manuscripts Electronic Library (EMEL), Los Angeles, California.</ref><ref name="sinai.library.ucla"/><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite news|url=http://dailybruin.com/2011/04/15/scholars_use_tech_tools_to_reveal_texts/|title=Scholars use tech tools to reveal texts|last=Hsing|first=Crystal|date=April 15, 2011|work=[[Daily Bruin]]|access-date=July 2, 2018}}</ref>

[[Palimpsest]]s are notable for having been reused one or more times over the centuries. Since parchment was expensive and time-consuming to produce, monks would erase texts with orange juice or scrape them off and write over them.<ref>Reviel Netz and William Noel (2008), ''The Archimedes Codex: Revealing the Secrets of the World's Greatest Palimpsest'' (London, UK: Phoenix), pp. 120–124.</ref><ref name="sinai.library.ucla"/> Though the original texts were once assumed to be lost,<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/archaeologoists-only-just-beginning-reveal-secrets-hidden-ancient-manuscripts-180967455/|title=Archaeologists Are Only Just Beginning to Reveal the Secrets Hidden in These Ancient Manuscripts|last=Marchant|first=Jo|date=December 11, 2017|work=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]]|access-date=July 2, 2018|language=en}}</ref> imaging scientists used narrowband [[Multispectral image|multispectral imaging]] techniques and technologies to reveal features that were difficult to see with the human eye, including ink residues and small grooves in the parchment.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /> These images have subsequently been digitized and are now freely available for research at the [[UCLA Library]] for scholarly use.<ref name="sinai.library.ucla"/>

As of June 2018, over 160 palimpsests have been identified, with over 6,800 pages of texts recovered.<ref name="sinai.library.ucla"/> The newer finds were discovered in a secluded storage area of the St George Tower in 1975.<ref>Ioannis E. Meïmaris (1985), ''Κατάλογος τῶν νέων ἀραβικῶν χειρογράφων τῆς ἱερᾶς Μονῆς Ἁγίας Αἰκατερίνης τοῦ Ὄρους Σινᾶ, Ἱερὰ Μονὴ Ἁγίας Αἰκατερίνης'' (Athens).</ref><ref>Ioannis C. Tarnanidis (1988), ''The Slavonic Manuscripts Discovered in 1975 at St Catherine's Monastery on Mount Sinai'' (Thessaloniki).</ref><ref>Sebastian P. Brock (1995), ''Catalogue of the Syriac Fragments (New Finds) in the Library of the Monastery of Saint Catherine, Mount Sinai'' (Athens).</ref><ref>Panayotis G. Nicolopoulos (1999), ''The New Finds of Sinai. Holy Monastery and Archdiocese of Sinai'' (Athens).</ref><ref>Zaza Alekzidse, M. Shanidze, L. Khevsuriani, M. Kavtaria (2005), ''The New Finds of Sinai. Catalogue of Georgian Manuscripts Discovered in 1975 at Saint Catherine's Monastery on Mount Sinai'' (Athens).</ref><ref>Philothee du Sinaï (2008), ''Nouveaux manuscrits syriaques du Sinaï'' (Athens).</ref> Highlights include "108 pages of previously unknown Greek poems and the oldest-known recipe attributed to the Greek physician [[Hippocrates]];" additional folios for the transmission of the Old Syriac Gospels;<ref name="Sebastian P. Brock 2016, pp. 7"/> two unattested witnesses of an early Christian apocryphal text the [[Dormition of Mary]] ([[Transitus Mariae]]) of which most of the Greek text is lost;<ref>Christa Müller-Kessler, Three Early Witnesses of the «Dormition of Mary» in Christian Palestinian Aramaic. Palimpsests from the Cairo Genizah (Taylor-Schechter Collection) and the New Finds in St Catherine's Monastery, ''Apocrypha'' 29, 2018, pp. 69–95.</ref> a previously unknown martyrdom of Patriklos of [[Caesarea Maritima]] ([[Israel]]), one of the eleven followers of [[Pamphilus of Caesarea]]; some of the earliest known Georgian manuscripts;<ref>{{cite book |last1=Aleksidze |first1=Nikoloz |title=Georgia: A Cultural Journey through the Wardrop Collection |date=2018 |publisher=Bodleian Library |location=Oxford |isbn=9781851244959 |pages=40–41 |ref=Aleksidze}}</ref> as well as insight into dead languages such as the previously hardly attested [[Caucasian Albanian language|Caucasian Albanian]]<ref>Zaza Alekzidse and Jean-Pierre Mahé, "Découverte d'un texte albanien: une langue ancienne du Caucase retrouvée", ''Comptes rendus des séances l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres,'' 141:2 (1997), pp. 512–532.</ref><ref>Zaza Aleksidze and Jean-Pierre Mahé, "Le déchiffrement de l'écriture des Albaniens du Caucase", ''Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres,'' 145:3 (2001), pp. 1239–1257.</ref> and [[Christian Palestinian Aramaic]], the local dialect of the early Byzantine period, with many unparalleled text witnesses.<ref name="sinai.library.ucla"/>

== Stainless Steel Boxing Project ==
The Saint Catherine Foundation partnered with the Ligatus Research Centre at London’s University of the Arts to order the creation of steel boxes for the storage and transportation of rare manuscripts contained within the library at St. Catherine’s Monastery at Mt. Sinai.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2019-06-12 |title=Stainless steel cases safeguard ancient manuscripts |url=https://worldsteel.org/media/steel-stories/innovation/stainless-steel-cases-safeguard-ancient-manuscripts/ |access-date=2025-04-30 |website=worldsteel.org |language=en-US}}</ref> The objective of the Saint Catherine Foundation is to house 2,187 parchment manuscripts in individual boxes made from stainless steel. These are determined to provide the best protection against the desert environment, natural disasters such as earthquakes, and erosion from age.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Stainless Steel Boxing Project - The Saint Catherine Foundation |url=https://www.saintcatherinefoundation.org/stainless-steel-boxing-project |access-date=2025-04-30 |website=www.saintcatherinefoundation.org}}</ref>

Stainless steel was recommended over wooden boxes due to the potential of acidic gasses being released inside a sealed box, damaging any pigments in the miniatures that are pH sensitive. Stainless steel boxes are resistant to insect attack while wooden boxes are not. Wood boxes to offer more insulation against heat penetration in case of a fire but are inflammable whereas stainless steel is not.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |title=Final recommendations for the box design and the manuscripts to be boxed {{!}} The St. Catherine's Project |url=https://www.ligatus.org.uk/stcatherines/node/7 |access-date=2025-04-30 |website=www.ligatus.org.uk}}</ref> Each case utilizes an oxygen starvation system allowing for greater protection against fire damage.<ref name=":1" />

Each box is created from a 304 grade stainless steel sheet, cut from an Amada guillotine, and formed by a CNC punch press. Corner seams are hand welded and polished with precision. The inside of each steel box is lined with a polyester foam called Plastazote. Each manuscript is wrapped in acid-free card stock and placed with its spine opposite to the side with the handle. Pressure of the weight of the book is bore by the spine should the box be carried by the handle.<ref name=":6" />

==Works of art==
The complex houses irreplaceable works of art: mosaics, the best collection of early [[icon]]s in the world, many in [[Encaustic painting|encaustic]], as well as liturgical objects, chalices and reliquaries, and church buildings. The large icon collection begins with a few dating to the 5th (possibly) and 6th centuries, which are unique survivals; the monastery having been untouched by [[Byzantine iconoclasm]], and never sacked. The oldest icon on an [[Old Testament]] theme is also preserved there. A project to catalogue the collections has been ongoing since the 1960s. The monastery was an important centre for the development of the hybrid style of [[Crusader art]], and retains over 120 [[icon]]s created in the style, by far the largest collection in existence. Many were evidently created by Latins, probably monks, based in or around the monastery in the 13th century.<ref>[[Kurt Weitzmann]] in ''The Icon'', Evans Brothers Ltd., London (1982), pp. 201–207 (trans. of ''Le Icone'', Montadori 1981), {{ISBN|0-237-45645-1}}</ref>

==Icons==
<gallery perrow="7" heights="160">
File:Saint Peter-Sinai (6th Century).jpg|[[Saint Peter]] depicted in 6th-century [[encaustic painting|hot wax icon]]
File:Encaustic Virgin.jpg|Icon of the enthroned Virgin and Child with saints and angels, 6th century
File:Spas vsederzhitel sinay.jpg|The oldest known icon of ''[[Christ Pantocrator (Sinai)|Christ Pantocrator]]'', [[encaustic painting|encaustic on panel]]
File:Last Judgement Sinai 12th century.jpg|''[[The Last Judgement]]'', 11th-12th century, by [[John Tokhabi]]
File:Crucifixion Icon Sinai 13th century.jpg|Crucifixion, 13th century
File:Holy Doors.jpg|Holy doors
File:Mary & Child Icon Sinai 13th century.jpg|Madonna and Child, 13th century
File:Mikharkhangel.jpg|13th century Byzantine icon of [[Michael (archangel)|Saint Michael the Archangel]]
File:Transfiguration of Christ Icon Sinai 12th century.jpg|Transfiguration, 12th century
File:The Ladder of Divine Ascent Monastery of St Catherine Sinai 12th century.jpg|''[[Ladder of Divine Ascent (icon)|Ladder of Divine Ascent]]''
File:John VIII Palaiologos, Sinai.jpg|Emperor [[John VIII Palaiologos]]
File:Icon of Saint Catherine.jpg|Icon of Saint [[Catherine of Alexandria]]
File:Icon Iakovos Moskos.jpg|The monastery, 18th century
File:Vethiy Denmi (Icons from Saint Catherine's Monastery).jpg|Christ as the [[Ancient of Days]], 7th century
File:Icon of St. George and a Bagratid Georgian king. Sinai, Monastery of Saint Catherine..jpg|12th century [[icon]] of [[Saint George]] and [[David IV of Georgia]]
</gallery>

==Historical images==
<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
File:Saint Catherine's Monastery, Carsten Niebuhr, 1762.jpg|[[Carsten Niebuhr]] (1762)
File:Monastery of Saint Catherine at Mount Sinai- drawing from the Description de l'Égypte (1809).jpeg|''[[Description de l'Égypte]]'' (1809)
File:David Roberts - Convent of St. Catherine with Mount Horeb - 1927.90 - Cleveland Museum of Art.jpg|[[David Roberts (painter)|David Roberts]] (1839), published in ''[[The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt, and Nubia]]''
File:Die Gartenlaube (1861) b 060.jpg|[[Ernst Keil]] (1861)
File:Adolf Von Meckel - The Saint Catherine Monastery in Sinai.jpg|[[Adolf Meckel von Hemsbach]] (1892)
</gallery>

==Panoramic view==
{{Wide image|St CatherinesPanorama.JPG|800px|A [[panorama]] of St Catherine's Monastery}}

==In literature==
The French novelist [[Pierre Loti]] describes the monastery and its treasures extensively in ''Le désert'', his 1895 account of a journey on camelback through the Sinai desert. <ref>{{cite book|last=Loti|first=Pierre|date=1987|title=Le désert|url=https://archive.org/details/ledsert00lotiuoft|trans-title=The Desert|language=French|location=Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire|publisher=Christian Pirot|page=41-76|isbn=0874804272|access-date=May 25, 2025}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Archbishop of Mount Sinai and Raithu]]
* [[Ashtiname of Muhammad]]
* [[Caucasian Albanian script]]
* [[Charnel house|Charnel House]]
* [[Codex Climaci Rescriptus]]
* [[Codex Sinaiticus]]
* [[Codex Sinaiticus Rescriptus]]
* [[Cyril of Jerusalem]]
* [[Desert Fathers]]
* [[Gregory of Sinai]]
* [[John Climacus]]
* [[Ladder of Divine Ascent]]
* [[Oldest churches in the world]]
* [[Martyrs of Palestine]]
* [[Poustinia]]
* [[Sinaites in Serbia]]
* [[Syriac Sinaiticus]]
* [[Transitus Mariae]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last=[[Oriana Baddeley]] |first=Earleen Brunner |title=The Monastery of St Catherine |year=1996 |pages=120 pages with 79 colour illustrations |publisher=Saint Catherine Foundation |isbn=978-0-9528063-0-1}}
* {{cite book |last=Böttrich |first=Christfried |title=Der Jahrhundertfund. Entdeckung und Geschichte des Codex Sinaiticus (The Discovery of the Century. Discovery and history of Codex Sinaiticus) |location=Leipzig |publisher=[[Evangelische Verlagsanstalt]] |year=2011 |isbn=978-3-374-02586-2}}
* James Hamilton Charlesworth, ''The New Discoveries in St. Catherine's Monastery'' (= American Schools of Oriental Research Monograph 3) Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns, 1981. {{ISBN|0-89757-403-6}}
* Alessandro Falcetta (2018). ''A Biography of James Rendel Harris 1852–1941: The Daily Discoveries of a Bible Scholar and Manuscript Hunter''. London, UK: T&T Clark. {{ISBN|9780567684776}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Forsyth |first1=G. H. |last2=Weitzmann |first2=K. |title=The Monastery of Saint Catherine at Mount Sinai – The Church and Fortress of Justinian: Plates |year=1973 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton |isbn=0-472-33000-4}}
* Paul Géhin (2017). ''Les manuscrits syriaques de parchemin du Sinaï et leur membra disjecta''. CSCO 665 / Subsidia 136. Louvain: Peeters. {{ISBN|978-90-429-3501-3}}
* Margaret Dunlop Gibson (1893). ''How the Codex was Found. A Narrative of Two Visits to Sinai from Mrs. Lewis's Journals. 1892–1893''. Cambridge: Macmillan & Bowes.
* Dieter Harlfinger, Diether R. Reinsch, and Joseph A. M. Sonderkamp in Zusammenarbeit mit Giancarlo Prato: ''Specimina Sinaitica: Die datierten griechischen Handschriften des Katharinen-Klosters auf dem Berge Sinai 9. bis 12. Jahrhundert'', Berlin: Reimer 1983. {{ISBN|3496007435}}
* Agnes Smith Lewis (1898). ''In the Shadow of Sinai. A Story travel and Research from 1895 to 1897''. Cambridge: Macmillan & Bowes.
* Panayotis G. Nicolopoulos (1999), ''The New Finds. Holy Monastery and Archdiocese of Sinai'' (Athens). {{ISBN|9608598427}}
* David C. Parker (2010). ''CODEX SINAITICUS: The Story of the World's Oldest Bible.'' London. British Library. {{ISBN|9780712358033}}
* {{cite book |last=Porter |first=Stanley E. |title=Constantine Tischendorf. The Life and Work of a 19th Century Bible Hunter |location=London |publisher=Bloomsbury T&T Clark |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-5676-5803-6}}
* {{cite book |last=Schick |first=Alexander |title=Tischendorf und die älteste Bibel der Welt – Die Entdeckung des CODEX SINAITICUS im Katharinenkloster |trans-title=Tischendorf and the oldest Bible in the world. The discovery of the Codex Sinaiticus in St. Catherine's Monastery |id=Biography cause of the anniversary of the 200th birthday of Tischendorf with many unpublished documents from his estate. These provide insight into previously unknown details of the discoveries and the reasons behind the donation of the manuscript. Recent research on Tischendorf and the Codex Sinaiticus and its significance for New Testament Textual Research |location=Muldenhammer |publisher=Jota |date=2015 |isbn=978-3-935707-83-1}}
* {{Cite book |first1=Janet |last1=Soskice |title=Sisters of Sinai: How Two Lady Adventurers Found the Hidden Gospels |publisher=Vintage |location=London |year=1991 |isbn=978-1-4000-3474-1}}
* {{Cite book |author=Sotiriou, G. and M. |title=Icones du Mont Sinaï |series=2 vols (plates and texts). Collection de L'Institut francais d'Athènes 100 and 102 |location=Athens |year=1956–1958}}
* Elena Ene D-Vasilescu, "The Monastery of St. Catherine, Sinai and the Romanians", ''Revue des Études Sud-Est Européennes'' [Journal of South-East European studies], '''XLVII''', 1–4, 2009, pp. 75–87
* {{Cite book |last=Weitzmann |first=K. |title=The Monastery of Saint Catherine at Mount Sinai: The Icons, Volume I: From the Sixth to the Tenth Century |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton |year=1976}}
* {{Cite book |first1=K. |last1=Weitzmann |first2=G. |last2=Galavaris |title=The Monastery of Saint Catherine at Mount Sinai. The Illuminated Greek Manuscripts, Volume I. From the Ninth to the Twelfth Century |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton |year=1991 |isbn=0-691-03602-0}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Saint Catherine Monastery, Mount Sinai}}
* [http://www.sinaimonastery.com/ Official Website of the Holy Monastery of St. Catherine at Mount Sinai]
* [https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/954 Saint Catherine Area/ World Heritage Listing on UNESCO's Website]
* [http://www.saintcatherinefoundation.org/ Saint Catherine Foundation]
* [http://stcatherinesmonastery.googlepages.com/ St. Catherine's Monastery, Sinai, Egypt] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090209185920/http://stcatherinesmonastery.googlepages.com/ |date=2009-02-09 }}
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZ3dFABGySg St Catherine Project (digitisation) video]
* [https://sinai.library.ucla.edu Digitized palimpsests in St. Catherine's Monastery, Sinai]
* [http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/icons_sinai/index.html Holy Image, Hallowed Ground: Icons from Sinai] Getty exhibit
* [http://campus.belmont.edu/honors/SinaiIcons/SinaiIcons.html Early Icons from Sinai, Belmont U]
* The text of the Charter from [[Muhammad]] can be read [http://www.iviews.com/Articles/articles.asp?ref=IC0609-3110 here] or [http://www.cyberistan.org/islamic/charter1.html here].
* [https://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/04/technology/at-a-mountain-monastery-old-texts-gain-digital-life.html "At a Mountain Monastery, Old Texts Gain Digital Life"] article from ''[[The New York Times]]''
* [http://www.st-katherine.net Information about the town of St. Catherine]
* {{CathEncy|wstitle=Monastery of St. Catherine}}
* [http://www.cyberistan.org/islamic/charter1.html Prophet Muhammad's Letter to Monks of St. Catharine Monastery]
* [http://www.sacredland.org/mount-sinai/ More on Saint Catherine's Monastery and Mount Sinai]
* [http://azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/ai113_folder/113_articles/113_zaza_script_ashes.html Caucasian Albanian Alphabet: Ancient Script Discovered in the Ashes] [St. Catherine's], Azerbaijan International, Vol. 11:3 (Autumn 2003), pp.&nbsp;38–41.
* [http://www.cnewa.org/default.aspx?ID=29&pagetypeID=9&sitecode=HQ&pageno=1 Article on the Orthodox Church of Mount Sinai by Ronald Roberson on the CNEWA web site]
* [http://azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/ai113_folder/113_articles/113_zaza_secrets_revealed.html The Albanian Script: The Process – How Its Secrets Were Revealed] [St. Catherine's], Azerbaijan International, Vol. 11:3 (Autumn 2003), pp.&nbsp;44–51.
* [http://primo.nli.org.il/primo_library/libweb/action/dlDisplay.do?vid=NLI&docId=NNL_MAPS_JER002368046 Map showing the Monastery, 18th century]. Eran Laor Cartographic Collection. The [[National Library of Israel]]
* Pope Gregory X's Privilege for the Holy Monastery of St Catherine of Sinai (24 September 1274): [https://engineeringhistoricalmemory.com/MountSinai.php Engineering Historical Memory]. Interactive scholarly edition, Diplomatics and Historical Commentary, Deep zoom, English translation, multimodal resources mashup (publications, images, videos).

{{Monasteries in Egypt}}
{{World Heritage Sites in Egypt}}
{{Byzantine Empire topics|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Saint Catherine's Monastery| ]]
[[Category:Archives in Egypt]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in South Sinai Governorate]]
[[Category:Monasteries of the Byzantine Empire]]
[[Category:Christian monasteries established in the 6th century]]
[[Category:565 establishments]]
[[Category:560s establishments]]
[[Category:6th-century churches]]
[[Category:Eastern Orthodox churches in Egypt]]
[[Category:Eastern Orthodox pilgrimage sites]]
[[Category:Mount Sinai]]
[[Category:Palimpsests]]
[[Category:Places associated with hesychasm]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Egypt]]
[[Category:World Heritage Sites in Egypt]]