DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.11715#0197
EGYPT TO SINAI.
number of visitors having increased, a gateway has been opened, though the strong
iron-clamped door is still jealously guarded.1
As the sale of manna forms an important item in the income of the monastery, this
seems the proper place to inquire whether what now passes under that name is really
the same wTith the manna of the Israelites. That it is the same, and that the miracle
consisted in an enormous increase of the quantity produced, has been maintained by
many high authorities, against whom the charge of rationalism cannot be urged.2 The
*
sweet honey-like taste, the whitish color, the similarity of the name, and the fact that it
must be collected before sunrise, after which time it hardens, or altogether disappears,
have been adduced in proof of this conclusion. But the preponderance of opinion is
on the other side, and in favor of the view that the manna was not merely increased,
but absolutely produced by miracle.
The various legendary marvels which the monks here, as everywhere throughout
the East, have accumulated around their con-
vent, need not detain us long. A glance
will suffice for the tomb of St. Catherine and
the shrine of the Burning Bush—the bush
still growing out of the soil! All our interest
is concentrated upon the one great event of
the desert, the manifestation of the Deity to
Moses and the camp of Israel. The tradi-
tional peak is Jebel Musa, which rises to the
height of 2600 feet apove the convent, 7375
above the level of the sea. There are two
roads to the summit. One, constructed some
years ago by Abbas Pasha, winds round the
mountains and is availiable for camels. The
old road is much rougher and steeper, but is
far more interesting. Ascending by the for-
mer, a gradual slope leads upwaad for some
distance from the convent for about two
hours. Here a curious basin hollowed out
of the rock is shown as the foot-print of
Mohammed's camel! From this point the
track becomes narrower and steeper, in one place passing through a narrow gap be-
tween granite rocks only a few feet wide. A flight of rude stone steps now con-
ducts to the actual summit, where a Christian church and a Mohammedan mosque
stand side by side. The view is grand and impressive, ranging over a vast chaos of
bare desolate peaks ; but it is difficult to convince oneself that this can be the scene of
the giving of the law. No plain is visible in which the tribes could have encamped in
the "wilderness before the mount " The Wady Sebaiyeh has been pointed out as an-
swering to the requirements of the narrative, but it is too narrow and restricted in
area, too rough and boulder-strewn, to have answered the purpose.
1 It was in this monastery thai Teschendorf discovered in 1884 some fragments of an ancient Greek MS. of the Bible. In 1859,
traveling under the patronage; of the Emperor of Russia, he was presented with the priceless treasure of the Codex Sinaiticus, the oldest
extant MS. of the New Testament.
2 For a very elaborate and able discussion of the whole subject, see Ritter's Geography of Palestine, and the Sinaitic Peninsula
(vol. ii. pp. 271 292).
IQ3
A MONK OF THE CONVENT, SINAI.
number of visitors having increased, a gateway has been opened, though the strong
iron-clamped door is still jealously guarded.1
As the sale of manna forms an important item in the income of the monastery, this
seems the proper place to inquire whether what now passes under that name is really
the same wTith the manna of the Israelites. That it is the same, and that the miracle
consisted in an enormous increase of the quantity produced, has been maintained by
many high authorities, against whom the charge of rationalism cannot be urged.2 The
*
sweet honey-like taste, the whitish color, the similarity of the name, and the fact that it
must be collected before sunrise, after which time it hardens, or altogether disappears,
have been adduced in proof of this conclusion. But the preponderance of opinion is
on the other side, and in favor of the view that the manna was not merely increased,
but absolutely produced by miracle.
The various legendary marvels which the monks here, as everywhere throughout
the East, have accumulated around their con-
vent, need not detain us long. A glance
will suffice for the tomb of St. Catherine and
the shrine of the Burning Bush—the bush
still growing out of the soil! All our interest
is concentrated upon the one great event of
the desert, the manifestation of the Deity to
Moses and the camp of Israel. The tradi-
tional peak is Jebel Musa, which rises to the
height of 2600 feet apove the convent, 7375
above the level of the sea. There are two
roads to the summit. One, constructed some
years ago by Abbas Pasha, winds round the
mountains and is availiable for camels. The
old road is much rougher and steeper, but is
far more interesting. Ascending by the for-
mer, a gradual slope leads upwaad for some
distance from the convent for about two
hours. Here a curious basin hollowed out
of the rock is shown as the foot-print of
Mohammed's camel! From this point the
track becomes narrower and steeper, in one place passing through a narrow gap be-
tween granite rocks only a few feet wide. A flight of rude stone steps now con-
ducts to the actual summit, where a Christian church and a Mohammedan mosque
stand side by side. The view is grand and impressive, ranging over a vast chaos of
bare desolate peaks ; but it is difficult to convince oneself that this can be the scene of
the giving of the law. No plain is visible in which the tribes could have encamped in
the "wilderness before the mount " The Wady Sebaiyeh has been pointed out as an-
swering to the requirements of the narrative, but it is too narrow and restricted in
area, too rough and boulder-strewn, to have answered the purpose.
1 It was in this monastery thai Teschendorf discovered in 1884 some fragments of an ancient Greek MS. of the Bible. In 1859,
traveling under the patronage; of the Emperor of Russia, he was presented with the priceless treasure of the Codex Sinaiticus, the oldest
extant MS. of the New Testament.
2 For a very elaborate and able discussion of the whole subject, see Ritter's Geography of Palestine, and the Sinaitic Peninsula
(vol. ii. pp. 271 292).
IQ3
A MONK OF THE CONVENT, SINAI.