The Monastery of Saint Catherine: A Controversial Agreement Across Faiths

At the foot of  Mount Sinai is Saint Catherine’s Monastery, described as ‘the oldest Christian monastery still in use for its initial function’. It is officially known as the Holy Monastery of the God-trodden Mount Sinai. Originally, however, the monastery was called the Monastery of the Transfiguration. This monastery survives today based on an ancient and controversial agreement.

Mount Sinai (also known as Mount Horeb) is a mountain in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula that is sacred to the three Abrahamic faiths due to its association with Moses. In the Old Testament, Moses is said to have received the Tablets of the Law on that mountain. In Islam, this mountain is known as Jebel Musa (meaning Moses’ Mountain’).

The Monastery During Roman and Byzantine Rule

The story of St. Catherine’s Monastery is said to have begun with the annexation of the Nabataean Kingdom by the Romans during the early 2nd century AD. Under Roman rule, the region declined, and the Sinai region, which became a wilderness, attracted Christian monks who sought to live an ascetic life away from human society. During the first half of the 4th century AD, the Empress Helena, the mother of Constantine, ordered the Chapel of the Burning Bush to be built on the site where Moses saw it’s namesake. The chapel, which was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, is now considered the holiest part of the monastery.