Climbing Mt. Sinai

I've received a number of emails from people asking about the hike up Mt. Sinai (Jebel Musa in Arabic). I'll answer their questions about the hike (and more) in this post. I'd like to tell you why I think it's important to to visit Mt. Sinai and St. Catherine's Monastery.

(1) To get out of our minds once and for all the idea that the ancient Israelite sojourn in the wilderness must have been something like walking across the Sahara.

(2) To visit St. Catherine's Monastery after our descent from the mountain. The monastery has a rich collection of very, very old icons. It is famous also for its library "with the second finest collection of manuscripts in the world (after the Vatican), including 3,500 manuscripts and 2,000 scrolls. Most of these are in Greek and were copied by the monks of this monastery. In 1844, the German scholar Friedrich von Tischendorf discovered Codex Sinaiticus here, one of the earliest copies of the Bible (4th century A.D.)." (BiblePlaces.com). Tischendorf "took" or stole most of the manuscript on three occasions (1844, 1853, 1859). The photo to the left is courtesy of BiblePlaces.com (the others are my own). Click on the link to see more pictures and to read about Jebel Musa. There are also six good websites noted there. Visit them to learn more.

(3) To hear a lecture by Father Justin (originally from Texas), the librarian at the monastery. If he is at the monastery, it is very likely he will be able to give us a short talk. I've met him three times. Twice he spoke to my group inside the monastery library (a rare treat for a tour group). And once we met in the upscale mall next to the Hynes Convention Center in Boston. We were both attending the Society of Biblical Literature convention there a few years ago. Father Justin knows a great deal about the library, and about the Codex Sinaiticus in particular. The Codex (Latin for "book") now resides in four places: most of it is in the British Museum, and parts are in the Leipzig University Library, the National Library of Russia (St Petersburg), and St. Catherine's Monastery. There is now a wonderful project underway to digitize the entire manuscript. CLICK HERE to go to the Codex Sinaiticus Project website. There is much to see and to learn at this website.

(4) To climb Jebel Musa. The monastery sits at an elevation of 5150 feet (1570 meters). The mountain of Jebel Musa rises to 7498 feet in elevation (2286 m). So the climb is 2348 vertical feet. A steady walk takes between 2 and 3 hours (depending on one's vigor at 2:00 a.m.). Yes, we sleep for a few hours only to be rudely awakened for the night-time hike. If you prefer not to hike the whole way up, you can hire a camel to take you to the last tea house, from where you climb up the 750 stone steps to arrive before sunrise at the top of the mountain. Using walking sticks (collapsible) can be a great advantage for anyone looking for a little extra help and safety.

(5) To enter imaginatively, as pilgrims do, into the biblical text. After being on the top of the mountain with quite a few other people, it's a delight to be able to walk down alone, pondering the stories of Moses being hidden in a crevice after being refused the sight of God's glory (Exodus 33:12-23), and of the prophet Elijah who unexpectedly discerns God's presence in the "sound of sheer silence" (v 12, NRSV). The mountain is oddly famous in these stories for preserving a measure of divine mystery. Even though thousands climb out of touristic curiosity, I find myself each time amazed at the strangeness of this place that continues both to preserve a great heritage of faith, and to prevent a facile identification of the human with the divine.