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St. Catherine’s Sinai Monastery
The present St. Catherine’s monastery at Mt. Sinai, Egypt, was constructed in the sixth century CE to honor the traditional site where Moses received the Ten Commandments. Its high walls protect its Orthodox monks from raiders. It has been a place of Christian pilgrimage since at least the late fourth century. It is a repository of precious manuscripts in several languages as well as religious relics. It contains some of the oldest Christian religious paintings. Its church is an important monument of early Christian architecture and decoration and is a key site for understanding early monasticism. It received the name St. Catherine’s in the Middle Ages, not in the Roman or late antique era.
Name: St. Catherine’s Sinai Monastery
Material: Stone, granite at base of wall
Size:
Wall:
Length: 85 m (279 ft)
Width: 75 m (246 ft)
Height: 12-15 m (39-49 ft)
Depth: 2.25 m (7.4 ft)
Main Church:
Length: 38m (125 ft)
Width: 19 m (62 ft)
Date: Between 527 and 565 CE
Place of Origin: Mt. Sinai, Egypt
Location: Mt. Sinai, Egypt
Source and Registration#: Wikimedia Commons. Link to resource
Creative Commons Copyright
License: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0. (accessed March 4, 2010).
Walter E. Kaegi
Professor of History, University of Chicago
