|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
figure 1
figure 2
|
|
Any consideration of the monastery’s history
must begin with geography. The monastery is located in an area that
was both remote and well trafficked. The
Sinai Peninsula is located at the juncture of Asia and Africa,
surrounded by Egypt and the Gulf of Suez on the west, the Israeli
Negev and the Gulf of Elat or Aqaba on the east, the Mediterranean
Sea to the north, and the Red Sea to the south. The peninsula is
divided into two geographic regions; the larger northern part is
a flat plain, while the southern part of the peninsula is mountainous,
its highest peak reaching 2,642 meters. During
the Byzantine period, the majority of the peninsula belonged
to Palaestina
Tertia (Dahari, 3). Though the monastery is far removed from
major trade routes, the larger Sinai Peninsula and its surrounding
waters were important for trade. Land routes leading to Syria
passed through the northern Sinai Peninsula, and routes leading
to the Red Sea followed the waterways of the Gulf of Suez and
the Gulf of Aqaba. These routes were often the start of the pilgrim’s
journey to Mount Sinai.
Moving on
now to the historical context for the monastery, we have three elements to
consider: monasticism, the development of the concept of the Holy Land, and
pilgrimage. Let’s start with monasticism. To begin by discussing
Justinian’s sixth-century monastery would be to start in the middle of
the story. Two centuries prior to the monastery’s construction,
Christian hermits began moving to the mountainous landscape at the heart of
the southern Sinai Peninsula (Dahari, 1). Archaeological surveys of the
area have identified seventy-two sites associated with Sinai’s monastic
communities, most of which are found in valleys and wadis high in the red granite
mountains. At the peak of Sinatic monasticism, toward the end of the
sixth century, south Sinai could have supported as many as six hundred monks
(Dahari, 167). These communities consisted of groups of cells, spread
a distance from one another. Hermits would gather on weekends for communal
prayer at a central location, usually consisting of a church and service buildings
(Hobbs, 63). Monks sustained themselves by farming in high, soil-filled
basins. The cultivation of fruits in monastic orchards in Sinai is well
documented (Dahari, 48). Archaeological excavations have yielded evidence
of peaches, apricots, grapes, almonds, prunes, plums, pomegranates, pears,
dates, and olives. Monks received wheat from Egypt and olive oil from
Palestine (Dahari, 158, 161). |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
