Sinai. Ancient method of entering the monastery Monastery of St. Catherine

Title from: Catalogue of photographs made by the American Colony ... 1914.
Identified as Monastery of St. Catherine based on captions for negatives with neighboring numbers.
Photograph taken from Wadi El Dier (Biblical Holy Valley) at the foot of Gebel El Dier (Selib-Baraka), looking southeast and showing the northeastern wall 'northern wall for simplification' in the foreground from right to the centre, the hanging door and the tower of Saint Gregory in the centre, and the triangle-shape summit of Gebel Meraja in the background to the left, from a 1 km distance. (A. Shams, Sinai Peninsula Research, 2018)
Saint Catherine Monastery was constructed between 530 and 545 CE by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I (527-565 CE). "The length of the northwestern wall 'western wall for simplification' is 74.80 m, the northeastern wall 'northern wall for simplification' is 87.50 m long, the southeastern wall 'eastern wall for simplification' is 73.50 m and the southwestern wall 'southern wall for simplification' is 80.50 m. The thickness of the southwestern 'southern' wall is 2.75 m, while the other walls are narrower, reaching an average of 2 m" (Uzi Dahari, 2000). An earthquake partially destroyed the eastern and western walls in 1354 CE and were later restored by the bishop of Petra. There is a small chapel inside the northern wall behind the double-tower of St. Gregory. It could be easily reached via the wooden stairway of the museum in the northern alley inside the monastery. The hanging door was used for centuries to allow travellers and supplies inside the monastery, to distribute bread and food supplies on the Gebaliya, in addition to Mawtra tribe), and to avoid the danger of opening the main gate. NapoleonÆs commander in Egypt re-built the northern wall of the monastery in 1801 CE, after it had partially collapsed due to a falshflood following heavy rain in 1798 CE. (A. Shams, Sinai Peninsula Research, 2018)
Gift; Episcopal Home; 1978.