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![Sinai, St. Catherine's [Monastery]](https://cache.getarchive.net/Prod/thumb/cdn4/L3Bob3RvLzE4OTgvMDEvMDEvc2luYWktc3QtY2F0aGVyaW5lcy1tb25hc3RlcnktNC02NDAuanBn/40/29/webp "Sinai, St. Catherine's [Monastery]")
Sinai, St. Catherine's Monastery
Summary
Title from negative sleeve.
Photograph taken from the summit of Gebel Muneiga, looking northwest and showing the mountain slopes of Gebel 'Arribeh, Gebel El Dier (Selib-Baraka) and Gebel Meraja to the right, the hill of Nabi Harun (hill of Jethro) and mountain mass of Gebel El Sana' in centre-right, the triangular summit of Gebel Umm Gelekh and the enclave of El A'gramiya area below the summit to their left, El Raha Plain and the vicinity of Naqb El Hawa in the centre, El Tih Plateau in central Sinai in the far horizon from a 75km distance, the pointed summits of Gebel Naa'ga and Gebel Fara'a mountain range in centre-left, the eastern slopes of Gebel Rubsha (El Ghabsheh) to their left, the mountain slopes of Gebel Armaziya and Gebel El Sefsafa to the left, the orchard and fortress of Saint Catherine Monastery in the central area of Wadi El Dier (Biblical Holy Valley), and the camel dirt-track of Siqqat Abbas Basha to the summit of Mount Sinai (Biblical Sinai) and the pilgrimage caravan route to El Tur (Byzantine Raitho, on the Gulf of Suez) in the foreground. (Source: A. Shams, Sinai Peninsula Research, 2018)
El Raha Plain is dotted by prehistoric sites date back to Upper Paleolithic (37,000-34,000 BCE) and Pre-Pottery Neolithic (B) (6,700-6,000 BCE). El Raha Plain is recognised as the traditional location where the Israelites encamped at the foot of Biblical Mount Horeb. Nabatean (1st Century CE) and Byzantine monastic (4th-7th centuries CE) structures, in addition to mountain chapels, are scattered across Wadi El Dier (Biblical Holy Valley) and on the plateau of Biblical Mount Horeb and Mount Sinai, including ruined buildings (dwellings), hermit cells, prayer niches, rock-paved paths, rock inscriptions and agricultural plots (water dams, reservoirs & cisterns, conduits and retaining walls). Naqb El Hawa acted as the entry gate to Mount Sinai and Saint Catherine Monastery for pilgrims, travellers and scholars since 4th century CE. Saint Catherine Monastery was constructed in 545 CE by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I (527-565 CE). Siqqat Abbas Basha was constructed in 19th century CE. Abbas Helmi I, the Khedive of Egypt (1849-54), visited Sinai Peninsula in 1853-54 CE and paved several paths in the vicinity of Mount Sinai and along the pilgrimage routes in the peninsula. (Source: A. Shams, Sinai Peninsula Research, 2018)
Taken either by the American Colony Photo Department or its successor, the Matson Photo Service.
Guide card: Sinai.
Gift; Episcopal Home; 1978.
The G. Eric and Edith Matson Photograph Collection is a source of historical images of the Middle East. The majority of the images depict Palestine (present-day Israel and the West Bank) from 1898 to 1946. Most of the Library of Congress collection consists of over 23,000 glass and film photographic negatives and transparencies created by the American Colony Photo Department and its successor firm, the Matson Photo Service. The American Colony Photo Department in Jerusalem was one of several photo services operating in the Middle East before 1900. Catering primarily to the tourist trade, the American Colony and its competitors photographed holy sites, often including costumed actors recreating Biblical scenes. The firm’s photographers were residents of Palestine with knowledge of the land and people that gave them an advantage and made their coverage intimate and comprehensive. They documented Middle East culture, history, and political events from before World War I through the collapse of Ottoman rule, the British Mandate period, World War II, and the emergence of the State of Israel. The Matson Collection also includes images of people and locations in present-day Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Iraq, and Turkey. Additionally, the firm produced photographs from an East African trip. The collection came to the Library of Congress between 1966 and 1981, through a series of gifts made by Eric Matson and his beneficiary, the Home for the Aged of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Diocese of Los Angeles (now called the Kensington Episcopal Home).
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