West of Casium lay Gerra, from Greek gerrhon, a shield, a name which corresponds in meaning with Shur, Hebrew for wall, in the Bible. “Shur that is before Egypt as thou goest toward Assyria” (Gen. xxv. 18). Brugsch identified it as the Egyptian Aneb.[137]
Gerra was known also as the camp of Chabrias, the Athenian general, who entered the service of the Pharaoh Nectanebo (XXX 1, b.c. 378-61), and later commanded the forces of his successor Zeher (XXX 2), in opposing the Persian invasion of Egypt. The cities along the Mediterranean coast were at the distance of a Roman day’s march, about 14 miles, from each other. Titus on his march from Egypt for the conquest of Jerusalem, pitched his camp in succession near the temple of the Casian Jupiter, at Ostracine, at Rhinocorura and at Raphia, as recorded by Josephus (Wars, IV. 11, 5). On the Table Peutinger, the Roman road map of the second century, land and water are roughly marked with the stations along the roads of communication. On this Table along the shore of the Mediterranean we note Gerra (?) miles to Casium, 26 miles to Ostracine, 24 miles to Rhinocorura, 28 miles to Raphia.
CHAPTER X
THE HERMITS IN SINAI
A NEW era in the history of Sinai began with the advent of the Christian hermit. The desert has ever been the home of liberty. The desire to follow the New Way, coupled with the need of escaping the Roman governor, drove many Christians into the wilderness, where, remote from the claims and the unrest of citizen life, they embraced life in a form which meant reducing physical needs to a minimum.
This life in itself was no new departure. Again and again in the course of history, a recoil from civilisation led men to seek enlightenment in remoteness, simplicity and solitude. Elijah the Tishbite, with rough mantle and flowing locks; John the Baptist, who lived on locusts and wild honey; the Essenes in Palestine, and the Therapeutæ near Alexandria, were one and all actuated by the belief that a higher life is possible here below, provided that the amenities and the comforts of this world count as nothing.
The hermits who came to dwell in Sinai, settled in the mountains of the south where many natural springs rendered possible the cultivation of vegetables and fruit, their staple articles of diet. Here they were outside the sphere of Roman influence. The extent of this influence can be gauged by the Table Peutinger.
On this Table two roads, the one coming from Syria, the other from Egypt, lead to Pharan in Sinai proper. The road from Egypt passed Arsinoë, Clesma, Lacus Mar, and a station, the name of which is obliterated, but which Weill reads as Medeia. From this it was 80 miles to Pharan. The road from Syria, starting from Jerusalem, passed Oboda, Lyssa, Cypsana, Rasa, Ad Dianam (later Ghadiana), i.e. Aila, from where it was 60 miles to Pharan. Pharan was no doubt the κωμὴ, i.e. village Pharan of Ptolemy, the later seat of the episcopate. This was, therefore, the southernmost point of Roman administration in the peninsula. It was beyond this, among the mountains of the south and on the coast near Tur, that the hermits settled by preference.