A History of Sinai

by Lina Eckenstein

On the other side of the peninsula, the appropriation of Aila by the Crusaders called for interference. Saladdin, in 1170, had a fleet built, with which he sailed around the peninsula, and attacked and retook Aila. But the enterprising Renaud de Chatillon (the Alaïris of Makrizi) collected material for ships on the Dead Sea, conveyed them to the Gulf of Akaba on camel-back, and seized Aila from where he pillaged the coast, and made piratical descents on the shipping for over a year. The small island, Iotabe, later Emrag, the present Zigiret el Faraun, lies at a short distance from Aila. It has no harbour, but is almost entirely built over by a castle with squared towers in the mediæval style. The work was probably begun in Roman times, but was added to by Renaud de Chatillon. But in 1184 Melek el Adel (Abu Bakr, 1199-1218), the brother of Saladdin (1171-1193), came with a fleet to Aila and attacked and finally routed the Franks. Advancing across the country he re-conquered Petra, which henceforth remained under Moslim rule.

In the meantime the monks were profiting by the good graces of neighbouring prelates. In 1203 the archbishop of Crete, described as “a lover of St. Katherine, the Virgin,” bestowed on the monks of Sinai property in Crete which represented an annual income of four hundred ducats,[251] whereupon Simeon, bishop of Sinai went into Crete, where he built a priory (μετόχιον). In 1204 the Venetians acquired the whole island of Crete by purchase from Boniface, marquis of Montferrat, and Simeon went to Venice where losses incurred by the monks, were made good to him.[252] A letter is extant of the Doge Pietro Ziani of 1211, in which he confirmed the ruler of Mount Sinai in the possessions which he held in Crete. It describes the ruler as “archbishop,” which seems to be the earliest use of this title. Crete remained in the power of the city of Venice till 1645, and letters are extant from successive doges which confirm the rights held by the monks in the island.[253]

From Venice Simeon probably went to Rome, where a general synod was convened by Pope Innocent III (1198-1216) in 1211. Its purpose was to discuss the state of the Holy Land, “where the son of the bondswoman (i.e. Hagar), the most detestable Agarenes, hold our Mother of all the faithful in bondage.”[254] A sermon in Arabic, written by Simeon, “bishop of Sinai,” is among the MSS. of the Vatican.[255] In the Regesta of Pope Honorius III (1216-27) we come across repeated mention of Simeon, bishop of Sinai. A grant of 1217 gave the protection of St. Peter to the Monastery of the Virgin at the foot of the mountain and to its possessions; another confirmed the bishop of Sinai and his chapter in those possessions which they held at the time of the great synod (of 1211) or had acquired since; others advised the bishop of Crete to respect the monks and hold them exempt from paying tithes on the property which they held in Crete.[256] In the year 1226 Pope Honorius granted a bull to Simeon and the monks of Sinai, “of the order of St. Basil.” It is difficult to procure the text; its wording was probably much the same as that of a bull granted in confirmation of it by Pope Gregory IX (1221-41), of which a copy was preserved at the convent. This bull enumerated the possessions which the convent held in those countries over which the Pope claimed authority by virtue of the conquests made by the Crusaders.

Photo: Exclusive News Agency.

Fig. 19.—Zigiret el Faraun.

The bull[257] first named Roboe, Fucra, Luach, places that have not been identified. Mention was then made of Rayton (i.e. Raithou), with its palm groves and property; of houses and property near the city of Egypt (i.e. Cairo); land on the Red Sea; property and palm groves in Faran; rights (obedientia) in the church of St. Michael in Alexandria, and liberty of transit by land and water; vineyards and olive groves in the valley of Moses (i.e. near Petra); in Monreale, houses, a mill, vineyards and olive groves; property in Croce (not identified); in Jerusalem, rights in the church of St. Michael, houses and a bakehouse; in Jaffa, houses and land; near Acre, houses and the church of St. Katherine; in Laodichea (near the sources of the Orontes), the hospital of St. Demetrios and a house; in Damascus, the church of St. George, houses and property; at Odaverosa (not identified), houses, land and vineyards; near Antioch, a house and a bakehouse; near Constantinople, rights in the church of St. George of Mangana; in Crete, extensive property, including several churches with land pertaining thereto, several mills, vineyards, etc.; in the island of Cyprus, houses, vineyards, woods, rights of pasture and of trading.

Simeon, who secured the Papal recognition to these rights, was bishop of Sinai from 1203 to 1253, according to Gregoriades. But the list of bishops which was compiled at the convent by Nectarius named Euthymius in 1223; Macarius (I) in 1224; Germanus in 1228; Theodosius in 1239; and Macarius (II) in 1248, who was named also in an ancient Arabic MS.[258] In the year 1258 the ruler was again Simeon. Some writers hold that this was the same Simeon who went to Europe, and possibly he was the suffragan of the Catholic bishop of Petra. The statements regarding him are difficult to reconcile. According to Gregoriades, the monks of Sinai, owing to the liberality of the Crusaders, owned property also in Tripoli and Gaza, and the produce of these places and that of Damascus was so plentiful as almost to supply their entire needs.

In the year 1216 a truce was concluded between the Sultan of Egypt and the Christians, which restored freedom of movement to the pilgrims. Magister Thietmar,[259] who was in the Holy Land, availed himself of it “to carry out his fervent wish to visit the body of the blessed St. Katherine which exuded the sacred oil” (c. 8). In order to do so with impunity he adopted the appearance of a Georgian monk (c. 28), and journeyed by way of Mount Abarim, where Moses died, Mount Neb, Mount Phasga (Pisgah) and Mount Phagor in the land of the Moabites and Midian. By way of Roba he reached Crach and Petra, in Gallic Monreal, in Saracenic Scobach, where there was a great fortress that belonged to the Sultan of Babylon, and where Christians and Saracens dwelt in the suburbs. Here a Gallic widow gave him advice and provided him with food, and the Boidiwinos (Bedawyn) undertook to take him to Mount Sinai along a road that was known to none but themselves and to bring him back dead or alive. Leaving Kadesh Barnea on the right, he crossed the desert of Pharan, and reached the Red Sea and a fort (Aila), where captive Franks, English and Latins lived on fishing (c. 17). Three days later he reached Mount Sinai, “which the Saracens called Tur Sin.” He was much impressed by the church of the Virgin which was resplendent with marble, and roofed with lead, and contained many hanging lamps. The monks were Greeks and Syrians, and their food included fish which was brought from the Red Sea and many things from Babylon (Cairo). The original Bush of Moses being no longer in existence, a golden bush (aureus rubus), hung with golden images of the Lord and of Moses, had taken its place. Small stones, engraved with a bush, were cut or dug up (effodiantur) which served against all infirmities. When the Sultan (probably Melek el Adel, 1199-1218) came there, he took off his shoes before entering the chapel (c. 20).

In the convent church stood the tomb of St. Katherine, a small chest of white marble. The bishop, hearing of the arrival of Thietmar and his wish to see the relics, approached the chest with prayer and incense, and had the cover removed. Thietmar saw the relics of St. Katherine and kissed her bared head. The limbs still hung together and were steeped in oil, which “exuded from the bones, not from the sarcophagus, like drops of sweat.”