A Translation of the Four Gospels (Classic Reprint): From the Syriac of the Sinaitic Palimpsest: From the Syriac of the Sinaitic Palimpsest (Classic Reprint) - Tapa blanda

Excerpt from A Translation of the Four Gospels: From the Syriac of the Sinaitic Palimpsest

The convent of St. Katharine on Mount Sinai stands on the barren granite rocks of a narrow desert valley 4500 feet above the level of the Red Sea, and some 2800 feet below the summit of J ebel Mousa, on whose precipitous side it rests. A community of monks dwelt there from a very early period.

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Moses watering sheep at the well of Jethro; of the rock which gushed with water at the touch of his rod; of the burning bush which flamed on a spot now covered by the apse of the convent church; and of the cave, a thousand feet higher, where Elijah was fed by ravens, and where he heard the still small voice. Several other monasteries flourished in the rocky valleys of that wonderful block of pink granite mountains, of which the lower part is called Horeb, and the upper part Sinai; and numberless are the caves of hermits, chiefly Egyptian, who in those early days burrowed like rabbits amongst the sandstone or limestone cliffs of the desert peninsula. The convent of St. Katharine was in the sixth century turned into a fortress by Justinian, who surrounded it with a massive wall; and we may well imagine that as the smaller convents fell into decay, or were threatened by turbulent or fanatic Bedawiri, not only their monks but their manuscripts were transferred to it as to a place of safety. This may account for the wealth of literary treasures which have been accumulated within these ancient walls, where indeed there is little accommodation for their due keeping. The Greek MSS. catalogued by Gardhausen are about 1223 in number; the A rabic MSS., according to the list published by my sister, Mrs. Gibson, number about 629; the Syriac MSS. 267; and the Iberian MSS. perhaps 100. Some of these are neatly arranged on book-shelves, but the greater part are stored in chests, and are therefore inaccessible to any traveller who cannot make his wants known to the monks, and inspire them with confidence in his own integrity.
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