The burning bush
Where God spoke to Moses.
Gerd Eichmann — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Adolf Meckel von Hemsbach — CC0 · Валерий Дед — CC BY 3.0 · Hatem Moushir — CC BY-SA 4.0 · patano — CC BY-SA 3.0 · youssef_alam — CC BY 3.0 · Валерий Дед — CC BY 3.0 · Florian Prischl — CC BY-SA 3.0
The world's oldest continuously inhabited Christian monastery, at the foot of Mount Sinai in the heart of the South Sinai mountains, built by the Byzantine emperor Justinian between 548 and 565 AD around the spot held to be the burning bush where God spoke to Moses, peace be upon him. Massive fortress-like stone walls enclose it, and inside are the Byzantine Church of the Transfiguration with its icons and mosaic, the bush itself and the Well of Moses. Among its most striking features is a small Fatimid mosque built within its walls in 1106, and the monastery keeps a copy of a covenant of protection for its monks attributed to the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. Its library, one of the oldest working libraries in the world, holds rare manuscripts in many languages and a collection of icons among the oldest Christian icons known. The Saint Catherine Area was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2002 for its standing in three faiths. The ministry list shows no ticket for it; it opens only in the mornings for a few hours, roughly nine to noon, and closes on Sundays and religious holidays, so check times before going. It is about three hours by car from Sharm el-Sheikh and usually paired with a night climb of Mount Sinai.
Where God spoke to Moses.
Inside the walls.
Rare manuscripts, icons.
Saint Catherine, South Sinai, at the foot of Mount Sinai
The classic plan is to climb the mountain at night for sunrise at the summit, then come down to the monastery as it opens, on an overnight trip from Sharm or Dahab.
