https://www.bbc.com/news/business-44144527
I've longed to visit Sinai and spend a few days at St. Catherine's monastery with a will to absorb the atmosphere revealing its ancient roots. The monastery's collection of manuscripts are a constant source of wonder for experts researching the history of early Christian communities.
I quote:
The palimpsest revealed traces of Greek writing from the 5th or 6th Century, then Latin a century or so later, perhaps by hands trained in Rome and Sinai, then traces of two Anglo-Saxon scribes, before it was eventually used for the Arabic writing.
The presence of Anglo-Saxon scholars in Sinai lends credence to Prof Brown's hypothesis that Celtic sites like Skellig Michael, far off the west coast of Ireland, show evidence of the influence of Eastern monasticism.
In 625AD, Mohammed signed a charter "in aid of the Christians" with a gold handprint. A copy of this, guaranteeing the monastery's protection, hangs in the museum.
The Jebelaya tribe, local Bedouins, who have helped protect and run the monastery since it was built, are Muslim.
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