Tucked at the base of Mount Moses in Egypt, St. Catherine’s Monastery, was built by Christian Emperor Justinian between 527 and 565 C.E. Tradition claims this is the spot where Moses spoke with God through the burning bush.
We reached Mt. Sinai just before noon – not a good time to be out in the desert sun. Fortunately, the weather was fairly cool, around 85 degrees. Located at the base of Mt. Sinai is St. Catherine’s Monastery. Christian Emperor Justinian built the monastery here in the 6th Century to honor an early Christian martyr, St. Katharine. Christians believed then, as they do today, that this is the place where Moses received the Ten Commandments from God. St. Katharine’s is a big tourist trap in the middle of a huge desert. You can’t walk five feet without someone trying to give you the hustle.
Still, the old walled monetary is impressive. It looks like some place out of an adventure story. Our plan had been to spend the night at St. Katharine’s, then climb the mountain early the next morning. Unfortunately, Suliman and the local hotels would only take cash. I didn’t have enough to cover both, so we just took some video footage of the mountain and St. Katharine’s, then headed back to Eilat.
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