In the wee hours of the morning, under a moonlight terrain, the assembly of pilgrims and visitors alike, some mounted on camels have arrived at the last camel terminus, just before a basin. The final ascent to the summit of Mount Sinai (Jebel Musa) at 2,285 metres consisted of 750 slabs of stones courtesy of some medieval monks, begins, and was only slightly more than half an hour away. Unfazed by the scent of dry dung, a single traffic file of humans making their way cautiously in a moving mass up the ancient stairway. Minutes thereafter, at a bend; a young boy was seen laying down flat on his back besides the steps. "Its rare for a hiker to assume such a position at a slope", I muttered to myself, "Someone is in trouble here". I quickly exit the column of steps and make my way towards the boy who is being attended by a woman.........
A tall Egyptian man hopped into our bus and proceeded to sit behind the driver. As he was sitting down, he unbuttoned his cream suit and unintentionally revealed a gun pouch at his side. The bus was carrying 45 Jerusalem-bound Malaysian pilgrims from Cairo to the foothills of Mount Sinai in the Egyptian Peninsula. He was not formally introduced to us so we can only assumed that he was a security personnel attached to our entourage.
Leaving behind Cairo and heading towards the plains in the desert etched an unforgetable experience in my mind. Hailing from a rainforest country, her jungles are teeming in foliage of vegetation and trees where the myrid hues of green are the norm. Here, nothing grows, the vast wilderness of the terrain consists of sand, peebles, stones, rocks and bare hillsides with its own spectrum hues of brown; not even a single leaf to be seen miles after miles and such landscape momentarily dampened one's spirit! A great empathy arose to think of the fate of the aging Moses, a biblical prophet who set out to lead thousands of Israelites across the desert in searing heat to the Promised Land.
Upon reaching the 1.63 km-long Ahmed Hamdi Tunnel which spans from the town of Suez on the African mainland to the Asian Sinai Peninsula, our Egyptian guide warned that no photos were to be taken near the entrance; just as a machine gun nest loomed into view mere metres away from the side of the bus. A jubilant mood prevailed in the bus as it thundered through the tunnel under the Suez Canal. During the period of Moses, the sea miraculously split in the middle for his people to cross the Red Sea while we get to sneak through below it!
The bus arrived at a traditional site, the sixth station of the wandering Israelites from the biblical exodus era at a place called Marah. A fountain whose waters were so bitter that prompted the Jewish people to start murmuring in earnest throughout the entire journey. Moses promptly threw a log which took away its bitterness. Presently, this hamlet with a faraway view of the Red Sea contains a long row of huts selling trinkets and other souvenirs. Among the palm trees, there are several scavenging sheeps and near a centuries-old well, the Malaysian pilgrims lead by our Pastor Richard T. read a passage from the bible, prayed, and reflected on this episode.
Our second stop was for lunch at a secluded beach resort facing the Gulf of Suez. Moving on to our next destination is Elim; site of another camp of the ancient Israelites with a few springs and tall palm trees. In a distance, the barren hills shimmering in colours of long horizontal broad lines of dark and light brown being laid out under each other along its slopes were a pictureque sight! Under the shelter of the leaves of tall palm trees, our group had a short prayer session and a reflection before departing from the area.
Our bus came to a stop beside a road and across it lies a small hill where Moses once stood on it and directed the fierce battle that erupted between his people and the Amalekites which ended with the latter defeat. In Rephidim too,. Moses had to strike a rock with his staff and miraculeously water came out forth to save his thirsty people. As we approached the rocky foothills with its peak sporting sharp potruding edges, curious locals swarmed around us and later watched us prayed solemnly at the site.
Shortly after that, we continued our journey along the sides of the rocky outcrop towards a mountaineous region. Later the bus came into a halt and jolted me out of my nap. My cheek was leaning on a glass window and as soon as my eyes opened, I noticed the barrel of a mounted machine gun stood pointing out towards the road.. A soldier standing next to it on a platform was slightly bemused at the startled look on my face. Our Egyptian guide generously offered some mineral bottles and promptly handed over to one of the soldiers stationed at the checkpoint. Our final stop for the night is the St. Catherine Motel, located a few kilometres from the foot of Mount Sinai.
We arrived at our destination in the late afternoon. The motel is among a handful at the oasis, within the 4,350 sq ft of Saint Katherine Protectorate established in 1996, which emcompasses the mountains of Sinai (Jebel Musa) and Saint Catherine. At about 2.00 am the bus deposited us near the high walls of St Catherine Monastery to embark at the trailhead to Mount Sinai.
Local legend says that an imprint of a calf was the mould
used by the ancient Israelites to shape a "Golden Calf"
while Moses was at the peak.
Behind the forbidden looking walls, lie a scrub of the original bush, widely known as the Burning Bush which played a pivotal role in not only luring Moses over while tending to his flock of sheeps but also attracted countless monks, hermits and early Christians seeking refuge from presecution from pagan Rom. No less touching than the many tales that survive until this day is the story of a couple, Galaktion and Episteme. Galaktion was born to a pagan childless couple resulting from a prayer to the Lord. Eventually, he met Episteme, married her and settled in Sinai with their followers as a monk and nun respectively but living separately. When the presecution of Christians surfaced here, they were hauled up, brought to Alexandria and tortured based upon their faith. On the day of their martydoms in AD 271 by the sword, they were finally reunited albeit a short time. St. Galaktion was 30 years-old while St. Episteme was just sixteen. The ruins of a monastery and a cave were named after them can still be spotted at the slopes of Mount Sinai along the Camel's Trail.
Decades later in AD 330, a small church and a tower were added at the site of the Burning Bush as ordered by Empress Helena, mother of the first Christian Emperor of Rome, Constantine. When hostilities escalated in the region in the 6th century, Byzantine Emperor Justinian ordered a fortified monastery to be created. The decendants of the soldiers and servants from the Justinian era who intermarried the local nomads, assimilated into their culture and beliefs, are found among the Jebeliyah Bedouin. They have a symbiotic relationship with the residents of St Catherine Monastery throughout the centuries. While the Jebeliyah Bedouin assisted and tried to protect the monks from threats and turmoil in the region in the past, in return, they are employ as general workers; and any unsettled disputes among them are refer to the Archbishop to resolve.
Unlike most of the Malaysians who prefered to ride the camels, accompanied by the cameleers, I'd opted for a hike up the gradual meandering slopes to the last terminus. After awhile, I saw my fellow pilgrim, Henry dismounted from his camel and seemingly unzipping his pants! Upon reaching him, he bitterly complained that he felt uncomfortable riding the camel along the gradual slopes as the potruding pegs at both ends of the saddle were hitting his crotch. He had to make an adjustment; whatever that means! Before the trip, the guys were instructed to bring and use a tampon for the camel ride but Henry didn't realised it then.
At the last terminus and after sipping tea for one US dollar, we were ready for the final leg of the ascent. A boy was lying down at the side of the staircase and beside him was his sister and mother fanning away. I offered my assistance and upon hearing my voice, the boy raised up his head slightly and slowly sat up. The Europeans started hiking the night before for the summit and were coming down when the boy was too exhausted to continue. I promptly gave him some chocolates which were entrusted to me by another fellow lady pilgrim at the start of the hike. What a coincidence! After wishing them a safe return, I quickly rejoined my group and set off for the summit.
Moses was handed the Ten Commandments by God at the summit. Thus, there is a willful expectation as one treads on the holy mountain. For the Jebeliyah Bedouins who have revered it since time immemorial, asking for good health and blessing for fertility are the norm. For the monks and pilgrims of the past and future, Mount Sinai is a place of worship to the Lord. Personally, I have asked for a sign or a message and it came quite discreetly via my walking pole or staff! While standing on a flat boulder waiting for the sunrise at the summit, my pole fell into an elongated crack, one and a half inches wide. It rested in a horizontal position, six inches in the boulder. Having regarded it as a momento, various ways were used to haul it out from its fixed position but all in vain. Finally, in a last ditch effort with a bit more light, and after surveying the crack that extended to the edge of the boulder, an idea struck in my head! With both hands holding another pole like a golf club, I slowly putted the pole along the crack and, hey presto, out of the boulder in mere seconds.
So, the subtle message was that a simple solution will present itself in due time by looking at matters in a wider perspective rather than a fixed one. Amen!
"Nothing can exceed the savage grandeur of the view from the summit of Mount Sinai. The infinite complication of jagged peaks and varied ridges, and their prevalent intensely red and greenish tints" ~~~ Edward Hall, 1885
Catching the sunrise and looking at such a beautiful landscape warms ones' soul whilst the breeze softly caressing our face. The Malaysian pilgrims sang a few Christians songs atop the summit among the different nationalities standing around, near an Orthodox church which was rebuilt in 1934.
Every mountain has a story to tell and few revered as holy mountains. Critics have a field day disputing not only whether Mount Sinai or locally known as Jebel Musa (Moses Mountain) is the actual one mentioned in the bible, but also if the exodus led by Moses ever happened at all. Hitherto, the legacies left behind by the believers and the faithful are unrefutable. Saint Catherine Monastery, the beacon of a sentinel stands proudly from a different era, and the existence of the Jebeliyah Bedouins are the surviving and living testaments of these legacies.
As we were getting off the peak and down to the foothills of Mount Sinai, the woman and children of the local Bedouins were standing along the trail trying to peddle trinkets. However, the gleam in their eyes betrayed an indomitable spirit in this God trodden-land; and the holy mountain, yet unrivaled, by any.
