The present thesis examines the history of Hagia Koryphe, a mountain peak above the Monastery

447 Pages·2017·31.97 MB·English

Abstract: Hagia Koryphe (Jabal Musa) in Sinai, Egypt
The present thesis examines the history of Hagia Koryphe, a mountain peak above the
Monastery of Saint Catherine at South Sinai. It has been known for centuries as ‘Mount
Sinai,’ the place where Moses received the Law from God, as described in the Exodus.
The thesis explores Hie ways in which the landscape of Hagia Koryphe was experienced
and transformed using textual criticism, historical analysis, ait historical appreciation
and, for the fust time, archaeological interpretation. The narrative begins in the third
century AD, when the identification of the Biblical ‘Mount Sinai’ with Hagia Koryphe
was made, and extends to World War I.
Chapter 1 deals with the aims, method and problems of the research, the to­
ponymy and natural environment. Chapter 2 examines the Bedouin, the anchorites and
their relationship. An analysis of the material record from and textual references to
Hagia Koryphe in the Early Christian period follows. Chapter 3 delves into the building
programme of emperor Justinian (mid-sixth century). It presents written sources on and
describes the imperial foundations. Earlier research on the basilica of Hagia Koryphe
and the programme’s impact on locals are discussed. Chapter 4 covers the years
between the 630s and 1822: the continuation of earlier ways of life and the changes due
to the coming of Islam, the importance of Hagia Koryphe in Muslim tradition, die
collapse of the summit basilica and the cult of Saint Catherine. The medieval period
was dominated by the pilgrimage phenomenon and die patronage of Muslim rulers. In
Ottoman times the Monastery was consolidated within Orthodox hierarchy and the era
of pilgrimage ended. Chapter 5 examines the ‘Mount of the Law controversy’ and die
scholarly, artistic and tourist phenomenon of nineteenth century Sinai. The Epilogue
focuses on the future of Hagia Koryphe at the beginning of the twenty-first century.
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Hagia Koryphe (Jabal MOsa) in Sinai, Egypt
by
Georgios Manginis
School of Oriental and African Studies
Department of Art and Archaeology
University of London
Submitted in accordance with the requirement
for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
May 2010
HAGIA KORYPHE (JABAL MUSA) IN SINAI, EGYPT
Declaration
I hereby declare that the work presented in the thesis is my own.
Georgios Manginis
May 2010
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HAGIA KORYPHE (JABAL MUSA) IN SINAI, EGYPT
Abstract: Hagia Koryphe (Jabal Musa) in Sinai, Egypt
The present thesis examines the history of Hagia Koryphe, a mountain peak above
the Monasteiy of Saint Catherine at South Sinai. It has been known for centuries as
‘Mount Sinai,’ the place where Moses received the Law from God, as described in
Exodus. The thesis explores the ways in which the landscape of Hagia Koryphe was
experienced and transformed, using textual criticism, historical analysis, art histor­
ical appreciation and, for the first time, archaeological interpretation. The narrative
begins in the third century AD, when the identification of the Biblical ‘Mount Sinai’
with Hagia Koryphe was made, and extends to World War I.
Chapter 1 deals with the aims, method and problems of the research, the to­
ponymy and natural environment. Chapter 2 examines the Bedouin, the anchorites
and their relationship. An analysis of the material record from and textual
references to Hagia Koryphe in the Early Christian period follows. Chapter 3 delves
into the building programme of the emperor Justinian (mid-sixth century). It
presents written sources on and describes the imperial foundations. Earlier research
on the basilica of Hagia Koryphe and the programme’s impact on locals are
discussed. Chapter 4 covers the years between the 630s and 1822: the continuation
of earlier ways of life and the changes due to the coming of Islam, the importance
of Hagia Koryphe in Muslim tradition, the collapse of the summit basilica and the
cult of Saint Catherine. The medieval period was dominated by the pilgrimage
phenomenon and the patronage of Muslim rulers. In Ottoman times the Monastery
was consolidated within Orthodox hierarchy and the era of pilgrimage ended.
Chapter 5 examines the ‘Mount of the Law controversy’ and the scholarly, artistic
and tourist phenomenon of nineteenth-century Sinai. The Epilogue focuses on the
future of Hagia Koryphe at the beginning of the twenty-first century.
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HAGIA KORYPHE (JABAL MUSA) IN SINAI, EGYPT
TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES..........................................................................................8
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS............................................................................................................17
1. INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................19
1.1. Scope of the thesis and previous research....................................................19
1.2. Limitations........................................................................................................................22
1.3. Outline.................................................................................................................................25
1.4. Toponymy...........................................................................................................................27
1.5. Natural setting............................................................................................................31
1.5.1. Early scientific research in South Sinai................................................31
1.5.2. Geology...................................................................................................34
1.5.3. Geomorphology......................................................................................35
1.5.4. Climate, flora and fauna........................................................................39
2. HOLY WILDERNESS.............................................................................................................43
2.1. The people of the desert............................................................................................44
2.1.1. The Jabdliyya.........................................................................................54
2.2. The coming of the anchorites...............................................................................56
2.2.1. A troubled coexistence............................................................................65
2.2.1.1. Bedouin lore and the ‘Book of Rain’....................................................67
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HAGIA KORYPHE (JABAL MUSA) IN SINAI, EGYPT
2.3. Early buildings on Hagia Koryphe.................................. 70
2.4. Early sources on Hagia Koryphe........................................................................77
2.4.1. Egeria......................................................................................................79
2.4.2. Theodoret.................................................................................................83
2.4.3. Ammonios................................................................................................85
2.4.4. Prokopios.................................................................................................88
2.4.5. The Piacenza pilgrim..............................................................................90
2.4.6. Anastasios................................................................................................91
2.5. Conclusion........................................................................................................................94
3. IMPERIAL LANDSCAPE................................................................................101
3.1. Sources on Justinian’s buildings at Horeb..................................................102
3.1.1. Prokopios...........................................................................................103
3.1.2. Eutychios...........................................................................................105
3.1.3. Anastasios..........................................................................................108
3.1.4. Synaxarium Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae...................................109
3.1.5. ‘Abu’l-Makarim’ and al-MaqrlzT....................................................110
3.2. The fortress, basilica and other buildings at Wadi 'l-Dayr 113
3.3. The basilica on Hagia Koryphe and associated finds...........................123
3.3.1. Previous research on the Hagia Koiyphe basilica..........................130
3.3.1.1. Nineteenth-century visitors...........................................................131
3.3.1.2. M.-J. Lagrange (1897) andB. Meistennann (1909).................... 133
3.3.1.3. Peter Grossmann (published 1989)............................................. 135
3.3.1.4. Uzi Dahari (published 2000)........................................................135
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HAGIA KORYPHE (JABAL MUSA) IN SINAI, EGYPT
3.4. A MONASTIC CENTRE.......................................................................................................138
3.5. Conclusion......................................................................................................................144
4. PLACE OF DEVOTION.......................................................................................................149
4.1. The Early Islamic Period......................................................................................151
4.1.1. Itinerant monks and indomitable pilgrims..........................................160
4.1.2. The conversion of the laymen to Islam................................................165
4.1.3. The destruction of the Hagia Koryphe basilica...................................169
4.1.4. Saint Catherine......................................................................................171
4.2. The Age of Pilgrim age..............................................................................................178
4.2.1. Islamic patronage.................................................................................184
4.2.2. Early medieval pilgrims (ninth to thirteenth centuiy)........................195
4.2.2.1. Jewish pilgrimage..........................................................................................200
4.2.3. Late medieval pilgrims (fourteenth to fifteenth centuiy)....................202
4.3. The Ottoman Period...................................................................................................210
4.3.1. An era of insecurity..............................................................................210
4.3.2. Western pilgrims and travellers..........................................................213
4.3.3. Orthodox Sinai.....................................................................................220
4.3.3.1. Greek pilgrim guidebooks: theproskynetaria........................................225
4.4. Conclusion.....................................................................................................................227
5. OBJECT OF ENQUIRY......................................................................................................235
5.1. ‘The Age of Enlightenm ent’..............................................................................238
5.1.1. Sinaitic inscriptions............................................................................240
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HAGIA KORYPHE (JABAL MUSA) IN SINAI, EGYPT
5.1.2. Questioning Sinai: the ‘Mount of the Law controversy ’.................243
5.2. Alternative Sinais...................................................................................................259
5.2.1. Jabal Sirbal.......................................................................................262
5.2.2. Hagia Zone........................................................................................264
5.2.3. Hagioi Theodoroi, Hagia Aikaterine and other peaks...................265
5.2.4. Hagia Koryphe and the Ordnance Smwey of the Peninsula of Sinai 266
5.2.5. The formidable Dr Charles Tilstone Beke.........................................269
5.3. A CENTRE OF ORTHODOX LIFE.....................................................................272
5.4. Treasure hunters and scholars........................................................................278
5.5. Artists...............................................................................................................................284
5.6. Tourists.............................................................................................................................292
5.7. Conclusion.....................................................................................................................298
6. EPILOGUE.....................................................................................................307
6.1. The Hagia Koryphe excavation and the future of the site.........309
APPENDIX I. TEXTS..........................................................................................312
APPENDIX II. PILGRIMS AND TRAVELLERS.............................................332
BIBLIOGRAPHY.................................................................................................341
ABBREVIATIONS...............................................................................................341
FIGURES..............................................................................................................393
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HAGIA KORYPHE (JABAL MUSA) IN SINAI, EGYPT
LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES
Keys to the figures included in the plates are not given in this list.
Figure 1. Sinai Peninsula. Map of the principal mountains and valleys. From
Greenwood 1997: ix.
Figure 2. Sinai Peninsula. Map of the geomorphic regions. From Greenwood
1997: 27, figure 3-1.
Figure 3. Horeb. Map of the area. From Greenwood 1997: 44, figure 3-12.
Figure 4. Horeb. Satellite photograph of the area. From Google Earth, 2008,
amended by the author.
Figure 5. Hagia Koryphe. Photographic view from the summit, looking W-NW.
Photograph by the author, May 2003.
Figure 6. Hagia Koryphe, Photographic views from the summit, looking E-SE.
Photograph by the author, May 2003.
Figure 7. Horeb. Map of holy places. From Meinardus 1962: map V.
Figure 8. Hagia Koryphe. Ground-plan. Drawing by Petros Koufopoulos and Marina
Koufopoulou, revised by the author. From Panagiotide et al 1998: 20.
Figure 9. Hagia Koryphe. Photographic view from the east. Photograph by the
author, March 2002,
Figure 10. Hagia Koryphe. Photographic view from the west. Photograph by the
author, May 2003.
Figure 11. Prophetes Helias. Photographic view from Hagia Koryphe, looking
south. Photograph by the author, March 2002.
Figure 12. Hagia Episteme. Photographic view from the northeastern slope of
Horeb. Photograph by the author, May 2003.
Figure 13. Hagia Koryphe. The mosque. Photographic view from the east.
Photograph by the author, March 2002.
Figure 14. Hagia Koryphe. Cave A. Photographic view from the north. Photograph
by the author, May 2003.
Figure 15. Gateway of Confession and steps to Hagia Koryphe (‘Path of Moses’).
Photographic view looking down. Photograph by the author, May 2003.
Figure 16. Gateway of Saint Stephen and steps to Hagia Koryphe (‘Path of Moses’).
Photographic view looking down. Photograph by the author, May 2003.
Figure 17. Hagioi Theodoroi and ‘Path of the Pasha.’ Photographic view looking
east. Photograph by the author, May 2003.
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