Title |
Text of paper read at American Philosophical Society meeting on St. Catherine's Monastery |
Alternative Title |
0480_023_009_Descriptive_Misc_1960_Stapled_Set_12 |
Creator |
Atiya, Aziz Suryal, 1898-1988 |
Contributor |
Atiya, Aziz Suryal, 1898-1988; Prevost, Louis; Rabino, Hyacinth Louis, 1877-1950 |
Publisher |
Digitized by J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah |
Date |
1951-04 |
Spatial Coverage |
Sinai (Egypt); Philadelphia (Pa. ) |
Subject |
Atiya, Aziz Suryal, 1898-1988; Prevost, Louis; Rabino, Hyacinth Louis, 1877-1950; History; Lectures; Monastery of Saint Catherine (Mount Sinai); Monasteries; Architecture--Religious aspects--Christianity; Basilica; Foreign languages; Microfilms--1950-1980; Microfilming; Manuscripts; Preservation; Expeditions & surveys--1940-1950 |
Description |
Text of paper read at American Philosophical Society meeting on St. Catherine's Monastery at Mount Sinai, dated Apr. 1951. Paper discusses history of the monastery, the Mount Sinai manuscript project and the microfilming of manuscripts, and describes the architecture and layout of monastery grounds |
Type |
Text |
Genre |
Reports |
Format |
application/pdf |
Collection Name |
0480_023_009 |
Collection Number and Name |
0480_023_009 Aziz Suryal Atiya Papers |
Language |
eng |
Rights |
|
Relation |
http://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv99560 |
Conversion Specifications |
Original scanned on Epson Expression 10000 XL and saved as 400 ppi TIFF. Display image generated in CONTENTdm |
Scanning Technician |
Niko Amaya |
File Name |
0480_023_009_Descriptive_Misc_1960_Stapled_Set_12.pdf |
ARK |
ark:/87278/s6gq7qh5 |
Setname |
uum_asap |
ID |
781456 |
Reference URL |
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6gq7qh5 |
Title |
Page 4 |
Format |
application/pdf |
OCR Text |
Show I m k m authentic collection of its and in the whole world. Together wth the mosaics and vestments, they offer a fine field for another expedition. Next to the Cathedral lies the mosque which was built in 1106 A.D. for Muslim pilgrims traversing this Holy Valley on their way to Mecca and for the Jebellya tribesmen whose descendants still serve the monks as they did in the days of yore. The mosque is a simple rectangular building with two massive miliars ending in great arches carrying the roof. The minaret, situated to the east and facing the church belfry, is a detached tower nearly ten meters high. Towards the north-east extremity is to be found the refectory - a vaulted chamber of 17 meters in length and 5 in width with four thick arcades. It is difficult to know with precision whether this was origin-alll^ built in Byzantine times as a refectory or as a chapel. It still has an altar in an eastern niche. Its walls are adorned with a painting of "The Last Judgment" dated 1573 and 'The Apparition of the Trinitv sow- Abraham" dated 1577 as well as a multitude of »odernjfre^c©s4iierawiacap^iTT.s Father Pachomius who is anoutstanding artist and a great recluse. During the Later Middle Ages, the refectory became a dormitory for Latin pilgrims who left numerous numerous dated inscriptions and heraldic signs engraved on its walls. The refectory contains two long tables of unusual beauty for their remaissance ornam«aJjal carvings. But the Library may justly be regarded as the most remarkable of all the treasures in the Monastery. It was on account of its priceless manuscripts that the Library of Congress, in conjunction with Farouk I Jni-versity (Alexandria - Egypt) and the American Foundation for thestudy of Man (BNev York) launched the Mt. Sinai Expedition to microfilm those ancient works of reference which will change the face of Biblical and othor studies. Thus for the first time in history, the year 1950 saw such tremendous activities as the monks had never witnessed before in the long history of their convent. The dinn of electrical generators, the dazzling floodlights for the microfilm cameras, and a batalllon of scholars and technicians from the Old and Hew Worlds mingled with the bearded Fathers and transformed the languid atmosDhere and a sleepy peace into a busy beehive of workers clustered around the Library, In less than six months, nearly a million folios of manuscripts in twelve languages were microfilmed, a record hitherto unattained in the history of mankind. The Expedition has revealed that all previous estimates of the manuscripts accumulated In this Library are very modest. The total number of the codices and scrolls taken together is now known to surpass 5000 pieces in "" ' " ""'' ^-^-^ -*•'-••-'- Co] monkL _ _ _.-. _... . . „, - from all parts of the Byzantine Empire brought with them their manuscript treasures. Some of these acquisitions were even older than the Monastery Itself. The best known example of this f^^TY ls ™f/curth century Greek Bible called the "Codex Sinaiticus". This was discovered by a German scholar named Tischendorff around the middle of the nineteenth century. He carried it with him to old St. Petersburg and presented it tcythe Tzar of Russia. In recent tines and after the World War I it was sold to the British I*useum in London for 100,000 pounds In gold. The memory of Tischendorff is still recalled with embitterment by the monks who candidly call him "the thief". - Other examples of great antiquity are the Pallft>s«sts ofMt. Sinai. Owing to shortage cs£'..parchment:jat)iCoraJaSiif3iImeMi-^ seribls dismantled older |
Setname |
uum_asap |
ID |
781452 |
Reference URL |
https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6gq7qh5/781452 |