Mount SinaiAmid the high mountains of Egypt's southern Sinai Peninsula stands Jebel Musa, "Mount Moses," revered by most Christians and Muslims as Mount Sinai. (Jewish tradition holds that Mount Sinai should remain terra incognita, unlocated, and does not associate it with this mountain.) In this fascinating study, Joseph Hobbs draws on geography and archaeology, Biblical and Quranic accounts, and the experiences of people ranging from Christian monks to Bedouin shepherds to casual tourists to explore why this mountain came to be revered as a sacred place and how that very perception now threatens its fragile ecology and its sense of holy solitude. After discussing the physical characteristics of Jebel Musa and the debate that selected it as the most probable Mount Sinai, Hobbs fully describes all Christian and Muslim sacred sites around the mountain. He views Mount Sinai from the perspectives of the centuries-long inhabitants of the region--the monks of the Monastery of St. Katherine and the Jabaliya Bedouins--and of tourists and pilgrims, from medieval Europeans to modern travelers dispirited by Western industrialization. Hobbs concludes his account with the recent international debate over whether to build a cable car on Mount Sinai and with an unflinching description of the negative impact of tourism on the delicate desert environment. His book raises important, troubling questions for everyone concerned about the fate of the earth's wild and sacred places. |
From inside the book
Results 1-3 of 7
... deeds . Many early fourth - century monks of Sinai and Palestine were refugees from religious persecution in Egypt at the hands of then - pagan Romans . After Rome became Christian in 313 this pressure ceased , but there were new ...
... deeds in life , you go to hell . If you do good deeds , like fixing a bird's broken wing , helping a tired man , giving water to a thirsty beast , digging a well anyone may drink from , or planting a tree anyone may eat from , these ...
... Deeds of the most cold - blooded perfidy are by no means uncommon among these nomades , and strangers under their guid- ance and protection , nay , even their own kindred and brethren of the des- ert , are but too often the victims of ...
Contents
INTRODUCTION | 1 |
YOU WILL WORSHIP GOD ON THIS MOUNTAIN | 33 |
Three | 40 |
Copyright | |
10 other sections not shown
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
References to this book
Managing Sacred Sites: Service Provision and Visitor Experience Myra Shackley,Myra L. Shackley No preview available - 2001 |