| Show EXT to the holy land the most interesting region in the world to biblical scholars is the Sin altic peninsula in one respect it is even more interesting than the holy land for the wealth of relics and manuscripts which it contains has hardly been touched by modern investigators an important movement has now been started by the universities scholars und religious leaders of england to conduct a thorough search of the monastery ot st catherine on mount sinai here it is believed that the oldest existing bible manuscripts are to be found discoveries already made indicate with practical certainty that these manuscripts must be there but for peculiar reasons very little ress has been in searching for them during he bears 1844 1853 and the german scholar tischendorf spent much time exploring the monastery library the monks were then very simple and hos pliable and quite unfamiliar with the ways of the outside world they allowed tischendorf to do as he pleased in the library he used this liberty with stupendously profitable results to himself he discovered the oldest known greek manuscript of the bible now known as tho co dex by some scholars it is dated as early as the fourth century and in that case it Is the oldest practically complete manuscript of the bible it consists of most of the old testa ment all the new testament and the epistle of barnabas this wonderful collection of manuscripts tisch endert carried away without saying a word to the monks there are doubtless collectors today who would give 1 l tor these manuscripts when the monks slowly realized that they had been robbed of one of the most precious pos sessions in the religious world they became very angry and their anger lasted a long time for yeara travelers who visited the out of the world monastery reported that the monks were surly and inhospitable and would not afford a reasonable opportunity tor an examination of their treasures many of these visitors reported that the monks were ill their manuscripts in a deplorable manner using them as stands for cooking utensils and flower pots finally in 1894 two brilliant englishwoman englishwomen English women mrs smith lewis and mrs gibson succeeded in winning the confidence of the monks and secured permission to make a examination of the library their search was richly rewarded tor they discovered a fourth century palimpsest manuscript of st pauls gospel in this Is probably the oldest known bible manuscript for the tischendorf codex even allowing it the oldest date mentioned would barely equal it mrs lewis and mrs gibson found that in order to put the library in thorough order and reveal even all that it contained would require the labors of a considerable staff ot trained workers although the monks gave facilities to the two women they were not will ing to admit any considerable body of tors to the monastery in view of their bitter experience of earlier years the present movement alms to overcome the objections of the monks in a friendly manner the Sin altic peninsula Is now in egyptian terri too when the necessary funds have been col lecter the assistance of the egyptian authorities will be sought in can aing on negotiations with the monks among the most precious manuscripts believed to be in the monastery is of the gospel of st luke in the handwriting of the apostle himself this would be incomparably tho most important bible manuscript ever discovered the copy of at lukes gospel found by he two english women and at present conati the oldest bible manuscript con taffs evidente evid ehte that it as translated from a greek in the library scholars hold that the original gospel of st luke was in greek the apostle was a physician of greek descent and his gospel gives evidence of scholarly attainments early chronicles state that the manuscripts of st lukes gospel was one of the treasures given to the monastery by tho emperor justinian in A D the build ing contains numerous representations ot tho apostle writing his gospel and these appear to have a close association with the foundation 0 the establishment the library Is known to contain about an dent volumes filled with manuscripts in greek arabic and other languages As one of these great volumes may contain hundreds of manuscripts the wealth of the library can only be guessed at among its curiosities Is a very ancient complete manuscript of the psalms written on its leaves in microscopic writing this monastery Is the oldest continuously in habited building in the world it was founded by justinian in about A P and has been occupied ever since it Is surrounded by walls 30 feet high and defended by cannon tor t was cut off from the civilized world for centuries until recently everybody who entered was hoisted by a rope over these walls the earth on which the vegetables of the monastery are grown was brought from the holy land for there Is no soil in the vicinity in the first few centuries of the christian church the Sin altic peninsula was the refuge of many christians fleeing from the roman persecution then the church triumphed and tor centuries after the founding of the monastery it was honored by gifts from emperors and kings then came the mohammedan outbreak dur ing the centuries when the followers of the prophet overran the eastern world this little spot held out for christianity the convent stands at the foot of the mountain called babl musa which according to many authorities Is the actual mountain where the ten commandments were committed to moses by the lord the site of the monastery accord ing to this theory Is the spot where moses delivered the commandments to the children of israel this Is a disputed question but there la little doubt that it Is an important site for the natives in all ages have revered it here passed the children of israel during their 40 years wandering an their way from egypt to the holy land here occurred the many mir acles and wonderful events of tha exodus the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night the feeding of tho people manna the water by moses the battle walh the the appearance of the lord on he mount the building of the ark the worshipping shipping wor of the golden calf the budding of aarons rod the raising of brazen serpent by moses and finally the death of moses the Sin altic peninsula covers about 10 square miles and there was plenty of room for the 40 tears wandering the traveler who sees the land today can easily un der stand why miracles were necessary to keep the children of israel alive it is an exceeding ly barren wilderness largely composed ot rocks it only maintains a hand tul ft and it Is believed that the number has hardly changed since prehistoric times though barren the land Is very picturesque and the red mountains rising abruptly into the clear sky are wonderful nearly all the sites mentioned in exodus and the other books ot the old testament are identified by the monks and by local traditions there is a peak called jabal ras es which Is said to be the exact spot from which moses witnessed the worshipping wor shipping of the golden calf by the children of israel it Is a small peak giving an excellent view of a largo plain which might very well have been the place where the israelites indulged in their idolatrous festivities as described in exodus and it came to pass as soon as he came nigh unto the camp that he saw the calf and the dancing and moses s anger waxed hot and he cast the the tables out of his hands and brake them beneath the mount and he took the calf which they had made and burnt it in the alre and ground it to powder and strewed it upon the water and made the children of israel drink of it the peak where moses Is reputed to have witnessed this scene Is part of the same group where the leader of the chosen people received the ten commandments from heaven the local traditions assigning sites tor all these ancient occurrences seem very reasonable |
