The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1913-01-24

ENE
!. : :. !: !.
CNA-M6 gathered at the command of Moses,
H(HNSQN fMSW on the plains of Assemblage in the
UMM&N#M valley of Mount Sinai, all OF the
EBGRlWkNMW children of Israel to listen to the
lbH2aNIhMRM reading of the laws that. were re-
lwrsp1 TTIHSN yealed to Moses during the forty
NXVNNANNDBlA days and forty nights" he spent ID
GS~sN&IM the midst of a cloud communlng VIII
SA0N the God of the chosen people
QIWMSS@ Since that momentous and epoch
GlHlISAS making event nations have risen to
v o mighty power, only to go DOWN 70
decay and oblivion. Unpeopled plains nave oeen
converted into hives OF industry ana niFes - ~
dustrv have reverted back to unpeopled plains.
Nv lands have been discovered and peopled ana
new seas have been navigated and charteo. EVERY
where progress has changed the physlcai conulllon
~ tha neople Everywhere progress mas changed
~ bjstnricaI and geographical Importance of ma
tions and countries. Here, alone. in the mount
Sinai Valley where the nation that gave US tne
Savior first sprang into prominence progress mas
stood still Surrounded by the peaks OF the rory
Mar+vrs an s bushed and still on the plain where
once the hum of thousands of voices was heard ana
where the valley rang with the resoundlng march
of the hosts of Israel .
on the peak of Ras-es-Safsafeh, the cross, the
symbol of Christianity has been planted on the very
spot upon which Moses, the great law glVer ana
leader of the Jews, stood and gave 10 MS people
the ten commandments, the basis OF an relielous
beliefs and the foundation Of all law. moral ana
civil Now unpeopled and deserted, the very
lonesomeness of the place is aWeinspirng' anu
the "silence of the tomb" is not more impressive
than the well of silence" that enVeops has-es,
Safsafeh and its surroundings
The mount on which God Is said to have re-
vealed himself to Moses is situated in the soutn-
ern half of the socaled peninsula or sinai, pro
iecting into the northern extremity OF the Heo
sea. between the Gulf of Suez on the west ana
the Gulf of Akabah on the east. This park Oh tne
peninsula consists of mass OF granite ana
/ porphyry mountains which may be divided INTO
three groups northwestern reaching IN Jepei
Serbal height of 6,T12 feet; central, includ
4 ing Jebel Musa mount OF Moses), i,5o5 Ieet
/ and Jebel Katerin, S.537 feet; and an eastern
! and southern whose highest peak Is Jebel Umm
! Shomer SAC feet Whether the Biblical SINAI
was Jebel Umm Shomer of Jebel Musa was long
disputed by leading authorities The former was
advocated by Eusebius, Jerome Cosmas lndlco-
nleustes and in more modern times by Lepsus
and Ebers Jebel Musa however is preferred py
most authorities, and Is favored by traoltlon
| (which dates however only from Cnrisuan
times) indicated by the name Mountain OF
! Moses" and the erection OF monastery upon
| i which goes back to the days of Justinan The
northern peak of Jebel Musa, known as Has-esr
Safsafeh t6540 feet). meets the conditions re-
CURED since there is an open space at It's pass
sufficient to accommodate a large encampmehc
Standing on the lofty summit of Mount Sinai
what thoughts and visions are coniured up as
one contemplates that there on the vast plain Oh
Assembage that stretches before the eye nun
dreds of feet below fifty centuries ago. the com
mandments were delivered to the assembled chill
dren of Israel
Excepting for the Mount Sinai monastery.
these
fort buit of blocks the region is still and
hushed and almost deserted The massive walls
of the monastery raised by the peace-lovlng anu
God-fearipg monks under Justinian in 527 A. D.
las protection against the maraudlng panus
Of Bedouins that infested that part OF the coun-
try when the wealth of an empire was possesseu
| by the builders and occupants OF the monastery
: are in the same condition as when built l5Op
years ago. Today. however. the Christian worid
keeps watchful eye over this mountain monas-
tery and its contents, and the Bedouns. knowing
! | this to be the fact keep friendly as well as
visiting terms with the monks.
In the monastery are stored the priceless
books narrating the history of Christianity IN
the tongue OF every Christian nation. Slowly
the brotherhood Of Mount Sinai monks are oy-
4 ing out there being but twenty or twenty-five
: AT the present time. The life and the pay-not
enough to buy tobacco-are not sufhcient IN
ducement for young recruits to join the forces
that year by year growing smaller In the
/, course OF a few years the treasurer of the
monastery will remain but a memory to remind
: one of the greatness of its founder. Justinian
Looking northwest from Jebel Musa TO Wadi ell