The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1913-01-17

%&% ~ Ili5ANs WV N"S
decay and oblivion. Unpeopled plains have beer
Sonyerted into hives Of industry, and hives OF in
dustry have reverted back to unpeopled plains
New lands have been discovered and peopled anc
new seas have been nav gated and charted. every
where progress has changed the physical condition
Of the people. Everywhere progress has changed
the historical and geographical Importance of ma
lions and countries. Here, alone, in the Mount
Sinai Valley, where the nation that gave US the
Savior first sprang into prominence, progress mas
stood still. Surrounded by the peaks OF the Forty
MARTYRS" all is hushed and still on the plain where
once the hum Of thousands Of voices was heard, and
where the valley rang with the resounding march
of the hosts OF Israel.
On the peak of Rases-Safsafeh, the cross, the
Bymbol of Christianity, has been planted on the very
SPOT upon which Moses, the great law giYeT and
feader Of the Jews, stood and gave to his people
Che ten commandments, the basis of all religious
beliefs and the foundation Of all law. moral and
tivi'. Now %unpeopled and deserted, the very
II ~lonesomeness Of the place is awe-inspiring, and
the SILENCE Of the tomb is not more impressive
than the well Of silence that enyelops Raises
Safsateh and its surroundings.
The mount on which God Is said to have re-
vealed himself to Moses is situated in the south
en half of the so-palled peninsula of Sinai, pro
tecting into the northern extremity Of the Red
sea, between the Gulf OF Suez on the west and
the Gulf OF Akabah on the east. This park OF the
peninsula consists OF a mass of granite and
~porphyry mountains which may be divided into
three groups, q northwestern, reaching In Jebel
serbal q height Of 6,T12 feet; 8 central. includ-
ing Jebel Musa Mount Of Moses. 1853 feet,
and Jeb.i Katerin, 8,537 feet; and an eastern
and southern, whose highest peak is JebeI Umm
Shomer, S44s feet. Whether the Biblical Sinai
was Jebel Umm Shorner of Jebel Musa was long
disputed by leading authorities. The former was
advocated by Eusebius, Jerome, Cosmas lndtco-
pleustes, and In more modern times by Lepsius
and Ebers. Jebel Musa, however, is preferred by
& M Anfh an1 ia f0UnrnR nv Tradition
(which dates, however, only from Christian
gtimes), indicated by the name Mountain Of
Moses" and the erection Of a monastery upon
ft which goes back to the days OF Justinlan. The
northern peak Of Jebel Musa. known as Raises
safsafeh (6.540 feet), meets the conditions re-
CURED, since there Is an open space at its base
Ruffcient to accommodate a large e~ncampment.
Standing on the lefty summit Of Mount Sinai,
what thoughts and visions are ~eontured up as
one contemplated that there on the vast plain OF
Assenblage that stretches before the eye hun
dreds of feet below, fifty centuries ago. the com
%mandments were deliverd to the assembled chill
dren OF Israel.
Excepting for the Mount Sinai monastery,
which from these heights looks like a little toy
fort built Of blocks, the region Is still and
hushed, and almost deserted. The massive walls
of the monastery raised by the peace.loving and
God-fearing monks under J~ustinian In SGT A, D..
as a protection against the maraufing bands
OF Bedouins that infested that part Of the coun-
try when the wealth OF an empire was possessed
by the builders and occupants Of the monastery
are In the same condition as when built 1900
years ago. Today, however, the Christian world
keeps a watchful eye over this mountain monas.
terry and fits contents. and the Bedouins, knowing
this to be the fact, keep on friendly as well as
Visiting terms with the monks.
In the monastery are stored the priceless
books n~arrating the history OF Christianity In
the tongue OF every Christian nation. Slowly
the brotherhood of Mount Sinai monks are dy.
ing out, there being but twenty or twenty-five
ut the present time. The life and the pay-not
enough to buy tobacco-srs not sufficient in
ducefnent for young recruits TO join the forces
that year by year IRE growing smaller. In the
course OF . few years the Treasurer Of the
monastery win remain but q memory to remind
one OF the greatness of Its founder. Justinian.
Looking northwest from Jebci Musa TO Wadi Ell