American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1913-01-23

decay and ODllVlOu. OHpCOPloO Pidiuo nav DCCi
converted into hives Of industry. and hives of in
dustry have reverted back to unpeopled plains
New lands have been discovered and peopled ant
new seas have been navigated and eharted. Every
where progress has changed the physical condition
of the people. Everywhere progress has changed
the historical and geographical Importance of ma
tons and countries. Here, alone, in the Noun
Sinai Valley, where the nation that gave us the
Savior first sprang into prominence, progress has
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 Ras-es-Safsafeh, the cross, the
symbol of Christianity. has been planted on the very
spot upon which Moses, the great law giver and
leader of the Jews, stood and gave to his people
the ten commandments, the basis of all religious
beliefs and the foundation Of all law, moral and
civil. Now unpeopled and deserted, the very
of the place is awe-inspiring, and
the silence Of the tomb rs not more impressive
than the veil of silence" that envelopes Raises
Safsafeh and its surroundings.
The mount on which God is said to have re-
vealed himself to Moses is situated in the south
ern half of the so-called peninsula Of Sinai. pro-
jecting 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. a northwestern, reaching in Jebel
Serial a height Of 6,712 feet; a central, includ-
ing Jebel Musa Mount of Moses), 1858 feet.
and Jebel Katerin. S.537 feet; and an eastern
and southern, whose highest peak is Jebel Umm
Shomer, SAG 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 Indico-
pleustes. and in more modern times by Lepsius
and Ebers. Jebel Musa. however, is preferred by
most authorities. and is favored by tradition
(which dates. however, only from Christian
tines, indicated by the name Mountain Of
Moses" and the erection of a monastery upon
1t which goes back to the days Of Justinian The
northern peak of Jebel Musa, known as Raises
(6,540 feet), meets the conditions re-
Quired. since there is an open space at it's base
to a large encampment-
Standing on the lofty summit of Mount Sinai,
what thoughts and visions are conjured up as
contemplates that there on the vast plain Of
that stretches before the eye hun
dreds Of feet below, fifty centuries ago. the CON-
we're delivered to the assembled chill
dren of Israel.
Excepting for the Mount Sinai monastery,
from these heights looks like a little toy
built Of blocks, the region is still and
hushed, and almost deserted. The massive walls
Of the monastery raised by the peace-loving and
Godfearing monks under Justinian in SGT A. d.
-as a protection against the marauding 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 q watchful eye over this mountain monas-
and its contents. and the Bedouins, knowing
his to be the fact. keep on friendly as well as
listing terms with the monks.
In the monastery are stored the priceless
looks narrating the history Of Christianity in
he tongue Of every Christian nation. Slowly
he brotherhood Of Mount Sinai monks are dy-
ng out. there being but twenty or twenty-five
It the present time. The life and the pay-not
enough to buy tobacco-are not SUFFICIENT In
ucement for young recruits to Join the forces
hat year by year are growing smaller. In the
curse Of q few years the Treasurer Of the
monastery will remain but a memory to remind
ne of the greatness Of its founder. Justinian. 4
Looking northwest from Jebel Musa to Wadi ei l