. Arthur and Fritz Kahn Collection 1889-1932. Kahn, Fritz 1888-1968; Kahn, Arthur David 1850-1928; Natural history illustrators; Natural history. ART. NEAR THE PEAK OF MT. SINAI: THE MONASTERY OF ST. CATHERINE Treasures from Sinai For 14 centuries the Greek Orthodox monastery of Saint Catherine has stood serene and safe beneath the Shoulder of Mount Sinai. Founded in 527 by the Em- peror Justinian, it is in one of the world's most inhospitable places. A traveler must drive 100 miles southeast from Suez across jagged wildemess, then tum ofiF along a succession of dry stream beds for an eight-ho
. Arthur and Fritz Kahn Collection 1889-1932. Kahn, Fritz 1888-1968; Kahn, Arthur David 1850-1928; Natural history illustrators; Natural history. ART. NEAR THE PEAK OF MT. SINAI: THE MONASTERY OF ST. CATHERINE Treasures from Sinai For 14 centuries the Greek Orthodox monastery of Saint Catherine has stood serene and safe beneath the Shoulder of Mount Sinai. Founded in 527 by the Em- peror Justinian, it is in one of the world's most inhospitable places. A traveler must drive 100 miles southeast from Suez across jagged wildemess, then tum ofiF along a succession of dry stream beds for an eight-hour climb to the gates, 5,000 feet above the Red Sea. Its one tiny door Swings open only for man bearing letters of introduction from the Greek Arch- bishop of Cairo. The few travelers who reached it came back with reports of a fabulous treasure- trove of art hidden behind its walls. But no one was allowed to photo- graph or even to catalogue it. Then last year a team of scholars and technicians, jointly sponsored by Princeton, Michigan, and Alexandria universities, got permis- sion to make the first complete record of Mount Sinai's treasures. This week Time 36 publishes an unprecedented sampling of the expedition's Änds. Sacred to Three. What the scholars found almost passed belief. There were 3,000 manuscripts. many illuminated. In the apse of the basilica there was a 6th Century Transfiguration of Christ, 20 feet across, one of the earliest, most splendid, and best preserved of all Byzantine mo- saics. There were more than 2,000 ancient icons, by far the world's largest and also greatest collection. The fact that so huge a stockpile of ancient art has survived is in part due to the fact that, remote and detached, Mount Sinai has long been a still point in a tuming world. It marks a spot sacred to three religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. There Moses heard the voice of Yahweh out of the buming bush, com- manding him to go down to Egypt and set Israel free
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