[p.565] entrance of the charnel houses is the picture of the hoary St.
Onuphrius. He is said to have been an Egyptian prince, and subsequently
one of the first monks of Djebel Mousa, in which capacity he performed
many miracles.
After two days repose in the convent and its delightful garden, I set
out for the holy places around it, a pilgrimage which I had deferred
making immediately on my first arrival, which is the usual practice,
that the Arabs might not confound me with the common run of visitors, to
whom they shew no great respect. The Djebalye enjoy the exclusive right
of being guides to the holy places; my suite therefore consisted of two
of them loaded with provisions, together with my servant and a young
Greek. The latter had been a sailor in the Red sea, and appeared to have
turned monk chiefly for the sake of getting his fill of brandy from the
convents cellar.
May 20th.We were in motion before sunrise for the Djebel Mousa or
Mountain of Moses, the road to which begins to ascend immediately behind
the walls of the convent. Regular steps were formerly cut all the way
up, but they are now either entirely destroyed, or so much damaged by
the winter torrents as to be of very little use. After ascending for
about twenty-five minutes, we breathed a short time under a large
impending rock, close by which is a small well of water as cold as ice;
at the end of three quarters of an hours steep ascent we came to a
small plain, the entrance to which from below is through a stone
gateway, which in former times was probably closed; a little beneath it
stands, amidst the rocks, a small church dedicated to the Virgin. On the
plain is a larger building of rude construction, which bears the name of
the convent of St. Elias; it was lately inhabited, but is now abandoned,
the monks repairing here only at certain times of the year to read mass.
Pilgrims usually halt on this spot, where a tall cypress tree grows by
the side of a stone tank, which receives the winter rains.
[p.566] On a large rock in the plain are several Arabic inscriptions,
engraved by pilgrims three or four hundred years ago; I saw one also in
the Syriac language.
According to the Koran and the Moslem traditions, it was in this part of
the mountain, which is called Djebel Oreb, or Horeb, that Moses
communicated with the Lord. From hence a still steeper ascent of half an
hour, the steps of which are also in ruins, leads to the summit of
Djebel Mousa, where stands the church which forms the principal object
of the pilgrimage; it is built on the very peak of the mountain, the
plane of which is at most sixty paces in circumference. The church,
though strongly built with granite, is now greatly dilapidated by the
unremitted attempts of the Arabs to destroy it; the door, roof, and
walls are greatly injured. Szaleh, the present Sheikh of the Towara,
with his tribe the Korashy, was the principal instrument in the work of
destruction, because, not being entitled to any tribute from the
convent, they are particularly hostile to the monks. Some ruins round
the church indicate that a much larger and more solid building once
stood here, and the rock appears to have been cut perpendicularly with
great labour, to prevent any other approach to it than by the southern
side. The view from this summit must be very grand, but a thick fog
prevented me from seeing even the nearest mountains.
About thirty paces from the church, on a somewhat lower peak, stands a
poor mosque, without any ornaments, held in great veneration by the
Moslems, and the place of their pilgrimage. It is frequently visited by
the Bedouins, who slaughter sheep in honour of Moses; and who make vows
to him and intreat his intercession in heaven in their favour. There is
a feast-day on which the Bedouins come hither in a mass, and offer their
sacrifices. I was told that formerly they never approached the place
without being
[p.567] dressed in the Ihram, or sacred mantle, with which the Moslems
cover their naked bodies on visiting Mekka, and which then consisted
only of a napkin tied round the middle; but this custom has been
abandoned for the last forty years. Foreign Moslem pilgrims often repair
to the spot, and even Mohammed Ali Pasha and his son Tousoun Pasha gave
notice that they intended to visit it, but they did not keep their
promise. Close by the footpath, in the ascent from St. Elias to this
summit, and at a small distance from it, a place is shown in the rock,
which somewhat resembles the print of the fore part of the foot; it is
stated to have been made by Mohammeds foot when he visited the
mountain. We found the adjacent part of the rock sprinkled with blood in
consequence of an accident which happened a few days ago to a Turkish
lady of rank who was on her way from Cairo to Mekka, with her son, and
who had resided for some weeks in the convent, during which she made the
tour of the sacred places, bare footed, although she was old and
decrepid. In attempting to kiss the mark of Mohammeds foot, she fell,
and wounded her head; but not so severely as to prevent her from
pursuing her pilgrimage. Somewhat below the mosque is a fine reservoir
cut very deep in the granite rock, for the reception of rain water.
The Arabs believe that the tables of the commandments are buried beneath
the pavement of the church on Djebel Mousa, and they have made
excavations on every side in the hope of finding them. They more
particularly revere this spot from a belief that the rains which fall in
the peninsula are under the immediate control of Moses; and they are
persuaded that the priests of the convent are in possession of the
Taourat, a book sent down to Moses from heaven, upon the opening and
shutting of which depend the rains of the peninsula. The reputation,
which the monks have thus obtained of having the dispensation of the
rains
[p.568] in their hands has become very troublesome to them, but they
have brought it on by their own measures for enhancing their credit with
the Bedouins. In times of dearth they were accustomed to proceed in a
body to Djebel Mousa, to pray for rain, and they encouraged the belief
that the rain was due to their intercessions. By a natural inference,
the Bedouins have concluded that if the monks could bring rain, they had
it likewise in their power to withhold it, and the consequence is, that
whenever a dearth happens they accuse the monks of malevolence, and
often tumultuously assemble and compel them to repair to the mountain to
pray. Some years since, soon after an occurrence of this kind, it
happened that a violent flood burst over the peninsula, and destroyed
many date trees; a Bedouin, whose camel and sheep had been swept away by
the torrent, went in a fury to the convent, and fired his gun at it, and
when asked the reason, exclaimed; You have opened the book so much that
we are all drowned! He was pacified by presents; but on departing he
begged that in future the monks would only half open the Taourat, in
order that the rains might be more moderate.
The supposed influence of the monks is, however, sometimes attended with
more fortunate results: the Sheikh Szaleh had never been father of a
male child, and on being told that Providence had thus punished him for
his enmity to the convent, he two years ago brought a load of butter to
the monks, and entreated them to go to the mountain and pray that his
newly-married wife, who was then pregnant, might be delivered of a son.
The monks complied, and Szaleh soon after became the happy father of a
fine boy; since that period he has been the friend of the convent, and
has even partly repaired the church on Djebel Mousa. This summit was
formerly inhabited by the monks, but, at present they visit it only in
time of festivals.