Nuweiba` Things to Do

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After you leave the burning bush, take the path to the Charnel House. The house is situated above the garden area, near the café.

Some may find the Charnel house gruesome as it is the final resting place for thousands of Monks skulls from days gone by. Housed behind a simple wire fence, it appears that a skeleton of a dark robed monk is guarding the bones of his ancestors! I am not sure if he is keeping the Monks in, or the visitors out.

There are also a number of niches carved into the side walls that appear to house complete skeletons.

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Within the walls of the Monastery of St Catherine there is a bush that is said to be growing from a single clipping of “The Burning Bush” that instructed Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and into the Promised Land.

Anne and I can be seen here standing under this evergreen bush in the “robes” that were given to us at the entrance to the chapel. The robes are used to cover your knees and, when they are handed back, you are asked to make a donation for their use. This is a scam because the “robes” are given as a free service to visitors and it is simply the door attendant that is looking for some “Baksheesh” to supplement their wages. Do not pay!

The Burning Bush Chapel houses a rather “different” religious icon! The hand of St Catherine is said to be here! House in a plush box you will see a jeweled weather beaten hand that is remarkably preserved in some areas, while other areas have the skeleton clearly showing.
St Catherine is revered throughout the Catholic religion as it is said that she converted the non believers to Christianity. These non believers were, in fact, putting Christians to death and Catherine of Alexandria converted these people with no regard for her personal safety!

Years later though, Catherine was tortured by being spun around on a spiked wheel, (Catherine wheel,) before being beheaded by a pagan emperor.

Centuries later a body was found in the hills above the Monastery and it was said that the body belonged to St catherine.

Special dispensation is usually required to enter the Burning Bush Chapel, but the Chapel was open on the day that we were there…and we simply walked in.

The chapel is decorated with walls of blue mosaics that have religious iconic painting on every wall. The simple alter that stands at the end of the chapel is almost representative of a manger from a nativity set and the light streams through the window as though it was representing a halo.

Huge candles stand around the floor underneath the most impressive tall ceilings that seem a little dulled by the centuries of candle smoke!

The monastery of St Catherine is also said to be the place that Moses met his wife.

After Moses fled from the Pharaoh and his “cronies,” Moses entered the Sinai desert and made his way to this monastery. He met his future wife at the well and worked for her father. Moses promised his father-in-law that he would work for him for seven years before he would move on. (Moses eventually worked there for 10nyears before returning to Egypt to beg for the release of the Israelites from slavery.)

Anne is pictured here, standing under a mural depicting the burning bush, in the room that houses the Moses well.

The elevated entrance was once the only entrance to the monastery of St Catherine but it is no longer used as the local monks cut a new entrance into the protective walls quite some time ago. Even so, you still get a sense of how hard it would have been to get into the monastery if you were not invited!

The walls are very high, and the elevated entrance was required, because the monastery houses the second largest collection of manuscripts and religious icons in the world….second only to the Vatican in Rome.

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If you do not feel like walking the path to the monastery, you have the option of taking a camel ride.

Located at the start of the track, the camel handlers will attempt to extract as much cash from you as humanly possible! They will advise you that their camel is a Ferrari, very fast and very comfortable. They will also attempt to get US$20 from you for the privilege of riding their trust flea bag up the well traveled dusty track to the top.

Believe me when I tell you that you can pay as little as US3 for the experience and have a comfortable beginning to your adventure. (The walk back is very easy as it is down hill all the way.)

Situated approx. 90 kilometers from Nuweiba, the Monastery of St Catherine is known as:
• The oldest continuously inhabited monastery in the world.
• The place where Moses is reported to have witnessed the “burning bush”
• The smallest diocese in the world.

The monastery is said to date back to around 535 A.D, however, it was built as an addition to a chapel that was built approx 200 years earlier.