The origins of the Monastery of Saint Catherine at the foot of Mount Sinai date to A.D. 324, when a community of monks requested Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine, to build a chapel on the spot where they believed the Burning Bush had stood. Two centuries later, Emperor Justinian had the building enlarged and massive walls built, and thus the Monastery remained for centuries—an oasis of peace, shrouded in mystery and sacredness. Not even the Crusades left a trace of their passing, except for some graffiti carved in the refectory. Today St. Catherine’s has become a place of pilgrimage and international tourism. Visitors are attracted by the route—which crosses the colorful Sinai Desert to reach Jebel Musa, the Mount Sinai of the Old Testament—and, above all, by the charm of the monastery itself, rich in artistic and historical treasures and deep in serenity. This book takes the reader inside one of the most important places in the Christian landscape, through stunning pictures taken by renowned photographers. The text gives an account of the history of the holy site, as well as of recent investigations and discoveries. The exceptional quality of the illustrations and text make this very affordable book a worthy tribute to one of the Christian world’s most famous monasteries.
The Treasures of the Monastery of Saint Catherine
Text by
Corinna Rossi
Photographs byAraldo De Luca
With a foreword byArchbishop Damianos of Sinai
208 pp.
Over 200 color photographs
25.5X35.5cm
ISBN 9788854004788
For sale only in the Middle East
$59.95
Related products
Creating Medieval Cairo
Empire, Religion, and Architectural Preservation in Nineteenth-Century Egypt
Paula SandersThis book argues that the historic city we know as Medieval Cairo was created in the nineteenth century by both Egyptians and Europeans against a background of four overlapping political and cultural contexts: the local Egyptian, Anglo-Egyptian, Anglo-Indian, and Ottoman imperial milieux. Addressing the interrelated topics of empire, local history, religion, and transnational heritage, historian Paula Sanders shows how Cairo’s architectural heritage became canonized in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The book also explains why and how the city assumed its characteristically Mamluk appearance and situates the activities of the European-dominated architectural preservation committee (known as the Comité) within the history of religious life in nineteenth-century Cairo. Offering fresh perspectives and keen historical analysis, this volume examines the unacknowledged colonial legacy that continues to inform the practice of and debates over preservation in Cairo.
...read more
7 November 2007
Hardbound
232 pp.36 b/w photographs
15X23cm
$34.95
Hajj Paintings
Folk Art of the Great Pilgrimage
Ann ParkerAvon Neal
Since the seventh century, the Hajj, or Great Pilgrimage to Mecca, has been a lifelong goal of devout Muslims throughout the world. Egyptian pilgrims traditionally celebrate their sacred journey by commissioning a local artist to depict their religious odyssey on the walls of their homes. Hajj Paintings is the first visual record of the richness and variety of this naive art form. Photographer Ann Parker and writer Avon Neal spent a decade exploring towns, villages, and isolated farm communities along the Nile, across the Delta, down the Red Sea coast, and into Sinai. On the walls of buildings ranging from alabaster factories to mud-brick farmhouses they found brilliant murals illuminated by the desert sun, portraying beloved icons of the pilgrims’ faith and scenes from the Qur’an. Their nearly 150 color photographs and accompanying descriptions record the radiant palette of the mostly self-taught artists.
...read more
1 March 2009
Hardbound
192 pp.130 color illus.
27.5X28cm
$39.95
Architecture for the Poor
An Experiment in Rural Egypt
Hassan FathyIn this now classic work, Hassan Fathy, Egypt’s greatest twentieth-century architect, describes in detail his plan for building the village of New Gourna on the west bank of the Nile at Luxor, employing both the traditional building material, mud brick, and such traditional Egyptian architectural features as enclosed courtyards and domed and vaulted roofing. Fathy worked closely with the people to tailor his designs to their needs; he taught them how to work with the mud bricks, supervised the erection of the buildings, and encouraged the revival of ancient techniques, such as the use of claustra (mud-brick latticework) to adorn the buildings. Although bureaucratic red tape and other problems prevented the completion of New Gourna, Fathy’s ideas have since commanded widespread attention both inside and outside Egypt, and Architecture for the Poor remains a testament to his vision as an architect of conscience. “Fathy demonstrates very powerfully that it is possible to build for the poor … cheaply and humanly by the use of earth for building and by teaching people to build for themselves. There is no other book quite like this.” —Choice
...read more
Paperback
366 pp.132 b/w illus.
15X23cm
$22.95
Creswell Photographs Re-examined
New Perspectives on Islamic Architecture
Edited by Bernard O’KaneThe Creswell photographic archive at the American University in Cairo is an invaluable resource of over 12,000 printed images of Islamic architecture, mainly in Cairo, but also including buildings in other important cities such as Córdoba and Baghdad. Creswell’s own photographs constitute the majority of the collection, but he also assembled work by photographers active in the decades before he began his systematic recording in the 1920s. This volume of collected studies seeks to highlight the value of this collection for scholars, who can examine the visual evidence of architecture now destroyed or altered in order to better understand various aspects of these significant buildings. Contributors discuss such issues as epigraphy in domestic and religious architecture, the use of early photographs as guides for modern restoration, and military architecture. Contributors: Tarek Galal Abdel-Hamid, Noha Abou-Khatwa, Conchita Añorve-Tschirgi, Dina Ishak Bakhoum, Nairy Hampikian, May al-Ibrashy, Hani Hamza, Chahinda Karim, Dina Montasser, Bernard O’Kane, Seif El-Rashidi, Ola Seif, Nicholas Warner.
...read more
1 July 2009
Hardbound
416 pp.125 illus. incl. 25 color
16.5X23.5cm
$34.95