Restoration of St Catherine's Monastery

Ahram Online (Nevine El-Aref)

With photos.

After six months of feasibility studies, the library at St. Catherine's Monastery in the southern Sinai Peninsula will be restored and developed to meet international standards.

According to Minister of State for Antiquities Mohamed Ibrahim, the project will be implemented in two phases and will include the restoration of the library's eastern and western sections.

The library contains some 3,500 manuscripts in the Greco-Roman, Coptic, Arabic, Hebrew, Georgian, Syrian, Armenian and Udi languages, as well as numerous rare icons and other liturgical objects. It also houses a collection of decrees and regulations issued by the Muslim Caliph of the time, intended to ensure the security of the monastery's Christian population.

The restoration project is being financed by the monastery and carried out under the supervision of the Ministry of State for Antiquities (MSA).