Since I was an undergraduate biblical scholar

I have known about St. Catherine’s Monastery and followed

Its story from its founding by the Emperor Justinian

In 563 CE to its present dispute with Abdel Sisi the Egyptian

President. For more than 15 centuries monks have prayed

And treasured manuscripts, one of which is now displayed

In the British Museum, the Codex Sinaiticus, the oldest complete

New Testament in Greek, from 343 CE which you can view online, sheet

By sheet, original, and transcription, a gift beyond price from faithful

Monks to the Christian Church. Today you can see where an ungrateful

Nation has begun building an absurd hotel for tourists to visit Sinai

Against the wishes of the monks and the Bedouin appointed by

Justinian to protect the monastery. He moved Christian families

And housed them near the mountain, but they quite soon strayed

Into Islam while continuing to serve their Christian brothers until

Now, defining no one by race or religion or any method of chill

Identity but by loyalty to a shared handshake. Their valley is contained

By red, rounded, blocks of naked rock where pasture is so scarce

that the women of the clan must daily lead the herd to food and water

while the men look after their homes, their sons and daughters.

Women make embroidery on rest days while the men employ

Their skill as poets. “Oh valley,” says one, “You are a home for the heart’s joy.”