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Egypt reopens historic library in Sinai after renovations

Egypt reopens historic library in Sinai after renovations
This file photo shows a general view of the Saint Catherine’s monastery (far left) with its living and tourist facility in the Sinai peninsula of Egypt May 18, 2005. (REUTERS)
Updated 16 December 2017

Egypt reopens historic library in Sinai after renovations

Egypt reopens historic library in Sinai after renovations

SAINT CATHERINE’S MONASTERY: Egypt is inaugurating an ancient library in the famed St. Catherine’s Monastery in South Sinai.
Saturday’s ceremony comes after three years of renovation work and was attended by several western ambassadors and Egyptian officials.
Monk Damyanos, the monastery’s archbishop, says the library maintains the world’s second-largest collection of early codices and manuscripts, outnumbered only by the Vatican Library.
St. Catherine’s, founded in the 6th century, is one of the oldest Christian Orthodox monasteries, a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of South Sinai’s main tourist attractions.
It stands at the foot of Mount Sinai, also known as Jebel Musa or Mount Horeb, where Moses is said to have received the Ten Commandments. A small number of monks live and work there where they observe rituals unchanged for centuries.