Vestnik Pravoslavnogo Svâto-Tihonovskogo Gumanitarnogo Universiteta: Seriâ III. Filologiâ (Dec 2018)
“Pilgrimage to Sinai, the Mountain of Lord” as an example of melkite itinerary
Abstract
This article examines a little-known account of pilgrimage to Sinai and Jerusalem written in Arabic in the 1630s, preserved as part of the manuscript miscellany Balamand 181 (late 17th century) in the collection of manuscripts of Balamand monastery (Lebanon). This unpublished text may be considered the earliest extant monument of the original pilgrimage literature created by Orthodox Arabs. The author of the text is a clergyman from Damascus whose name is unknown. Colophones in some Arabic manuscripts from the collection of St. Catherine’s monastery in Sinai indicate that the text might be attributed to priest Yūḥannā ‘Uwaisāt. The journey described embraces the period from 29th September 1635 to 3rd May 1636. The major destination for the Near Eastern Christian pilgrims was St. Catherine’s monastery in Sinai and the holy places located around. The pilgrims’ stay there is dated from 26 January to 8 February 1636. The text contains a relatively detailed description of the four-day route of the pilgrimage in the environs of Mount Sinai. The culmination of the pilgrimage was the veneration of the relics of St. Catherine.The manuscript gives also a brief description of staying in Jerusalem for Easter in 1636, but, as one can see, the memories of the distant and hardly accessible Sinai eclipse for the Syrian pilgrim the impressions of the neighbouring Palestine. A comparison of the narrative of the Syrian pilgrim with records of European travellers to holy plaecs of the East reveal a somewhat diff erent placing of the emphasis with regard to Near Eastern realia. The anonymous text of the Antiochian pilgrim of the 17th century is of considerable interest as an example of itineraria and conveys the experiences of the author, the Orthodox citizen of the Ottoman Empire.
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