[lacuna]... they were pointed out to us according to the Scriptures. Meanwhile, as we walked, we came to a certain place where the mountains, among which we were going, opened out and formed a vast valley, immense, perfectly level, and very beautiful, and across the valley appeared the holy mount of God, Sinai. Now this place, where the mountains opened out, is joined to that place where the Graves of Craving are. 2. So when one comes to that place, as the holy guides who were with us admonished, saying: 'It is the custom that prayer be made here by those who come, when the mount of God is first seen from this place'—as indeed we did.
From that place to the mount of God it was perhaps four miles in all, through that valley which I have called immense. II. 1. The valley itself is exceedingly vast, lying beneath the flank of the mount of God, which has perhaps—so far as we were able to estimate by sight, or as they themselves said—about sixteen miles in length, while in breadth they said it was four miles. This valley, then, we had to traverse in order to be able to climb the mountain. 2. Now this is the vast and perfectly level valley in which the children of Israel waited during those days when holy Moses went up into the mount of the Lord and was there forty days and forty nights. This is also the valley in which the calf was made, a place which is shown to this day;
for a great stone stands fixed there in that very place. This, then, is the valley at whose head is that place where holy Moses, while he was tending the flocks of his father-in-law, was again spoken to by God out of the bush in the fire. 3. And since our route was such that we should first ascend the mount of God, which appears from this side—because the ascent was better from where we were coming—and from there descend again to that head of the valley, that is, where the bush was, since the descent of the mount of God was better that way:
And so it was decided thus: that having seen all the things we longed for, descending from the mount of God where the bush is, we should come, and from there return all the way through the middle of the valley itself, where it stretches in its length, to our road, together with the men of God who showed us the individual places that are written, throughout that valley—as indeed it was done. 4. So as we went from that place where, coming from Pharan, we had made our prayer, the route was such that we crossed through the middle of the head of that valley itself, and so turned ourselves toward the mount of God. 5. Now the mountain itself, in its circuit, appears indeed to be one;
but within, when you enter, there are several, yet the whole is called the mount of God, while that special one, on whose summit is the place where the majesty of God descended—as it is written—is in the midst of them all. 6. And though all those which are round about are so lofty as I think I have never seen, nevertheless that middle one itself, on which the majesty of God descended, is so much higher than all of them, that when we had gone up upon it, absolutely all those mountains which we had seen as lofty were so far below us, as if they were quite small hillocks. 7.
This indeed is quite wonderful, and I think it is not without the grace of God, that, although that middle one—which is specially called Sinai, that is, on which the majesty of the Lord descended—is higher than all, yet it cannot be seen unless you come to its very base, before you actually climb it; for after, having fulfilled your desire, you have descended from it, then you do see it from the opposite side, which, before you climb it, cannot be done. This, moreover, before we reached the mount of God, I had already learned from the brothers who told us, and after I had arrived there, I knew clearly that it was so. III. 1.
So on the Saturday evening we entered the mountain, and arriving at certain monasteries, the monks who dwelt there received us very kindly, offering us every hospitality; for there is also a church there with a presbyter. There then we stayed that night, and from there, early on the Lord's Day, together with that presbyter and the monks who dwelt there, we began to ascend the several mountains. These mountains are ascended with infinite toil, since you do not go up them slowly and slowly by a winding path, as we say in a spiral, but you climb the whole straight up as if up a wall, and it is necessary to descend each of these mountains straight down, until you reach the very base of that middle one which is specially Sinai. 2.
Thus then, at the bidding of Christ our God, aided by the prayers of the holy men who accompanied us, and so with great toil—because it was necessary for me to ascend on foot, since the climb absolutely could not be made even in a chair—yet that very toil was not felt; and on this side it was not felt as toil, because the desire which I had I saw being fulfilled by the bidding of God. So at the fourth hour we reached the summit of that holy mount of God, Sinai, where the law was given, in that very place where the majesty of the Lord descended on that day when the mountain was smoking. 3. In that place, then, is now a church, not large, since the place itself, that is the summit of the mountain, is not very large; yet that church has of itself great grace. 4.
So when, at the bidding of God, we had climbed up to the very summit and reached the door of that church, behold, the presbyter also came to meet us, coming from his monastery, the one assigned to that church—a sound old man and a monk from his earliest life, and, as they call it here, an ascetic; and why say more? such as is worthy to be in that place. Other presbyters also came to meet us, as well as all the monks who dwelt there near that mountain—that is, those who were not hindered either by age or by infirmity. 5. But truly on the very summit of that middle mountain no one dwells; for there is nothing else there but only the church and the cave where holy Moses was. 6.
So when that very place had been read aloud—all the things from the book of Moses—and the offering had been made in its due order, and when we had thus communicated, just as we were about to leave the church, the presbyters of that place gave us blessings, that is, of the fruits that grow on that mountain. For although the holy mount Sinai itself is wholly rocky, so that it does not even bear a shrub, yet down below near the base of those mountains—whether around that which is the middle one, or around those which are round about—there is a little soil; at once the holy monks, out of their diligence, set little trees and establish small orchards or tilled plots, and beside them their monasteries, so that they may, as it were, take some fruits from the soil of that very mountain, which yet seem to have been worked by their own hands. 7.
So thus, after we had communicated and those holy men had given us the blessings, and we had gone out beyond the door of the church, I then began to ask them to show us the individual places. Then at once those holy men deigned to show each one. For they showed us that cave where holy Moses was when he had ascended a second time into the mount of God to receive again the tablets, after he had broken the former ones because the people had sinned; and the other places, whatever we desired or whatever they themselves better knew, they deigned to show us. 8.
But this I want you to know, venerable lady sisters, that from that place where we were standing, that is within the walls of the church, that is from the summit of that middle mountain itself, those mountains which at first we had barely been able to ascend seemed to be so far below us, beside this middle one on which we stood, as if they were small hillocks—though they were so immense that I did not think I had ever seen any higher, except that this middle one greatly surpassed them. Egypt, moreover, and Palestine, and the Red Sea, and that Parthenian sea which sends one to Alexandria, and also the boundless territories of the Saracens, we saw so far beneath us from there that it can scarcely be believed; yet those holy men pointed out each of these to us. IV. 1.
So having fulfilled every desire for which we had hastened to ascend, we then began also to descend from that summit of the mount of God on which we had climbed, onto another mountain joined to it, which place is called In Horeb; for there is a church there. 2. For this is the place Horeb, where holy Elijah the prophet was when he fled from the face of King Ahab, where God spoke to him saying: 'What doest thou here, Elijah?'—as it is written in the books of Kingdoms. For also the cave where holy Elijah hid is shown there to this day before the door of the church which is there; there is also shown a stone altar which holy Elijah himself set up to offer to God, as those holy men deigned to show us each thing. 3.
So we made there also an offering and a most fervent prayer, and that very place was read aloud from the book of Kingdoms; for this above all I had always desired, that wherever we came, the place itself should always be read from the book. 4. Having therefore made the offering there as well, we went on again to another place not far from there, the presbyters and monks showing it, that is, to that place where holy Aaron had stood with the seventy elders, when holy Moses was receiving the law from the Lord for the children of Israel. In that place, then, although it is not written, there is nevertheless an immense rock having around it a level surface on top, on which those holy men are said to have stood; for in the middle there too it has, as it were, an altar made of stones.
So that place too was read aloud from the book of Moses, and one psalm fitting to the place was recited; and so, prayer having been made, we descended from there. 5. Behold, it now began to be perhaps the eighth hour, and there still remained for us three miles to go entirely out of those mountains which we had entered the previous evening; but we were not to go out by the same side by which we had come in, as I said above, because it was necessary for us both to walk through all the holy places and to see whatever monasteries were there, and so to come out to the head of that valley which I mentioned above, that is, of this valley which lies beneath the mount of God. 6.
But it was necessary for us to go out to the head of that valley, because there were very many monasteries of holy men and a church in that place where the bush is—which bush lives to this day and sends forth shoots. 7. And so, having fully descended the mount of God, we came to the bush at perhaps the tenth hour. Now this is the bush which I mentioned above, out of which the Lord spoke to Moses in the fire, which is in that place where there are very many monasteries and a church at the head of that valley. Before the church itself, moreover, there is a most delightful garden having excellent and abundant water, in which garden is that very bush. 8. A place is also shown there nearby, where holy Moses stood when God said to him: 'Loose the strap of thy sandal,' and the rest.
And so when we had arrived at that place, it was already the tenth hour, and therefore, because it was already evening, we could not make the offering. But prayer was made in the church and also in the garden at the bush; that place too was read from the book of Moses according to custom; and so, because it was evening, we took our meal in the garden before the bush with those holy men; and so then we made our lodging there. And the next day, waking earlier, we asked the presbyters that an offering should be made there too, as indeed it was made. V. 1. And since our route was such that we should go through the middle of that valley which stretches lengthwise—that is, that valley which I mentioned above, where the children of Israel had sat while Moses ascended into the mount of God and descended:
and so, as we came through that whole valley, those holy men always pointed out to us the individual places. 2. For at the very head of that valley, where we had stayed and had seen that bush out of which God spoke to holy Moses in the fire, we had also seen that place in which holy Moses had stood before the bush, when God said to him: 'Loose the strap of thy sandal; for the place in which thou standest is holy ground.' 3. And so then they began always to show us the other places, as we set out from the bush. For they also showed us the place where the camp of the children of Israel had been in those days when Moses was in the mountain. They also showed the place where that calf was made;
for in that place a great stone is fixed to this day. 4. We also, as we went, saw opposite us the summit of the mountain, which looked out over that whole valley, from which place holy Moses saw the children of Israel holding dances in those days in which they had made the calf. They also showed an immense rock in that very place where holy Moses was descending with Joshua, son of Nun, beside which rock, in anger, he broke the tablets which he was carrying. 5. They also showed how, throughout that valley, each one of them had had their dwellings, of which dwellings the foundations still appear to this day, how they were ringed about with stone.
They also showed the place where holy Moses, returned from the mountain, commanded the children of Israel to run from gate to gate. 6. Likewise they showed us the place where that calf itself was burned at the bidding of holy Moses, which Aaron had made for them. Likewise they showed that torrent from which holy Moses gave the children of Israel to drink, as it is written in Exodus. 7. They also showed us the place where the seventy men received of the spirit of Moses. Likewise they showed the place where the children of Israel had craving for food. For they also showed us that place which was called Burning, because a certain part of the camp was burned, and then, when holy Moses prayed, the fire ceased. 8.
They also showed that place where for them it rained manna and quails. And so each thing, whatever is written in the holy books of Moses to have been done in that place, that is in that valley which I said lies beneath the mount of God, that is holy Sinai, was shown to us. Indeed it would have been quite enough to write down all these things one by one, except that the memory could not retain so many; but when your affection reads the holy books of Moses, it perceives more carefully all the things that were done there. 9.
This, then, is the valley where the Passover was celebrated when the year of the departure of the children of Israel from the land of Egypt was completed, since in that very valley the children of Israel waited for some time, that is, until holy Moses ascended into the mount of God and descended a first and a second time; and again they tarried there so long, until the tabernacle was made and the individual things which were shown on the mount of God. For there was shown to us also that place in which the tabernacle was first set up by Moses and each thing was completed which God had commanded on the mountain to Moses to be made. 10.
We also saw, at the very far end of that valley, the Graves of Craving, in that place, however, in which we again returned to our road, that is, where, going out of that great valley, we re-entered the way by which we had come, among those mountains which I had mentioned above. For on that same day we also went to the other very holy monks, who, however, on account of age or infirmity, could not come to the mount of God to make the offering; yet they deigned to receive us very kindly as we arrived at their monasteries. 11.
And so, having seen all the holy places which we desired, as well as all the places which the children of Israel had touched in going to or returning from the mount of God, and having also seen the holy men who dwelt there, in the name of God we returned to Pharan. 12. And although I ought always to give thanks to God in all things, I will not say in these so great and such things which He deigned to confer upon me, unworthy and undeserving, that I should walk through all the places which were not of my merit; yet I am also not sufficient to give thanks to all those holy men, who deigned to receive my littleness in their monasteries with willing heart, or indeed to lead me through all the places which I always sought out according to the holy Scriptures.
Now very many of those holy men who dwelt on the mount of God or around that mountain deigned to lead us all the way to Pharan—those, however, who were of stronger body. VI. 1. And so, when we had arrived at Pharan, which is thirty-five miles from the mount of God, it was necessary for us to tarry there two days in order to recover. And on the third day, hastening on from there, we came again to a lodging, that is, into the desert of Pharan, where we had also lodged on our way out, as I said above.
From there again, on another day, taking water and going on still a little farther among the mountains, we came to a lodging which was now upon the sea, that is, in that place where one now comes out from among the mountains and begins again to walk entirely along the sea—yet so along the sea that sometimes the waves strike the feet of the animals, and sometimes one walks even a hundred or two hundred paces, and at times even more than five hundred paces from the sea through the wilderness: for there is utterly no road there, but the whole is sandy wilderness. 2. The Pharanites, however, who are accustomed to travel there with their camels, set up signs for themselves place by place, toward which signs they steer and so travel by day. But by night the camels heed the signs. And why say more?
the Pharanites, by custom, now travel by night in that place more carefully and more safely than any man can travel in these places where the road is open. 3. So in that place we came out from among the mountains, returning, at the place where, on our way out, we had also entered among the mountains, and so again we turned ourselves toward the sea. The children of Israel also, returning from the mount of God, Sinai, as far as that place, returned by the way they had gone, that is, as far as that place where we came out from among the mountains and joined ourselves again to the Red Sea, and from there we now returned by our route by which we had come; but the children of Israel, from the same place, as it is written in the books of holy Moses, walked their own way. 4.
But we, by the same route and the same lodgings by which we had gone, returned to Clysma. When we had come to Clysma, however, it was necessary for us to recover there again, since we had made a very sandy desert journey. VII. 1. Indeed, although I already knew the land of Goshen, that is, where I had first been on my way to Egypt, yet in order that I might see through all the places which the children of Israel had touched, going out from Rameses, as they went, until they reached the Red Sea—which place is now called Clysma, from the fort that is there—it was therefore my desire that we should go out from Clysma to the land of Goshen, that is, to the city which is called Arabia, which city is in the land of Goshen;
for from there that very territory is so called, that is, the land of Arabia, the land of Goshen, which land is nonetheless a part of the land of Egypt, but considerably better than all Egypt. 2. So there are, from Clysma, that is from the Red Sea, as far as the city of Arabia, four stopping-places through the desert—yet so through the desert that at each stopping-place there are monasteries with soldiers and officers, who always led us from fort to fort. On that route, then, the holy men who were with us, that is the clerics or monks, showed us the individual places which I always sought out according to the Scriptures; for some were to the left, some to the right of our route, some also farther from the way, some close by. 3.
For I want your affection to believe me that, so far as I was able to perceive, the children of Israel walked in such a way that as far as they went to the right, so far they returned to the left, and as far as they again went forward, so far they again turned back behind: and thus they made that very journey, until they reached the Red Sea. 4. For Epauleum too was shown to us, from the opposite side, however, and we were at Migdol. For there is now a fort there having an officer with a soldier, who now presides there for the sake of Roman discipline. For they also led us, according to custom, from there as far as another fort, and the place Baal-zephon was shown to us—indeed, we were in that place.
For it is the plain above the Red Sea beside the flank of the mountain which I mentioned above, where the children of Israel, when they had seen the Egyptians coming after them, cried out. 5. Etham too was shown to us, which is beside the desert places, as it is written, as well as Succoth. Now Succoth is a moderate slope in the middle of the valley, beside which little hill the children of Israel pitched their camp; for this is the place where the law of the Passover was received. 6. The city Pithom too, which the children of Israel built, was shown to us on that very route, in that place, however, where we had now entered the borders of Egypt, now leaving the lands of the Saracens: for that Pithom too is now a fort. 7.
Now the city of Heroes, which existed at that time—that is, where Joseph met his father Jacob as he came, as it is written in the book of Genesis—is now a village, but a large one, which we call a hamlet. For that village has a church and martyr-shrines and very many monasteries of holy monks, each of which it was necessary for us to go down to see, according to the custom we kept. 8. For that village is now called Hero, which Hero, however, is sixteen miles from the land of Goshen, for it is on the borders of Egypt. The place itself is quite pleasant, for a certain part of the river Nile flows there too. 9.
And so, going out from Hero, we came to the city which is called Arabia, which is a city in the land of Goshen, from which it is written that Pharaoh said to Joseph: 'In the better land of Egypt settle thy father and thy brothers, in the land of Goshen, in the land of Arabia.' VIII. 1. From the city of Arabia, moreover, it is four miles to Rameses. But we, in order to come to the lodging of Arabia, passed through the middle of Rameses: which city of Rameses is now a field, so that it does not even have a single dwelling. It is plain, indeed, that it was both immense in its circuit and had many buildings; for its ruins, as they have collapsed, appear to this day beyond counting. 2.
But now there is nothing else there except only one immense Theban stone, in which are two huge statues, carved out, which they say are of holy men, that is of Moses and Aaron; for they say that the children of Israel set them up in their honor. 3. And there is besides there a sycamore tree, which is said to have been planted by the patriarchs; for it is now very ancient and therefore quite small, although it still bears fruit. For whoever has any ailment goes there and takes twigs, and it is of benefit to them. 4. This, moreover, we learned from the holy bishop of Arabia, who told us; for he himself told us the name of that tree, how they call it in Greek, that is Dendros Aletheias, which we call the tree of truth.
This holy bishop, however, deigned to come to meet us at Rameses; for he is now an elderly man, truly quite religious, having risen from being a monk, and affable, receiving pilgrims very well; for he is also greatly learned in the Scriptures of God. 5. So when he had deigned to trouble himself and to come to meet us there, he showed and told each thing there, both about those statues which I mentioned, and about that sycamore tree. For the holy bishop himself also told us this: that Pharaoh, when he saw that the children of Israel had left him, then, before he set out after them, had gone with his whole army into Rameses and had burned it all, because it was exceedingly vast, and from there had set out after the children of Israel. IX. 1.
Now by good fortune this most pleasant thing befell us, that on the day on which we came to the lodging of Arabia, it was the eve of the most blessed day of Epiphany; for on that same day vigils were to be held in the church. And so the holy bishop kept us there for some two days—a holy man and truly a man of God, already quite well known to me from that time when I had been in the Thebaid. 2. Now this holy bishop is from a monk; for from boyhood he was reared in a monastery, and therefore he is either so learned in the Scriptures or so blameless in his whole life, as I said above. 3. We, moreover, then sent back from there the soldiers who had provided us aid for the sake of Roman discipline, as long as we had walked through suspect places;
but now, since there was a public highway through Egypt, which passed through the city of Arabia—that is, the one which runs from the Thebaid to Pelusium—therefore it was no longer necessary to trouble the soldiers. 4. So setting out from there, we made our journey entirely through the land of Goshen, always among vineyards which yield wine, and vineyards which yield balsam, and among orchards and most cultivated fields and very many gardens; we had our whole journey along the bank of the river Nile, among very frequent estates which had once been the farmsteads of the children of Israel. And why say more? I think I have nowhere seen a more beautiful territory than is the land of Goshen. 5.
And so, journeying from the city of Arabia, traveling for two whole days across the land of Goshen, we arrived at Tanis, the city in which holy Moses was born. Now this city of Tanis was once the capital of Pharaoh. 6. And although I already knew those places, as I said above—that is, from when I had gone to Alexandria or to the Thebaid—nevertheless, because I wished to learn fully the places through which the children of Israel had traveled as they set out from Rameses to the holy mountain of God, Sinai: thus it was necessary even to return once more to the land of Goshen, and from there to Tanis. Setting out then from Tanis, traveling along a road now known to me, I came to Pelusium. 7.
And setting out again from there, making my journey through the individual stations of Egypt through which we had passed, I came to the borders of Palestine. And from there, in the name of Christ our God, again making several stages through Palestine, I returned to Aelia, that is, to Jerusalem. X. 1. Likewise, after some time had passed, and at God's bidding, there was again a desire to go as far as Arabia, that is, to Mount Nebo, to the place where God commanded Moses to ascend, saying to him: 'Go up into the mountain Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab over against Jericho, and behold the land of Canaan, which I give to the children of Israel for a possession, and die in that very mountain to which you ascend.' 2.