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The convent of St. Catherine Mount Sinai looking towards the plain of the encampment Feby 21st 1839 / David Roberts, R.A.
Summary
Painting drawn at the upstream area of Wadi El Dier, looking northwest and showing the mountain slopes of Gebel 'Arribeh, Gebel El Dier (Selib-Baraka) and Gebel Meraja and the mountain mass of Gebel El Sana' to the right, the triangular summit of Gebel Umm Gelekh and the enclave of El A'gramiya area below the summit in centre-right, El Raha Plain and the vicinity of Naqb El Hawa in the centre, El Tih Plateau in central Sinai in the far horizon from a 75km distance, the pointed summits of Gebel Naa'ga and Gebel Fara'a mountain range from the centre to centre-left, the eastern slopes of Gebel Rubsha (El Ghabsheh) to their left, the mountain slopes of Gebel Armaziya and Gebel El Sefsafa to the left, the orchard and fortress of Saint Catherine Monastery in the central area of Wadi El Dier (Biblical Holy Valley), and the camel dirt-track of Siqqat Abbas Basha to the summit of Mount Sinai (Biblical Sinai) and the pilgrimage caravan route to El Tur (Byzantine Raitho, on the Gulf of Suez) in the foreground. (Source: A. Shams, Sinai Peninsula Research, 2018)
El Raha Plain is dotted with prehistoric sites date back to Upper Paleolithic (37,000-34,000 BCE) and Pre-Pottery Neolithic (B) (6,700-6,000 BCE). El Raha Plain is recognised as the traditional location where the Israelites encamped at the foot of Biblical Mount Horeb. Nabatean (1st Century CE) and Byzantine monastic (4th-7th centuries CE) structures, in addition to mountain chapels, are scattered across Wadi El Dier (Biblical Holy Valley) and on the plateau of Biblical Mount Horeb and Mount Sinai, including ruined buildings (dwellings), hermit cells, prayer niches, rock-paved paths, rock inscriptions and agricultural plots (water dams, reservoirs & cisterns, conduits and retaining walls). Naqb El Hawa has acted as the entry gate to Mount Sinai and Saint Catherine Monastery for pilgrims, travellers and scholars since 4th century CE. Saint Catherine Monastery was constructed in 545 CE by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I (527-565 CE). Siqqat Abbas Basha was constructed in 19th century CE. Abbas Helmi I, the Khedive of Egypt (1849-54), visited Sinai Peninsula in 1853-54 CE and paved several paths in the vicinity of Mount Sinai and along the pilgrimage routes in the peninsula. (Source: A. Shams, Sinai Peninsula Research, 2018)
Illus. in: The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt and Nubia / from drawings made on the spot by David Roberts ... ; lithographed by Louis Haghe. London : F.G. Moon, 1842-1845, v. 3, pts. 19-20, p. 4.
Surrogate reference copy available in: The Holy Land / David Roberts. Tel-Aviv, Israel : Terra Sancta Arts, 1982, v. 5, pl. 113, p. 36.
Tooley, no. 115
David Roberts, a Scottish painter, was born in 1796. His father was a poor shoemaker. From an early age, Roberts displayed a distinct artistic talent. Since age 10 he was apprenticed to a house-painter. In 1816, the young David joined a troupe of traveling pantomimists as a theatrical backdrop painter. Eventually, he got a position as a principal painter at the Theatre Royal, Glasgow, following that by employment, in 1820-21, at the Theatre Royal, Edinburgh and in 1823, the Drury Lane Theatre in London. Roberts made trips to Europe, sketching monuments and cathedrals with photographic precision. He turned these sketches into his first real “romantic travel” paintings exhibited and sold at ever-increasing prices. In 1830 he was elected president of the Society of British Artists. In 1832-1837 Roberts visited Burgos, Madrid, Toledo, Segovia, Cordova, Granada, Malaga, Gibraltar, Cadiz and Seville. In 1838 he sailed to Malta, the Greek Cycladian isles, and Egypt. In Cairo, after visiting the Pyramids of Geza, he wrote: “Not much struck with the size of the great one till I began the ascent, which is no joke. The Sphinx pleased me even more than the Pyramids... I cannot express my feelings on seeing these vast monuments.” Roberts left Cairo on 8 February 1839 to begin his trek to Palestine where Roberts drew sketches that would become some of the Holy Land’s most memorable plates. Roberts then went to Petra, that legendary rock-carved city. David Roberts travel lithographs were sketched in 1832-1840 and produced from 1842-49 by London publisher F.G. Moon. Hundreds of prints were made of each drawing from the lithographer’s original stone plate. David Roberts became a member of at least nine societies and academies. Roberts was at work upon a picture of St. Paul’s Cathedral, when he died suddenly at the age of sixty-eight, in 1864.
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