Visit the exhibition Mount Sinai - A Symbol of Holiness

A new exhibition titled Sinai Mountain, Symbol of Holiness has opened at the Museum of Christianity in Slovenia in Štriglav, offering visitors a rare glimpse into the historical and spiritual significance of Sinai through photographs and glass slide negatives from the early 20th century. The exhibit runs until September 27 and features images captured during research trips made by three Slovenian biblical scholars between 1925 and 1935. The display was curated by Dr. Marko Frelih from the Slovenian Ethnographic Museum and Alenka Pipan Mubi, a senior curator at the Gorenjska Museum in Kranj. It includes color glass slides preserved in the Archdiocesan Archive in Ljubljana, along with black-and-white photographs from the collection of the Missionary Center of Slovenia. The exhibition highlights scenes associated with the Exodus, including locations linked to the giving of the Ten Commandments and life within the Monastery of Saint Catherine in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. These images offer insight into the spiritual, cultural, and historical heritage of the region, which was explored by the three scholars, Professor Dr. Anton Jehart, Professor Dr. Matija Slavič, and Professor Dr. Andrej Snoj, who traveled there using camels and automobiles. Their focus was primarily on studying ancient manuscripts, particularly the Sinai Evlogion, one of the oldest surviving Slavic liturgical texts from the 9th to 11th centuries. Sinai Mountain holds profound religious significance in both Judaism and Christianity. According to tradition, God spoke to Moses from Mount Sinai, delivering the Ten Commandments to the Israelites after their liberation from Egyptian bondage. Today, the mountain stands at 2,287 meters above sea level, situated on the border between Asia and Africa, approximately 210 kilometers north of the city of Sharm El-Sheikh. At its summit lies a modest Catholic church, beneath which is a cave believed to be the site where Moses received the commandments. A smaller mosque also exists nearby. The climb from the Monastery of Saint Catherine to the summit involves overcoming a height difference of around 700 meters, with several hundred steps leading toward the peak. The exhibition also includes visual material from a reproduction of the Holy Bible published in 1968, further enriching the narrative of the region's spiritual legacy. The project originated from previous collaboration between Dr. Marko Frelih and Alenka Pipan Mubi, who were researching materials related to missionary Ivan Kocjančič. During this process, they discovered archival material connected to Egypt and the Sinai Peninsula, including glass slides and a handwritten lecture by the theologian and biblical scholar Andrej Snoj on Sinai Mountain from November 6, 1936. Further investigation revealed that Snoj’s slides were reproductions of older photographs, while the original black-and-white images were found in albums held by the Missionary Center of Slovenia. The three scholars, Jehart, Slavič, and Snoj, each had distinct focuses during their visits to Sinai. Jehart, who visited in 1925, meticulously documented the landscape and customs of the local inhabitants, dedicating time to study old Church Slavonic manuscripts in the monastery library and compiling the first list of such manuscripts, sparking interest in them. Slavič, a translator of the Bible and expert in Hebrew, focused on identifying biblical sites on Sinai, such as the spring from which water flowed, aided by Bedouins. His descriptions are highly detailed. Snoj’s visit in 1935 was centered entirely on the Monastery of Saint Catherine and its renowned library, where he sought early Church Slavonic liturgical texts, especially the Sinai Evlogion from the 11th century. Although he did not initially find the text, his journey laid the foundation for future discoveries. The exhibition, organized jointly by the Museum of Christianity in Slovenia, the Slovenian Ethnographic Museum, and the Gorenjska Museum, with support from the Missionary Center of Slovenia and the Archdiocesan Archive in Ljubljana, also features a publication with the same title available in both Slovenian and English. Among the notable guests present at the opening were Alenka Pipan Mubi, Jana Babšek, director of the Gorenjska Museum, and Matjaž Šporar, grandson of photographer Petar Naglič. The exhibition aims to bring together the rich history of Sinai and its enduring spiritual importance, offering a unique perspective on the region’s past through the lens of these pioneering scholars.