Egypt and the Strength of St.Catherineвђ™s Monastery

Egypt and the strength of St. Catherine’s Monastery

The Middle East consists of many countries that span from the Atlantic Ocean to Russia, but one that is rich in culture is the Arab Republic of Egypt. Currently with a population of 77,506,756 million people republic government, it is one of the leading countries in rich Arabian culture. The size of the country is about three times the size of the state of New Mexico. Egypt is located on the continent Africa between Libya & Sudan. 94% of their people are Muslims, 6% Christians & other. Its official language is Arabic & its capitol is Cairo. Egypt is famous for its pyramids and has thrived from the precious water that is supplied by the Nile, where most of the cities in Egypt including Cairo are located. Economically Egypt’s industries export many goods such as textiles, food, chemicals, petroleum, cement and metals (Spencer 42-43). Egypt conceders itself to be an Arab nation and is a member of the League of Arab states. It is a country that is on the up and coming, working through economical issues and also fighting the education crisis. “A rapidly growing population (the largest in the Arab world)” (CIA world Fact book)

Egypt economically and educationally is still on its exponential growth. Educationally the adult literacy rate is only approximately 60 %. Another statistic that gives an insight of the poor education in Egypt is that per 1,000 people only 43 are a part of the daily newspaper circulation (Spencer 43). The lack of newspaper circulations and poor schooling has led to this 60% literacy rate. On the economical side of the country there is great chance of hope. The natural resources include petroleum which in today’s world is the most valuable resource. Also, agriculturally Egypt contributes to cotton, sugarcane, rice, corn, and wheat. Egypt exports about $11 billion and imports about $19 billion.

Further more, Egypt is rich in historical aspects. “the pliant Hellenic genius could not remain insensible to that ancient and marvelous civilization with its pyramids and temples” (Maspero 8) Egypt is very eminent for its pyramids. Pyramids are tombs for Pharaohs & queens. There are about eighty pyramids known today from ancient Egypt. The three largest pyramids are the “Great Pyramid”, built for King Khufu. Another famous pyramid is the Sphinx located at Giza. The word “sphinx” means strangler. The sphinx represents King Khafre. It is supposed to be 150 ft in height.

Located at the foot of Mount Moses, St. Catherine's Monastery was constructed by order of the Emperor Justinian. It is built around Moses' Burning Bush, which has a chapel built atop it. It is a spectacular natural setting for priceless works of art, including Arab mosaics, Greek and Russian icons, Western oil paintings, paintings on wax, fine