Mt Sinai Turned Into Luxury Resorts and Shops

[FlyersFan]

Not sure where to put this ... Middle East, Current Events, Religion, Metaphysics (yeah ... that'll come into play with this).

BBC - One of the worlds most sacred places being turned into luxury mega resort

Mt. Sinai ... a Unesco World Heritage site ... considered holy ground by Christians, Jews and Muslims, is being developed into mega resorts with houses and shopping malls, and it's being paved over with roads and parking lots.

Mt. Sinai ... where, allegedly, Moses talked with God personally when God showed Himself in a burning bush.  Where Heaven reached down to touch Earth.   Treated as holy ground by Christians and Jews.   And Muhammad himself declared it holy and off limits.    St Catherine's Monastery, run by the Greek Orthodox Church, has been there since 400 AD but not always under that name.   There has always been a monastery there (since very early Christianity and before that with the Jews) and I believe that they have a bush that they claim dates to the time of Moses and is 'thee burning bush' of legend.

Egypt claims the mountain as all government property and is kicking the people who live there out.  They wanted to kick out everyone from the monastery as well but because of pressure from the Greeks, they are going to leave them there.  But the 4,000 people who lived on the mountain are all being pushed out.   The people even have to take all the dead out of the cemetery and take the dead with them.  (that's where the metaphysics thing comes in ... it's really bad juju to take the dead out of a cemetery and then pave it over).

The people who lived there and are being pushed out have called themselves 'guardians of Mt. Sinai' for thousands of years.  Now the guardians are going to be gone, and modern day shopping malls and resorts will be in their place.

This is just sad.

[quintessentone]

Well, it may not be as bleak a scenario as you paint it.

As for the Bedouin people, the Egyptian tourism government will be upgrading their residential areas. I wonder if they can make use of vrbo to become business entrepreneurs? Their lifestyle may be of value to some adventurers/tourists interested in their culture. Let's hope a new cemetery for them are in the works.

Greece has been advocating for the monastery to remain, and Egypt agreed. The monastery could also have programs where tourists may want to tour the site. I once had an art teacher who had yearly trips to a monastery in Spain for her and all of her students to paint ancient-style fresco murals on their walls, where the monks would have special dorms prepared for the artists - minus the air conditioning.

There will be a cable car taking the curious, religious, and pilgrims atop Mount Moses. 

It is Egypt's land, after all, so they can do with it what they please and I'd say they are compromising quite well, considering they really need tourist dollars and/or any other type of dollars because they didn't recover very well after the covid lockdown. Religious tourism is big business worldwide.

This is how they will sell it:

"The government is promoting the development as "Egypt's gift to the entire world and all religions"."

[Tecate]

It is sad. It just goes to show how money shapes our world.

The Bedouin are being pushed out of their homes and have to take their dead with them.
Kind of unconscionable really, but money, money, money!!

I have believed that Jabal Al-Lawz was the true Mount Sinai or Mountain of the Lord anyway, but that doesn’t mean that what the Egyptian Government is doing doesn’t matter.

My 2 pesos…

Tecate

[UltraBudgie]

i am torn between thinking this is horrible and wondering if they'll open a burning bush marijuana dispensary alongside the casino

[quintessentone]

i am torn between thinking this is horrible and wondering if they'll open a burning bush marijuana dispensary alongside the casino

There has to be some type of burning bush introduced somewhere.

That marijuana dispensary will also have medicinal CBD, perhaps much needed for the old folks that are now there and who will be there in the future.

I wonder if they will have a medical clinic there in the town to benefit not only the tourists, but the Bedouin and the monks too.

Edit:

Oh, I see the monks instituted a medical and dental clinic for free there for everyone. Perhaps the Egyptian tourist PTB will institute more clinics and other needed services in the town.

This project started in 2021.

"The project, known as the “Great Transfiguration Project,” was launched in 2021 to transform the town of St. Catherine and its surroundings.
 Plans include luxury hotels, villas, shopping bazaars, eco-lodges, a visitor center, an expanded airport and a cable car to the summit of Mount Sinai, according to a recent BBC report.
 
According to Egyptian officials, the project is being carried out in coordination with UNESCO and international consultants to preserve the site’s archaeological and natural integrity. Authorities claim every historic structure and native plant is being protected and that the monastery’s spiritual significance will remain intact."

Egypt’s vast tourism project at Mount Sinai sparks debate - World News

For clarity the graves were not paved over, they were relocated.

"The report also raised concerns over the impact on the local Bedouin community, known as the Jebeleya tribe or “Guardians of St. Catherine,” who have reportedly lost homes and eco-camps, and in some cases graves have been relocated to make room for development."

[BeTheGoddess]

That was the 1948 cease-fire line, not an actual border so its Israel. Its that stupid canal that the Brits wanted to control that this is even a thing.

[Bootless]

Not sure where to put this ... Middle East, Current Events, Religion, Metaphysics (yeah ... that'll come into play with this).

Mt. Sinai ... a Unesco World Heritage site ... considered holy ground by Christians, Jews and Muslims, is being developed into mega resorts with houses and shopping malls, and it's being paved over with roads and parking lots.

The people who lived there and are being pushed out have called themselves 'guardians of Mt. Sinai' for thousands of years.  Now the guardians are going to be gone, and modern day shopping malls and resorts will be in their place.

This is just sad.

Paving over cemeteries is pretty bad. Iran just did that with the mass graves from the 1979 Revolution. see: Iran paves over mass grave of 1979 revolution victims, turning it into a parking lot That's pretty much an attempt to despise and erase from memory thousands of people killed by the government. A crime against humanity.

Is there something stopping the Sinai Bedouins from declaring independence from Egypt? They could get some big fat cat country to recognize their independence, preferably a permanent member of UNSC. There could be fleets of warships backing them in no time.

Oh! Get a load of this!
from original article:

The government is promoting the development as "Egypt's gift to the entire world and all religions".
 
"The project will provide all tourism and recreational services for visitors, promote the development of the town [of St Catherine] and its surrounding areas while preserving the environmental, visual, and heritage character of the pristine nature, and provide accommodation for those working on St Catherine's projects," Housing Minister Sherif el-Sherbiny said last year.

Pristine nature? Yeah, like paved roads and luxury resorts just occurred naturally, thousands of years ago. That's some next level BS.

[UltraBudgie]

Is there something stopping the Sinai Bedouins from declaring independence from Egypt? They could get some big fat cat country to recognize their independence, preferably a permanent member of UNSC. There could be fleets of warships backing them in no time.

[KKLoco]

Mt. Sinai ... where, allegedly, Moses talked with God personally when God showed Himself in a burning bush.  Where Heaven reached down to touch Earth.   Treated as holy ground by Christians and Jews.   And Muhammad himself declared it holy and off limits.    St Catherine's Monastery, run by the Greek Orthodox Church, has been there since 400 AD but not always under that name.   There has always been a monastery there (since very early Christianity and before that with the Jews) and I believe that they have a bush that they claim dates to the time of Moses and is 'thee burning bush' of legend.

Did you know that most middle eastern Acacia have high concentrations of DMT? 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ac..._alkaloids

Moses be trippin'....

[FlyersFan]

Moses be trippin'....

I"m not a big believer in the whole exodus story.
But still .. this is sad.

An ancient and historical place that Christians, Jews, and Muslims all agree is holy ...
and it's being paved over and high rises put in place and the people who live there
and are the mountains self proclaimed guardians are getting the boot.

And moving the cemeteries .... that's bad bad juju.   

Just doesn't seem right.