Chapter LIII: Appendix: E. (P. 319.)—Two inscriptions in marble, referring to the

foundation of the convent, still exist, which are let into the external wall facing the convent-garden, one in _Greek_, the other in _Arabic_. BURCKHARDT (Trav. p. 545) says: “An Arabic inscription _over the gate_, in modern characters, says that Justinian built the convent in the thirtieth year of his reign, as a memorial of himself and his wife Theodora. It is curious to find a passage of the Koran introduced into this inscription: it was probably done by a Moslem sculptor, without the knowledge of the monks.” The Arabic inscription is certainly over the small door leading into the garden. But if Burckhardt saw it here, it is inconceivable that he did not see the _Greek_ inscription beside it, let into the wall with a similar border and shelter. ROBINSON saw neither of them (i. p. 205); RICCI caused the Greek inscription to be copied, and from his copy this has been communicated and translated by LETRONNE in the _Journ. des Sav._ 1836, p. 538, with some slight deviations. But as early as 1823, another copy, which escaped Letronne, was published by Sir Fr. Henniker (_Notes during a Visit to Egypt, &c._ p. 235, 236), which, however, is very inaccurate, although it endeavours to render the written characters themselves. The _Arabic_ inscription, as far as I am aware, is still quite unknown. I have taken an impression of both on paper, and offer a faithful representation of them here. The Greek runs thus:

Ἐκ βάθρων ἀνηγέρθη τὸ ἱερὸν τοῦτο μοναστήριον τοῦ Σιναίου ὄρους,
ἔνθα ἐλάλησεν ὁ θεὸς τῷ Μωυσῇ παρὰ τοῦ ταπεινοῦ βασιλέως Ῥωμαίων
Ἰουστινιανοῦ πρὸς ἀΐδιον μνημόσυνον αὐτοῦ καὶ τῆς συζύγου τοῦ
Θεοδώρας· ἔλαβε τέλος μετὰ τὸ τριακοστὸν ἔτος τῆς βασιλείας τοῦ,
καὶ κατέστησεν ἐν αὐτῷ ἡγούμενον ὀνόματι Δουλᾶ ἐν ἔτει ἀπὸ μὲν
Ἀδὰμ ͵ϛκαʹ ἀπὸ δὲ Χριστοῦ φκζʹ.

“This holy convent of Mount Sinai, where God spoke to Moses, was
built from the foundation by Justinian, the lowly king of the
Romans, in eternal remembrance of the same, and of his consort
Theodora; it was completed in the thirtieth year of his reign,
and he placed a chief in the same, one of the name of Dulas, in
the year 6021 since Adam, 527 since Christ.”

LETRONNE read in the second line ἐν ᾧ πρῶτον in place of ἔνθα, and in the seventh line κατέστησε τὸν in place of κατέστησεν. The written characters indicate about the twelfth or thirteenth century. As the Emperor Justinian reigned from 527-565, it is assumed by the writer that the determination to found the convent, and at the same time the appointment of his abbot Dulas, occurred in the first year of the reign of the emperor, although the completion of the edifice is not placed before the thirtieth year of the same, _i. e._ 556 after Christ. The year 6021 from the creation of the world corresponds to the year 527 after Christ, according to the Alexandrine era of PANODORUS and ANIANUS.

The Arabic inscription is this:

انثا دير طور سينا و كنيسة جبل المناجاة افقير لله الراجي
عفو مولاه الملك المهذب الرومي المذهب يوستيانس تذكارا لى
ولزوجته ثاوضوره علي سرور الزسان حني برث اللّه الارض ومن
عليها وهو خير الوارثين وتم بناوه بعد ثلاثين سنة من ملكة
ونصب له ريسا اسبه ذولاس جري ذلك سنا ٦٠٢١ لادم الوافق
لتاريخ السيد المسيح سنة ٥٢٧

“The convent of TÔR (Mount) Sina, and the Church of the Mount of
the Interview, was built by the dependent on God, and hoping in
the promise of his Lord, the pious King of the Greek Confession,
Justianus (for Justinian), in remembrance of himself and his
consort Theodora to last for all times, in order that God might
inherit the earth, and who upon it: for _he is the best of the
heirs_. And the building was completed after thirty years of his
reign. And he appointed it a chief, with the name of Dhulas. And
this happened after Adam 6021, which corresponds with the year
527 of the era of the Lord Christ.”

The written characters of the inscription, according to the learned judgment of the consul, Dr. WETZSTEIN, who has also most kindly taken upon himself the re-writing and translation of the inscription here communicated, indicate that it did not exist before the year 550 of the Mohammedan era, which thus refers to the period when the Greek inscription was also composed. The passage in the Koran which BURCKHARDT already mentions, is to be found, Sûr. 21, v. 18.

Another large stone is immured in the same wall, but much higher up, over a far larger gate, now built up, at a spot behind which the kitchen is at present situated, the ornamental part of which might lead us to infer that another still older inscription might still exist here. Unfortunately I was unable to bring a ladder to the spot to examine the stone more accurately. It is to be hoped some future traveller may accomplish this.