Monks at St. Catherine's Monastery have to pay royalties to Bedouins of Sinai who claim the monastery is lying on their lands.Instead of protecting the monks, the state decided to give up the monks and even file law suits against it.
In a customary reconciliation cession, the monastery had to pay 150.000 EGP.
General manager of antiquities even claimed that Eyes of Moses area is but an Islamic antiquity as it’s mentioned in the holy Quran.
Moreover, he claimed that the monastery aims to profit and, therefore, has to pay taxes, which is the first time monastery in the desert has to pay taxes.
Saint Catherine's Monastery is commonly known as Santa Katarina, its official name being Sacred Monastery of the God-Trodden Mount Sinai lies on the Sinai Peninsula, at the mouth of a gorge at the foot of Mount Sinai, in the city of Saint Catherine in Egypt's South Sinai Governorate. The monastery is Orthodox and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Built between 548 and 565. The monastery is one of the oldest working Christian monasteries in the world, according to UNESCO report 60100 ha / Ref: 954.
