THE PILGRIMS PROGRESS - ART, ARCHITECTURE AND RITUAL MOVEMENT AT SINAI

Anthropological theories of pilgrimage have tended to neglect the cult ural significance of material images and architecture. This paper, thr ough a focused study of the material culture of the sixth-century mona stery of St Catherine at Mt Sinai, attempts to restore archaeological evidence to the anthropology of pilgrimage. The arts, architecture and inscriptions at the monastery turn out to perform significant ideolog ical work in leading pilgrims from different provenances through a rit ual representing spiritual transformation.