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St Katherine's monastery and ideas of the universe

St Katherine's has the dubiuos distinction of being a centre of the early middle ages idea of cosmology. Although the idea of the galaxy as centred around the sun had been discovered by Aristarchus around 300B.C, it had been discarded. Instead, Platos' view of a universe divided into two spheres - one - the fallen - the earth - and the second - the unchanging, perfect - the universe held sway into early Christianity.

In the 6th century a monk called Cosmas lived in St Kat's. Born in Alexandira Cosmas was a merchant asnd as a seaman had travlled extensively, including India, Abyssinia and Ceylon, which earned im the name Indicopleustus, the Indian travller. He subsequently became a monk, and Moved to Sinai.

His most renowned book, in complete opposite to what we know today, is entitled:' Against those who, while wishing to profess Christianty, think and imagine like the pagans that the heaven is spherical.' No, said Cosmas: the earth was the shape of the holy Tabernacle as described in Exodus (a tent-like shape twice as long as it is wide). It is surroudned by the coean, and the ocean is suroudne dby a second earth which was the seat of Paraside, and th home of men Unitl NOah crossed the ocean, but is no unibhabted. From teh edges of this deserted outer earth rise four vertial planes, whicha re the wall fo the universe.

However, the floor, that is the earth, is not flat but slants fro North west to south east - accordingly rivers lke the Euprates which flow southward have a faster current thne the nile hwich clows 'uphill'. The star s are carred round the space under the roof of the universe by angles.

This kind of thinking held sway in Christiandom for many hundreds of years. Up until the fourth century maps were still being produced representing the eath eether as rectangular after eh shape of the Tabernacle, or as a circulr disc with Jerusalem as is centre (because Isaiah had sopoken fo the 'cicuit of the earht' and Ezikiel had stated that God had et Jerusalem in the midst of the nations and coutnries'/

So while Cosmas was no great original thinker, his book is of significance as representing the prevailing thought of the time, and its distance from what we beleive today.