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The multiple similarities between the Greek and Syriac eucharistic liturgies of Antioch and its hinterland on the one hand and the Jerusalem Liturgy of Saint James on the other hand situate Jerusalem within a single cultural area as regards liturgical life. Compared with Antioch, however, we have much more early evidence for the Liturgy of the Hours in Jerusalem. Main sources, which are briefly presented in the paper, are a) the Itinerary of Egeria, who in the 380s produced extensive liturgical notes on celebrations in the Anastasis cathedral and the related stational sites; b) the Armenian Lectionary, 5thcentury, which gives more specific detail of the services held in Jerusalem; c) the Georgian Lectionary, 6thcentury, which gives a slightly later stage of the material described in the Armenian Lectionary; d) the Old Iadgari, or first Jerusalem Tropologion, entirely preserved in Georgian. It is clear from these documents that the Anastasis Cathedral was officiated by monastic communities of different ethnic origins who used their own languages for their liturgical offices. We also have considerable evidence for this period for the Lavra of Saint Sabbas in the Judaean desert, where several ethnic communities prayed separately in their own languages, coming together only for the Eucharistic synaxis (in Greek). This multi-ethnic situation continues today on Mount Athos and continued throughout the Middle Ages on Sinai. The vast library of manuscripts at Saint Catherine’s monastery is well known. It contains manuscripts in a very wide variety of Christian languages, including numerous liturgical texts. The Manuscript Sinai Arabic 232 (13th century) contains a complete Psalter, a complete Horologion and other texts. It can be shown to be of Alexandrian Melkite origin, used by Arabic-speaking monks who were part of the Sinai community. There are archaic and specifically Egyptian, and even Coptic, elements that are of special interest.

The article presents the history of the relationship of the Russian Orthodox Church with the Christian communities of Egypt and Ethiopia. The article is also concerned with the issue of contacts between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Coptic Church of Egypt in the second half of the 19th and early 20th century. The first almost informal contacts between representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Alexandria Patriarchate allowed Egyptian Christians to get acquainted with the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church, and representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church — with the real state of the religious, political and cultural situation in Egypt. The article also examines the attempts of representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church to establish ties with the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, which was part of the Alexandria Patriarchate until 1959.

Macarius, Archbishop of Mount Sinai (13th century), is one of the little-known Arabic-speaking Orthodox authors. Only one of his full-fl edged works has survived, On Fasting during Cheesefare Week. The historical and canonical signifi cance of this text is due to the fact that it includes the confession of faith of Macarius. Thus, this relatively small text allows us to make a fairly full portrait of its author, to evaluate the Sinai Archbishop both as a church writer in general, and as a dogmatist in particular. The historical and canonical part of the treatise shows that Macarius was a highly educated hierarch. The degree of his acquaintance with the patristic literature, the history of the Ecumenical Councils and the sources of canon law of the Orthodox Church significantly exceeds the average level of Orthodox apologists who wrote in Arabic. The confession of faith of Macarius of Sinai, characterised by both the perfection of form and the accuracy of its dogmatic formulations, can be considered one of the best brief confessions of the Orthodox faith ever composed in Arabic. The treatise of Macarius of Sinai is a vivid testimony to the fact that in the first half of the 13th century, the very small Orthodox community of Egypt and Sinai had highly educated intellectuals deeply rooted in church tradition.

Nikolai Ivanovich Petrov (1840–1921) – Russian and Ukrainian scholar, professor of the Kiev Theological Academy, long-term curator in the Museum of Church Archaeology at the Kiev Theological Academy. A significant place in this collection belonged to the Byzantine icons bequeathed to the museum by A.N. Muravyov and Porfiry Uspensky. N.I. Petrov himself was engaged in the acquisition of these collections. The works of icon painting (unique in themselves), originating mainly from Sinai and Mount Athos gave impetus to the development of the science of Byzantine art in Russia. Unfortunately, most of them were lost during the World War II, but photographs from the archives make it possible to continue studying them. N.I. Petrov managed to appreciate the collection of ancient Sinai and Athonite icons at its true worth, lay the foundation for their systematic scientific study, make many correct dating and iconographic descriptions of the works acquired by the Museum, sometimes even more accurately than Academician N.P. Kondakov.

The first part of the paper discusses the written testimonies about the history of the cult of the holy fathers of Sinai and Raithou at St. Catherine’s monastery and the visual representations of these saints in East Christian art. The Sinai icons in question are then analysed in two ways. First, the choice of figures of the saints in the upper registers of the icons is considered. On the other hand, the iconography of the forty Sinai and Raithou martyrs is studied in greater detail. It is shown that representations of the celebrated holy monks were used to paint their “portraits”.