POSTCARDS x 2 ISRAEL THE GOOD FENCE-METULLA 1981 MONASTERY of St. KATHERINE 1981 THE SKULL ROOM MONK

Rocky hills rise and fall underneath the blinding sun. And yet for thousands of years, this desolate peninsula was traversed and played host to many of the most important religious events in history. Many of these seminal events are neatly encapsulated within the walls of St. Catherines Monastery. Situated below Mount Sinai, St. Catherines Monastery was originally built by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian in the early 6th century. It is considered the oldest monastery in the world, although this claim is disputed. Much of the landscape around St. Catherines is similarly disputed, along with the claim that the peak above the monastery is actually the biblical Mount Sinai. Within the gates of the monastery, the unknown only grows. When Justinian declared a monastery to be built on the land, a chapel dedicated to the burning bush was already in place. Once again, disputed claims placed the burning bush that appeared to Moses near the present-day monastery. To this day, a bush inside the compound is considered by some to be the original from biblical texts. Besides the chapel, the monastic compound also holds an ancient charnel for monks. Although monks are typically thought of as the most pious men who have dedicated their lives to God, the monks of St. Catherine often broke that mold, and was sent to the Sinai as punishment. As they died off, the pious next to the profane in the midst of the deserts sparse resources, the monks discovered the ground was unsuitable for proper burials. Their only answer was to create a house of skulls, piling the bones of the religious men in a charnel below the monastery. Differing from many ossuaries and charnels, St. Catherines was based more on functionality than decoration, and the massive pile of remains speaks to that gruesome end. St. Catherines Monastery is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Good Fence was a term that referred to Israel's mountainous 80-mile northern border with Lebanon[1] during the period following the 1978 South Lebanon conflict (during Lebanese Civil War). At the time, southern Lebanon was controlled by the Maronite Christian militias and the South Lebanon Army, as the Free Lebanon State (1978-1984) and later the South Lebanon security belt administration.

Condition = G = Corners may be noticeably blunt or rounded with slight bends or creases. May be postally used or writing on address side.