Mount Catherine

Mount Catherine or Mount Saint Catherine (Arabic: جبل كاثرين; Greek: Όρος της Αγίας Αικατερίνης) is the highest mountain in Egypt. It is located near the town of Saint Catherine in the South Sinai Governorate. It is also known as Gebel Katherina.

The name is derived from the Christian tradition that angels transported to this mountain the body of the martyred Saint Catherine of Alexandria.

At the summit of the mountain, there is a chapel built in 1905 and a meteorological station.

In the north of Mount Catherine, in January 2020 archaeologists uncovered a cave with paintings of people and animals in red pigment that dates back to the Chalcolithic period (c. 5th–4th millennium BC). According to John Darnell, red painted images are not as common as engraved images and text. The painting resembling a camel shows that at least some of the graffiti are not older than the first millennium BC and may belong to a later period. The cave was filled with graffiti from different periods over time.

Geology

Mount Saint Catherine is a large horst that rose in a vertical movement along the length of the Wadi Sabia fault in the Catherine Plateau during the Neogene period. The Catherine Plateau consists of different volcanic rocks that were formed at different times in the Precambrian era. These rocks include, among others: tuff, agglomerate, volcanic bombs and lava flows. The volcanic rocks in this area have experienced significant cracking and weathering, leading to the formation of extensive screes, leading to increased water infiltration and subsequently impacting the local water regime.

Climate

Precipitation is infrequent and sporadic, with occasional snowfall occurring on the summit. During the winter season, at the mountain's uppermost reaches, typical conditions include an average maximum temperature of 5 °C or 41.0 °F and an average minimum temperature of −3 °C or 26.6 °F.

In summer, the average maximum temperature is 23 °C or 73.4 °F and the average minimum temperature is 12 °C or 53.6 °F. The average daily amplitude between temperatures is about 10 °C or 18 °F.