The Manuscripts of St. Catherines Monastery

This 16 millimeter footage was filmed in the early 1970s at St. Catherine s Monastery in the Sinai desert, by cinematographer and photographer Jacques Soussana, a former employee of the Jewish National and University Library, today s National Library of Israel. Jacques Soussana passed away in 2019, but his widow Betty was kind enough to donate the films he shot in Sinai to the National Library of Israel. These films include footage of the famous manuscript collection kept at the monastery, as well as scenes of monastic life in the desert. The manuscripts of St. Catherine s Monastery can now be viewed on the National Library of Israel website. The footage was digitized with the help of the Steven Spielberg Jewish Film Archive and the Jerusalem Cinematheque.