Latest news with #MountSinai
Telegraph
4 days ago
- General
- Telegraph
Egypt could close world's oldest Christian monastery
Egypt could close the oldest continuously functioning monastery in the world, prompting fury from Christians. St Catherine's, at the foot of Mount Sinai, was built by the order of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I between 548 and 565 and has operated as a religious community ever since. However, a court ruling in Cairo has sparked fears that the Orthodox institution will be forcibly turned into a museum and its approximately 20 monks evicted. According to the Egyptian press, the court ordered that ownership of the monastery's land be transferred to the Egyptian state. It has been reported that the decision was taken so the building could be converted into a museum. Less than a month ago, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Egypt 's president, publicly reassured the Greek government that the monastery would continue. Late on Thursday, his office issued a statement pledging 'full commitment to preserving the unique and sacred religious status of Saint Catherine's Monastery and preventing its violation'. However, there is widespread concern in the Christian world that the court ruling will result in the forcible closure of the monastery and the eviction of the monks. Mount Sinai holds theological significance because it is reputed to be where God spoke to Moses through the burning bush, tasking him with leading the chosen people out of Egypt. It is also the reported location where the 10 Commandments were handed down to Moses. St Catherine's Basilica, with its intricate mosaics, is considered a treasure trove of Byzantine-era religious art. News of the court ruling prompted an impassioned protest from Ierenemos II, the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece. 'Following yesterday's scandalous ruling, a violent infringement of human rights and, more specifically, of religious freedoms by Egypt's judicial authorities, the world's oldest Orthodox Christian monument, the Monastery of Mount Sinai, is entering a period of great trial – one that evokes memories of darker times in history,' a statement read. 'I unequivocally condemn any attempt to alter the longstanding status that has prevailed in this region for fifteen centuries. I call upon the responsible Greek government – and personally upon prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis [of Greece] – to take immediate and appropriate action to restore lawful order and ensure that the Holy Monastery is not effectively abolished.' Meanwhile, Greek government sources said they would attempt to work with the Egyptian authorities to hold the country to the commitments given by President Sisi during his visit to Greece on May 7. A spokesman for Mr Sisi's office said: 'The Presidency affirms that the recent court ruling consolidates this status, aligning with the points President El-Sisi emphasised during his recent visit to Athens on May 7. 'The Presidency also affirms the importance of preserving the close and fraternal relations that bind the two countries and peoples and ensuring that they are not jeopardised.'
Arab News
4 days ago
- General
- Arab News
Egypt denies court ruling threatens historic monastery
CAIRO: Egypt has denied that a controversial court ruling over Sinai's Saint Catherine monastery threatens the UNESCO world heritage landmark, after Greek and church authorities warned of the sacred site's status. A court in Sinai ruled on Wednesday in a land dispute between the monastery and the South Sinai governorate that the monastery 'is entitled to use' the land, which 'the state owns as public property.' President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi's office defended the ruling Thursday, saying it 'consolidates' the site's 'unique and sacred religious status,' after the head of the Greek Orthodox church in Greece denounced it. Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens called the court ruling 'scandalous' and an infringement by Egyptian judicial authorities of religious freedoms. He said the decision means 'the oldest Orthodox Christian monument in the world, the Holy Monastery of Saint Catherine in Mount Sinai, now enters a period of severe trial — one that evokes much darker times in history.' El-Sisi's office in a statement said it 'reiterates its full commitment to preserving the unique and sacred religious status of Saint Catherine's monastery and preventing its violation.' The monastery was established in the sixth century at the biblical site of the burning bush in the southern mountains of the Sinai peninsula, and is the world's oldest continually inhabited Christian monastery. The Saint Catherine area, which includes the eponymous town and a nature reserve, is undergoing mass development under a controversial government megaproject aimed at bringing in mass tourism. Observers say the project has harmed the reserve's ecosystem and threatened both the monastery and the local community. Archbishop Ieronymos warned that the monastery's property would now be 'seized and confiscated,' despite 'recent pledges to the contrary by the Egyptian President to the Greek Prime Minister.' Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis contacted his Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdelatty on Thursday, saying 'there was no room for deviation from the agreements between the two parties,' the ministry's spokesperson said. In a statement to Egypt's state news agency, the foreign ministry in Cairo later said rumors of confiscation were 'unfounded,' and that the ruling 'does not infringe at all' on the monastery's sites or its religious and spiritual significance. Greek government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said 'Greece will express its official position ... when the official and complete content of the court decision is known and evaluated.' He confirmed both countries' commitment to 'maintaining the Greek Orthodox religious character of the monastery.'
Medscape
22-05-2025
- Health
- Medscape
Postpartum Psychosis Risk Linked to Sister's Medical History
LOS ANGELES — Risk for postpartum psychosis is significantly higher in women who have a sister who has experienced the condition and/or has bipolar disorder (BD), a new study showed. In a population-based cohort study of nearly 1.7 million women, those with a full sister who had had the disorder were 10 times more likely to have postpartum psychosis than those whose sister did not have it. Odds of developing the condition were doubled when a sister had BD and about 14-fold higher if a sister had both BD and postpartum psychosis. Although rare, postpartum psychosis is considered 'one of the most severe psychiatric conditions,' co-investigator Veerle Bergink, MD, PhD, professor in the Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and director of Mount Sinai's Women's Mental Health Center, New York City, and colleagues noted. If not addressed and treated, the condition has been linked to increased risk for suicide and infanticide. But findings such as these can help clinicians identify those at potentially greater risk and make a plan, Bergink told Medscape Medical News. 'You don't have to start medication right away, but we do need to be aware' of the risk, she said. The findings were presented on May 19 at the American Psychiatric Association (APA) 2025 Annual Meeting and were simultaneously published online in the American Journal of Psychiatry. Relative Risks Postpartum psychosis typically occurs in the first 3 months after childbirth, with onset most likely in the first month. It can also occur in women who have no history of psychiatric illness and is the leading cause of maternal deaths, the researchers noted. If a woman shows symptoms of the condition — which include excessive energy, agitation, paranoia, confusion, and sleep problems — it should be addressed as a medical emergency, they added. Although previous research has shown that genetic factors can contribute to increased postpartum psychosis risk, the magnitude of that contribution has been unclear. In the current analysis, Bergink and colleagues examined data from Swedish national registers for 1,648,759 women who gave birth between January 1980 and September 2017. The primary outcome was a diagnosis of postpartum psychosis. Results showed that 2514 of the total participants — only 0.15% — had postpartum psychosis within the first 3 months of the birth of their first child. However, after adjusting for year and age at childbirth, the relative recurrence risk (RRR) was 10.69 for the condition in mothers with a full sister who had experienced the condition compared with mothers with a sister who had not experienced it (95% CI, 6.6-16.3; P < .001). Still, the absolute risk for those with an affected sister was estimated at just 1.6%. In the women diagnosed with postpartum psychosis, 49% had a history of BD, and 24% had a history of other mental health diagnoses. Prevalence of BD was 1.4% for the entire participant population. The odds ratio (OR) for postpartum psychosis when a sister had BD was 2.1 (95% CI, 1.0-4.0; P = .04). In addition, the combined OR was approximately 14.3 when a sister had experienced postpartum psychosis while also having BD. The RRR was also increased when a woman had a full woman cousin with postpartum psychosis, but it was not statistically significant when adjusted for birth year and age at childbirth or when adjusted for those factors plus history of BD. 'Our results provide guidance for clinicians working with pregnant women with personal or family histories of postpartum psychosis,' the investigators wrote. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) Inclusion? Bergink noted that the condition is not currently listed as a stand-alone disorder in any version of the DSM. However, numerous research groups are collaborating to develop criteria for its inclusion in future iterations of the manual. They propose that criteria should include experiencing at least one of the following within 3 months of childbirth, with a duration of at least 1 week or of any duration if hospitalization is necessary: Mania/mixed state, delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech or thoughts, and disorganized or confused behavior. Asked during a question-and-answer session if family history screenings are currently being done among women who are pregnant, Bergink answered, 'In general, no, but it should be.' 'Because of the potential negative impacts, sometimes severe, on mother and baby, this disorder needs to be identified and effectively treated,' Ned H. Kalin, MD, editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Psychiatry and professor and chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin, said in a press release. The current study is important because it highlighted the increased risk when the condition runs in families, he told Medscape Medical News . 'It also underscores the importance of understanding that risk and of working with your OB-GYN [obstetrician-gynecologist] doctor or psychiatrist to help reduce and mitigate the risk with treatment and close observation,' Kalin said. Bringing 'Stigma Out of the Darkness' Although postpartum psychosis is considered quite rare, tragic aftereffects in some undiagnosed and untreated women have been widely reported in the media. At the press briefing, Bergink shared that a medical colleague with the condition recently shot and killed herself and her baby girl. 'Unfortunately, not all cases are detected in time. At Sinai, we lost a colleague who had no psychiatric history and her baby,' she said. 'That happens. And it can occur in anyone.' Michael F. Myers, MD, chair of the APA meeting's Scientific Program Committee, shared that he was involved with two situations where patients had extreme forms of the condition, including one where a woman psychiatrist killed herself and her child. 'You hear about postpartum depression and postpartum blues. But then there's this subset that is not only dangerous to themselves but also to their baby,' Myers told Medscape Medical News. 'Talking about these situations is how we bring the stigma [about the condition] out of the darkness.' Psychiatric History Not Always a Factor 'There's a theme that having a psychiatric history is the main predictor for postpartum psychosis. But sometimes we miss it,' Misty C. Richards, MD, associate professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, and medical director of perinatal psychiatry for the university's Maternal Outpatient Mental Health Services Clinic, said at the briefing. She added that, as a clinician, 'you do the best that you can to try to catch this early because things can become wildly out of control in the postpartum period. Infanticide should just never happen.' She later told Medscape Medical News that the symptoms of postpartum psychosis differ from those of schizophrenia because they wax and wane and almost present as delirium. 'So you can be lucid one minute and the next be wildly delusional. It's usually in the setting of poor sleep and severe anxiety and becomes an emergency very quickly,' Richards said. She added that this is much more extreme than a normal response to the chaos that often occurs during the first week after delivery. 'People may think, 'Oh, she'll shake it off and be okay.' But no. If you miss it, that's when it can be catastrophic,' she concluded.
Daily Mail
19-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Bible clues point to Saudi Arabia as where commandments were received says researcher
The Bible recounts how Moses climbed a mysterious mountain, met with God face-to-face and descended carrying the Ten Commandments etched in stone. The true location of this sacred site has been lost to history, sparking debate over whether Mount Sinia lies in Egypt or across the border in Saudi Arabia. Biblical researcher Joel Richardson is among those who support the Saudi theory, arguing that a remote peak known as Jabal al-Lawz matches the Bible's description more closely than any other site. The mountain features what he describes as a two-tiered structure - a massive peak rising behind a broad, bowl-shaped plateau, just as the Bible describes Moses ascending alone while others remained below. The story of Moses is told in the Book of Exodus, which narrates how the Israelites were led out of slavery in Egypt toward the Promised Land. According to scripture, God called Moses to Mount Sinai, where he gave instructions for building the tabernacle and performing offerings. When God finished speaking, he gave Moses two stone tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments. Nearby Jabal al-Lawz, a massive split rock stands like a monument, which Richardson links to the story of Moses striking the stone to bring forth water. He also pointed to a dry riverbed running beside the mountain, another detail from scripture that provides 'evidence' that Jabal al-Lawz could be the true location. Richardson's view on the location, however, is among the minority. Most researches are sure Mount Sinai is in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula because the biblical description of the Israelites' journey through the wilderness aligns closely with the region. One of the most influential factors is the presence of St Catherine's Monastery, built in the 6th century at the base of a mountain long identified as Mount Sinai, also known as Jebel Musa, or 'Mountain of Moses.' Early Christian historians and Byzantine monks helped establish this site as the biblical mountain through maps and pilgrimage routes But modern scholars are taking another look at where the location could be, suggesting it is the mountain in Saudi Arabia, located nearly 200 miles away. Richardson first visited Jebel al-Lawz in 2018 and recalled thinking, 'This is exactly what you would expect to find simply reading the biblical text.' 'Deuteronomy says there's a river that comes down the mountain right next to the altar, and it's right there. It's mostly a dry riverbed today,' he said. There have also been archaeological discoveries at the Saudi mountain, including 12 stone pillars found in 1984. In Exodus 24:4, the Bible recounts how Moses built an altar and erected twelve pillars to represent the twelve tribes of Israel. Also on the side of the mountain are ancient petroglyphs of domestic cattle that are said to date back to before 1000BC. Petroglyphs of cows have been found near the mountain, some showing figures holding large animals above their heads. These images align with the Book of Exodus , which describes the Israelites building a golden calf to worship while Moses was on top of the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights. While Richardson is very knowledgeable when it comes to Biblical text and Jabal al-Lawz, he said he approaches all this 'evidence' with caution. One example is the 'Split Rock' near the mountain, which would align with the Biblical story that Moses struck a rock at Horeb to provide water for the Israelites, who were thirsty and complaining. However, God had commanded him to speak to the rock to bring forth water. Scripture says that Moses did not trust God's power and holiness and instead, hit the rock. This act banned him from entering the Promised Land with the Israelites. The rock in questions stands about 65 feet tall on top of a pile of rocks that measure about 100 feet high. 'This particular rock matches the [Biblical] criteria. It is split down the middle, massive water erosion and it is in the right location,' Richardson said. 'It could be the Split Rock, but it might not be. It could be an incredible coincidence.
CNA
17-05-2025
- Health
- CNA
What's the best way to wake up? Snooze less and embrace the morning sunlight
You've heard plenty of advice about how to prepare for a good night's sleep, but what about waking up? Is there really an ideal way to start your day? Your schedule often determines exactly when you get out of bed. But to the extent you can shape your routine, experts have some thoughts on the healthiest morning habits. 'I always joke that the best thing to do is to get a puppy,' said Mariana Figueiro, who studies light and health at the Ichan School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She's only half kidding. The two keys to a healthy wake-up routine, she said, are getting up at a consistent time each day and viewing morning sunlight – both tend to come with a regular morning dog walk. We spoke with four other sleep and circadian rhythm experts who all agreed with Dr Figueiro about the importance of these two morning habits. Here are their other recommendations – dog or no dog. STAY CONSISTENT Assuming you had the flexibility to choose, is there an ideal time to wake up? Not exactly. As long as you sleep for seven to nine hours each night, there's no 'best' time to wake up, said Dr Daniel Barone, the associate medical director of the Weill Cornell Center for Sleep Medicine. More important is that you stick to the same time, said Dr Katherine Sharkey, an associate professor who studies sleep at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. Your body runs on circadian rhythms that regulate not only your sleep-wake cycle but also your metabolism, appetite, hormones, mood, body temperature and cognitive function. Waking up at a consistent time can help keep these body functions running smoothly, said Helen Burgess, the co-director of the Sleep and Circadian Research Laboratory at the University of Michigan. Waking up much later or earlier than you're used to can make you feel drowsy or uncoordinated. Longer term, researchers have found links between irregular sleep patterns and increased risks of obesity, diabetes, mood disorders, heart disease and cancer. DON'T LET WEEKENDS THROW YOU OFF If you feel tired enough to sleep in on weekends, Dr Figueiro said, you're probably not getting enough rest during the week. In these cases, Dr Sharkey suggested sticking to your typical wake-up time and taking a nap later that day. This can help keep your circadian rhythms in sync. If you feel you absolutely must sleep in, Dr Barone said you can likely get away with an extra hour. Any longer and you might experience drowsiness, digestive issues and trouble focusing, similar to jet lag. (Sleep experts use the term ' social jet lag ' to refer to the effects of staying up late and sleeping in on weekends.) SEEK OUT SUNLIGHT As soon as you wake up, open the blinds and switch on the lights. Then, as soon as you can – ideally within an hour, Dr Figuiero said – try to get outside. Viewing any light in the morning, especially sunlight, helps signal to your body that it's daytime, Dr Sharkey said. When the light hits your eyes, it triggers a pathway between your brain and your adrenal glands that tells your body to release cortisol. This hormone makes you feel alert, which in turn could boost your mood, she added. S ome limited s tudies suggest that viewing morning sunlight can improve your sleep the following night, too. When the sun hits your eyes, Dr Sharkey said, it triggers a metaphorical stopwatch, which begins the countdown to bedtime, later telling your body when to release the sleep hormone melatonin. Even on overcast days, morning sunlight is strong enough to regulate your body clock, Dr Barone said. But if you wake up when it's still dark, he said it can be useful to turn on a powerful artificial light such as a light box. You might also try waking up to a sunrise alarm clock, he said, which gradually becomes brighter to mimic the rising sun. There's no specific amount of time you must spend in the morning sunlight, experts said, but, more exposure is better (as long as you protect your skin). Dr Burgess said an hour is best, but even 15 minutes is better than nothing. SKIP THE SNOOZE BUTTON Snoozing your alarm may feel like a gift to yourself, but it isn't the best way to start your day, said Ann E Rogers, a sleep researcher and professor of nursing at Emory University. The urge to snooze is your body's way of saying you need more sleep, Dr Sharkey said. And if you have the flexibility in your schedule to hit snooze, the experts agreed you're better off setting your alarm for the later end of your snooze window and getting up then. That way, your body can get the extra rest it craves – uninterrupted.
