Yuwākīm al-Ghazzī’s Annual Journeys from Gaza to Sinai (1534-1538)1
A few years ago, I published a paper about a priest who travelled, in the 16th century, from Gaza to Sinai every summer. In this blog post, I would like to revisit that study and share a few additional discoveries about the traveller, Yuwākīm al-Ghazzī.
The story begins with another figure: Jirjis ibn Sālim ibn Mūsā, who visited St. Catherine’s Monastery in 1531 CE. Like many other visitors, Jirjis left notes in the margins of manuscripts. These included an ownership note in a manuscript that he appears to have brought with him to Sinai, prayers asking forgiveness for his sins, and reading notes recording that he had read the manuscript in question.
What makes Jirjis particularly interesting is the way he identified himself. Visitors usually mentioned their place of origin, their current place of residence, and sometimes their religious affiliation. Jirjis, however, identified himself as ibn akh, meaning “the nephew” (literally in Arabic, “the son of the brother”) of the priest Yuwākīm al-Ghazzī. In all his notes, he consistently associated himself with this otherwise little-known uncle, recording his name with a sense of pride, as though any reader would immediately recognize him.
MS Sinai, Ar. 80, f.193v: Note by Jirjis ibn Sālim, identifying himself as ibn akh Yuwākīm al-Ghazzī. Image published by permission of Saint Catherine’s Monastery, Sinai, Egypt. © 2026 by St Catherine’s Monastery at Mt Sinai.
A few years later, in 1534, Jirjis’s uncle, Yuwākīm al-Ghazzī, appeared at the monastery himself and added a marginal note to another Arabic manuscript. At first glance, it seems unlikely that Yuwākīm was Jirjis’s biological uncle, given the considerable difference between their names. Perhaps they were more distant relatives. Yet Yuwākīm appears to have been someone with whom others were eager to associate themselves and of whom they were proud to speak. It is also possible that Jirjis had no blood relationship with Yuwākīm at all. This possibility may be suggested by his description of himself as “known as the nephew of the priest Yuwākīm al-Ghazzī”: the expression “known as” can sometimes indicate a nickname or an assumed relationship rather than an actual family connection.
Over the following five years, until 1538, Yuwākīm al-Ghazzī’s marginal notes in the Arabic manuscript collection at Sinai provide a remarkably consistent record of his annual visits to the monastery and, eventually, his permanent residence there. His notes indicate that he visited the monastery every summer, in July and August, from 1534 to 1538.
The manuscripts in which Yuwākīm wrote his notes cover a wide range of subjects. They suggest that he spent considerable time praying in the monastery’s church and reading religious texts. The manuscripts include menologia; a liturgical book containing accounts of the lives of saints and homilies for each day. Such a book would have been an appropriate choice for a visitor to Sinai seeking to devote his time to spiritual activities, perhaps by reading a few accounts of saints each day.
He used also lectionaries, prophetologia, synaxaria, biblical texts (some accompanied by commentaries), and collections of homilies. Yuwākīm therefore seems to have spent long periods in the church during his annual visits, browsing the monastery’s extensive manuscript collection and recording his notes in its books.
Yuwākīm’s lengthy notes are particularly interesting for their content, especially those written between 1534 and 1536. These notes represent the first phase of his visits, during which he included extensive information about himself, his origins, and his family, expressing considerable pride in all three. The following is one example which is the earliest note he recorded (Sinai, Ar. 409, f. 201r):
طالع في هده الكتاب المبارك العبد الخاطي المسكين الكتير السيات القليل
الحسنات الطالب من السيد ايسوع المسيح غفران خطاياه وارشاده الى الطريق
الصحيح. اخطا الناس في الخليقه واتمهم بالحقيقه. الدي لم يستحق ان يدكر اسمه
في هده الكتاب المقدس من كترت خطاياه واتامه يواكيم باسم خوري الغزي ابن
المرحوم يعقوب، عرف بالحصان ، ابن المرحوم اسحاق الخياط الشوبكي الجنس الملكي
المدهب. خال صقر ابن المرحوم سلمان الضاني اي من بلد ضانه وكاتبه الخوري
يواكيم الغزي وهو يوم تاريخه في الدير المقدس طور سينا، الله تعالى يميته فيه
ويكون له رزق في الكمتينيرالمقدس امين. وهو يسال كلمن قرا هده الاصطر الحقيره ان
يطلب له الغفران من السيد ايسوع المسيح يكون له نظير دلك من الواعد
الصادق في يوم الدين والوقوف عن دات اليمين يوم الموقف المخوف والجواب
عن الاعمال الصالحه والطالحه ويجعل لنا حض ونصيب في التدفي في حضن ابونا ابراهىم
امين. بشفاعت ستنا السيده العدرى الطاهره الزكيه وماري موسى كليم القدرت الازليه
والقديسه العظيمه الست كاترينا الشهيده وجميع القدسين الدين ارضو الله
تعالى باعمالهم الصالحه المرضيه لله سبحانه وتعالى امين. ودلك بتاريخ نهار الاتنين
المبارك عشرين يوم مضت من شهر تموز المبارك يوم عيد القديس النبي
العظيم ماري ايلياس الحي الغيور سنت سبعت الاف واثنين واربعين
لابينا ادم عليه السلام والسبح لله دايما ابدا وعلينا رحمته للابد الابدين امين
[He who] perused this blessed book [is] the pitiful sinful servant of many bad deeds and few good deeds, who asks the Lord Jesus Christ for forgiveness of his sins and guidance along the straight path. [He is] the most erring of all people in creation and truly the most sinful among them. [He] whose name does not deserve to be mentioned in this holy book out of the multitude of his sins and errors: Yuwākīm, known as al-Ghazzī the priest.
[He is] the son of the late Yaʿqūb, known as al-ḥuṣān “the horse,” who is the son of the late Isḥaq al-Khayyāṭ, originally from al-Shawbak, [and he is] Melkite by denomination. [He is] the uncle of Ṣaqr the son of the late Salmān al-Ḍānī, who is, from the town of Ḍāna. And the author [of this note], the priest Yuwākīm al-Ghazzī, was on this very day in the holy monastery of Ṭūr Sīnāʾ, may God almighty grant him death within it, and grant him a place in the holy kamantayr. Amen!
He asks that every person who reads these humble lines requests forgiveness from the Lord Jesus Christ so that he may have the same from him, the one who gives honest promises, on the Day of Judgment and [so that he may] stand on the [Lord’s] right-hand side on that great fearful day, and answer to good and bad deeds. And so that we may partake and share in the warm bosom of our father Ibrāhīm. Amen! [Praying] with the intercession of our Lady, the pure, blameless Virgin, and St. Moses, the one who speaks with the eternal Almighty, and the great martyr St. Catherine, and all the saints who satisfied Almighty God with their righteous and pleasing deeds, may He be praised and exalted. Amen!
This was on the blessed day of Monday, the 20th of the blessed month of July (Tamūz), the day of the feast of the saint and prophet, the lively, zealous St. Elijah (Ilyās). [This was] in the year 7042 of our father Adam, peace be upon him, and praise be to God forever and ever, and may His mercy be upon us for ever and ever. Amen!
This is the longest version of the formula used in Yuwākīm’s notes. It appears, with minor variations, in all sixteen manuscripts belonging to the first phase (1534–1536). Like other readers who left notes in manuscripts, Yuwākīm uses expressions of humility, confesses his sins, and asks for prayers. Yet his notes also contain distinctive features: he places particular emphasis on his family and place of origin, and expresses his personal hopes and aspirations.
Taken together, Yuwākīm’s marginal notes portray him as a well-educated, authoritative, and respected man, proud of his family, a traveller and migrant, and a devout worshipper. This impression emerges not only from the content of his notes but also from his neat handwriting and his ability to compose coherent, carefully structured texts containing personal information.
Yuwākīm clearly felt a strong attachment to places, as reflected in his habit of recording the origins of the people he mentions, including himself. His family roots can be traced to the well-known city of al-Shawbak in Transjordan. Together with al-Karak, al-Shawbak was an important centre of Orthodox Christianity between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries. The turbulent political conditions of the Mamluk period forced various minority communities to leave al-Shawbak and settle in Palestinian cities such as Jerusalem, Ramla, and Gaza.
MS Sinai, Ar. 398, f.257r: An example of a full-page note by Yuwākīm al-Ghazzī. Image published by permission of Saint Catherine’s Monastery, Sinai, Egypt.© 2026 by St Catherine’s Monastery at Mt Sinai.
Yuwākīm also reveals his close ties to Gaza, where he most likely grew up and where he appears to have chosen to pursue his vocation as a priest. Rather than retaining the family designation al-Shawbakī, he used the title al-Ghazzī. This choice is significant: it suggests that he had become well integrated into the community of Gaza and enjoyed a degree of recognition and prestige there.
A second important aspect of his notes is his expressed wish to remain at St. Catherine’s until his death and to be buried in the monastery’s kamantayr (the charnel house where the monks of Sinai were traditionally deposited). We have no official record of Yuwākīm’s age, but his notes repeatedly suggest that he was ready for death. He explicitly asks God to allow him to settle and die at Sinai. It is intriguing to consider why a man whose family originated in one place, and who had apparently spent most of his life in another, should have been so eager to settle and die in a third, entirely different place.
Yuwākīm also proudly identified himself as the uncle, or khāl (literally in Arabic, “the mother’s brother”), of Ṣaqr, son of Salmān al-Ḍānī. In some manuscripts, he also mentions Ṣaqr’s brother, Khalīl, although Ṣaqr is the one he refers to most frequently. We know almost nothing about Ṣaqr, yet Yuwākīm writes as though he were a well-known figure whom any reader would recognize. Ṣaqr’s origins are traced to the Transjordan region, to a small town or village called Ḍāna, apparently located in the vicinity of al-Shawbak. In several notes, Ṣaqr is also described as al-Shawbakī.
Perhaps one of the most remarkable aspects of Yuwākīm’s family pride is that none of the relatives he mentions held a religious office or rank—not even that of an ordinary monk. Instead, they are identified by their lay names, places of origin, or occupations. This may suggest that the family belonged to a prominent lay community rather than a religious elite. This is noteworthy because identifying oneself through a religious title or position was common practice in colophons and reading notes.
This brings our discussion of Yuwākīm’s marginal notes from the first phase of his visits to St. Catherine’s Monastery to a close. In the next blog post, we will explore the second phase of his notes and discover how his visits eventually turned into a permanent stay at the monastery.
- The published paper contains more details and images of manuscripts. See Vevian Zaki, “From a Pilgrim to a Resident: The Marginalia of Yuwakim Ghazzī in the Manuscripts of Mt Sinai.” Journal of Eastern Christian Studies Vol. 73/3-4 (2021): 219-262. ↩︎
Keywords: Gaza, Mount Sinai, Yuwākīm al-Ghazzī, summer journeys, travel
Arabic translation of this text here الترجمة العربية لهذا النص هنا
Suggested Citation: Vevian Zaki (31 October 2026). ” Under the Burning Sun: Yuwākīm al-Ghazzī’s Annual Journeys from Gaza to Sinai” Margins Speak Blog (https://vevianzaki.com/2026/11/01/under-the-burning-sun-1/).
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