In the convent church stood the tomb of St. Katherine, a small chest of white marble. The bishop, hearing of the arrival of Thietmar and his wish to see the relics, approached the chest with prayer and incense, and had the cover removed. Thietmar saw the relics of St. Katherine and kissed her bared head. The limbs still hung together and were steeped in oil, which “exuded from the bones, not from the sarcophagus, like drops of sweat.” “When I inquired about her translation from the mountain to the church,” wrote Thietmar, “I was told that a certain hermit who dwelt in another part of Mount Sinai from that on which the body of St. Katherine was laid by the angels, frequently saw, by day and by night, a light of great brightness in or near the place where the body lay. Wondering what it was, he went to the church at the foot of the mountain, and described the sight that he saw and the place where he saw it. The monks, after fasting, ascended the mountain, in a procession that was led by him. When they found the body, they greatly wondered whose it was, whence it had come, and how it was taken there. As they stood there wondering, an aged hermit from Alexandria declared, like Habakkuk the prophet who spoke to Daniel, that the body had been brought to Sinai by the grace of God, and he assured those who doubted, that it was the body of the blessed Katherine, and had been carried there by angels. At his instigation, the bishop and the monks translated the body to the church because the place where it lay was quite inaccessible (c. 19). Thietmar then asked to be taken to the height on Mount Sinai, where Moses received the Law, and on his way thither he saw the chapel where the Virgin met the monks who, on account of the lack of food, and the verminous condition of the convent, were about to leave, but she bade them turn back (c. 22). He also saw the spot where the Virgin promised the monks a plentiful supply of oil for their lamps; likewise the chapel of Elijah on Horeb; the imprint on the rock of the body of Moses; and the place where the body of St. Katherine was laid by the angels (c. 23). Before leaving the convent he received some of the precious oil (c. 27). His home and the place to which he went are unknown. An account of the Moslim faith which he added to his narrative, reflects a liberal spirit, and, taken together with his Latinity, indicates a man of learning and understanding.