[alephnerd]

> I thought the more contentious part of this claim was going to be if the Church of Sinai constituted a state

That is not as contentious, because it's basically autocephalous/self governing.

It's always been a couple dozen loners in the Sinai peninsula maintaining self sufficiency, which is why I don't find it a good example - as there are plenty of similarly old and continuous organizations, but never truly scaled.