2023

Sinai Peninsula

Assuredly Egypt is bounteous, and Egypt treasures such bounties among all its old lands that here are lands that should forever be preserved in antiquity and history. Much among these important lands is the Sinai Peninsula, a country called the land of turquoise as it has one of the prettiest and most fabulous tourist deserts. The tourists always come to explore within its wonderful landscapes, take mountain climbs, visit tourist sites, and safari in the most discoveries of cities, such as Taba, St. Catherine, Dahab, and many more. The Sinai Governorate is considered one of the most prominent tourist and historically rich governorates in Egypt as it connects the entire continent of Africa with the lovely continent of Asia.

The word Sinai Is it Arabic or another language?

There is no clear and certain meaning about the meaning of the word Sinai, as some suggested that it is full of mountains and rocks, so the meaning of the word Sinai is stone, as some suggested that it means the land of deserts, and this term they quoted from the ancient Egyptian word Toshrit, as it was known in the Torah as Horeb, which means desolation.

But most scientists and experts people agree that the most mentionable one is that the name Sinai itself comes from ancient ruins of the Sinai situated along a road known as the Horus Road, which is located in South Sinai and referred to this area as Sin after the moon god in the Babylonian civilization associated with the Egyptian moon god Thoth, as it was referred to in New Kingdom times as Yaba, meaning mine, and there were also inscriptions found on it, Domfkat, meaning turquoise terraces. Sinai is the land of some of the most important historical events, whether of sorrow or triumph, but considered a great enrichment for Egypt's history and civilization.

Sinai in the history

The ancient era

At the beginning of the twentieth century, inscriptions called the Sinai inscriptions were discovered, and these inscriptions were not known alphabetically until the scientist Gardner discovered them and explained that these were only remnants of inscriptions of the Canaanite civilization that existed in Sinai for more than the 15th century BC.

In Sinai, some remains indicate the existence of traces of an ancient war route, as well as the remains of ancient citadels, such as Tharu Citadel.

King Seti I also built a fortress called Putu, as King Samarkhet made a military campaign to the turquoise mines in Sinai; these campaigns are recorded there and are considered the oldest effect in Sinai, but many kings came after him and made military campaigns, like King Djoser, who built the Step Pyramid and recorded all of that.

During the Hyksos rule over Egypt, the Prophet Abraham came, and after him, Moses came out of it, where he was praying to God at that time on Mount Moses, which is considered a holy place, and Moses was buried in Sinai in a place near Palestine, but we did not know it until now.

King Bismatik I defeated Cambyses in Sinai, and Alexander the Great also entered Egypt through Sinai, as I found many excavations on the rocks and many important archaeological sites.

The Middle era

Sinai stayed the main city in the Greek and Roman periods since it maintained trade ties with foreign countries, leading to some of its cities being under Hellenic influence, such as Petra, the capital of the Nabataeans who were interested in Sinai for turquoise and copper mining, as well as sanctuaries such as Mount Moses and St. Catherine's Monastery.

Amr ibn al-As entered and defeated the Romans from Sinai, and many of its people at this time believed in Islam. Islam and Islamic conquests increased after that, especially during the era of the Abbasids and the Umayyads, and Sinai was the way to the Islamic conquest in Egypt and the Maghreb countries.

Then the Crusader invasions came to Egypt through Sinai under the leadership of Baldwin I, who built a citadel between Egypt and the Sham in the area of Ayla, and then the Crusaders' control over the Sinai Peninsula began, and he continued to go to Jerusalem and return to Egypt until he built a castle called Wadi Musa, and the Crusader campaigns continued on Sinai and its cities, such as Al-Arish and others.

Until the Ayyubid era came and the Crusaders were expelled from Egypt through Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi, he also thwarted King Reynald's plan. After Salah al-Din entered Egypt, he was very interested in rebuilding Sinai, as it was the first fortress of defence for Egypt from external dangers, especially against the Crusaders, so Salah al-Din built a port on the Red Sea and built the existing citadel.

Saladin continued to wrest lands and places from the Crusaders until he was able to control the entire Red Sea region, which made it easier for travelers to travel to the Hajj in Saudi Arabia and secure Egypt's external borders. After Saladin came emirs who took care of Sinai and built many cities, such as the city of Salhiya, which was built by Najm al-Din Ayoub.

The modern era

Muhammad Ali came to Egypt after the French campaign and founded cities like the city of Al-Arish. He also took care to make it a city that runs on a tight administrative system, as he realized the importance and value of Sinai because it is the most important archaeological and historical centre and the first defensive fortress for Egypt after Muhammad Ali became his successor and made scientists come to Egypt to explore archaeology, the most important of which was Professor Palmer, who made a map of Sinai that helped in the construction of the Suez Canal, the most important shipping channel in the world.

Then, after that, the campaigns came against Egypt, and the Sinai was occupied by Israel until the war of '73 occurred. The Egyptian army won, and the Sinai was returned to Egypt according to the agreement that took place between the two countries called the Camp David Treaty, and Egypt became an independent integrated state.

Then came terrorism in Sinai from foreign countries, but the current President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi confronted it until the danger ended, and Sinai became a safe city thanks to the Egyptian army, which protects Egypt and Egyptians, and now Sinai is one of the most important desert and tourist cities that tourists come to annually to enjoy it.

Top tourist places in Sinai

Sinai. So, many events can be linked to this city in terms of both history and religion.

There are many monuments like most of the tourist places in Sinai, such as Dahab and Sharm El Sheikh that many people visit, cities along the Red Sea coast, some important, desert places such as Mount St. Catherine and some deserts for camping and safari, as well as some Pharaonic monuments like the Hathor Temple and Horus Road, castles from the Islamic age, Salah Al-Din Castle, and Al-Arish Citadel.