Author: Zeyad Kenawi

Sinai history is rich, and was known by the ancient Egyptians as the land of turquoise. For thousands of years turquoise was mined from the Serabit el Khadim region, which later also become a temple dedicated to Hathor known as the goddess of Turquoise. The temple is one of the few remaining ancient Egyptian temples in the Sinai region. At some point in time the Ancient Nabateans also developed some infrastructure in Sinai. The remains of Nawamis is an ancient burials area with evidence of dating over 3000 years. There is also remains of an ancient port in Dahab, dating back at least 2000 years. The Torah and the Old Testament of the bible outline that Sinai was crossed by the Israelites and Moses during their escape from enslavement. Mount Sinai is believed to the holy mountain where Moses received the 10 commandments and witnessed the burning bush. Other bible stories speak of regions in Sinai including Wadi Feiran and Ain Musa (a spring which is located in what is known today at El Tor). St Catherine’s Monastery at the base of Mount Sinai was built around 550AD in memory of St Catherine of Alexandria and on the site of the burning bush. Sinai was officially governed by Egypt in 1260 under the Mamluk Sultanate. During this period many nomadic Bedouins from the Arabian Peninsular, particularly from Saudi Arabia and Jordan came and settled in Sinai. The majority of the Bedouin descendents can trace their family trees back over 700 – 800 years and the majority of them originating from two major tribes from the Saudi Arabian region. In 1517 Sinai fell under Ottoman rule in 1517 when Selim the Grim, the then Ottoman Sultan won battles against the Egyptians in the wars of Marj Dabiq and Al Raydaniyya. It

Since the late 1960's South Sinai has been a popular tourist destination. Originally the untouched beaches fringed with palm tree's were a major draw for back packers and hippies. The coral reefs and the oldest tourist destination in South Sinai being Mount Sinai and St Catherine's Monastery helped South Sinai to become a popular place for holidays. Since the developments of the resorts in Sharm El Sheikh since the mid 1990's, Sharm El Sheikh has become the most popular and populated tourist resort in South Sinai. Sharm El Sheikh Airport receives around 5 million visitors per year (2011 figures which was a decrease of over 35% on 2010 visitor numbers, pre-revolution). The beach resorts of Dahab, Nuweiba and Taba have also become much more developed in recent years however since the 2011 revolution visitor numbers to these resorts has decreased substantially. Ras Sudr is also a tourist resort area on the western coast of Sinai which has also become affected by the general reduction in tourist numbers. Today the number of visitors to South Sinai is increasing on 2011 figures, however due to unrest particularly in North Sinai and the general problems throughout Egypt  and businesses including tourist hotels, cafe and other related services are still finding it difficult to make ends meet. However recent kidnappings and small incidents have become much published by the media and this continues to put a bad light on the region.  It is still very safe in South Sinai for tourists, despite these problems, especially comparing to other tourist destinations worldwide St Catherine's has been particularly badly effected by the reduction in tourist numbers. Recent warnings from embassies have lead to much fewer visitors to the town, which despite it being the land of Moses and Mount Sinai, people have become more afraid to