Sinai History

Sinai’s history is rich, and it 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 became 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 are an ancient burial area with evidence of dating over 3000 years.

There are 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 be 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 as 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 Peninsula, particularly from Saudi Arabia and Jordan, came and settled in Sinai.

The majority of Bedouin descendants can trace their family trees back over 700–800 years, with the majority originating from two major tribes in the Saudi Arabian region.

In 1517, Sinai fell under Ottoman rule when Selim the Grim, the then-Ottoman Sultan, won battles against the Egyptians in the wars of Marj Dabiq and Al Raydaniyya.

It then became part of the Ottoman Empire until 1906, when the provincial Ottoman ruler transferred the administration to the Egyptian government.  

Since the majority of the rest of Egypt was under the control of the United Kingdom since 1882, this gave the British rulers control of all of Sinai bordering on Rafah and Taba.

Part of the western side of Sinai had already been annexed under the development of the Suez Canal in the mid-1850s.

The Suez Canal created employment, industry, commerce and opportunities in the region.

Many Bedouin relocated to Suez and Ismailia to work on the construction of the canal, which officially opened in November 1969.

Later, many also worked with the oil fields of the west coast of Sinai.

During the 1948 Arab – Israeli War, the main borders of Egypt were maintained.

However, in 1949, under the armistice agreement, the western border of Gaza became officially an Egyptian–Israeli border and was managed by both sides under agreement.