PART I. – Introduction Discover Sinai South Sinai is a truly diverse and unique land that cannot fail to captivate any visitor that allows its blend of history, culture and nature to wash over them. We hope this guide will help you to experience the less well known parts of what makes this land so special. The most immediately striking aspect of this area is the incredible natural beauty. The South Sinai massif is an isolated block of some of the world’s oldest rocks dating back 700million years. Yet for such a barren land there really is wondrous variety. Within short distances visitors can find themselves walking through beautiful canyons to lush green oases; or, hiking down rugged sandy wadis, across stunning dunes and up incredible granite mountains. The natural beauty, and contrast that exist here, constantly take your breath away. The Sinai peninsula has been at the crossroads of much of world history. The pharaohs, Alexander the Great and Romans all left their mark here. In 641 AD the Muslim army that conquered Egypt, and would begin the spread of Islam throughout North Africa, marched through Sinai. The crusades fought here and in the 20th century Sinai would become the battlefield for the conflict between Israel and Egypt. Yet the peninsula is best known for its association with biblical tradition. The Exodus, the New Testaments descriptions of the flight into Egypt and the return of the Holy family to Palestine all have the desert of Sinai as their backdrop. Most famous, of course, is Mt Sinai, the mountain from which Moses spoke to God and brought down the ten commandments. This is an area of immense spiritual significance. At the foot of Mt Sinai stands the Monastery of St Katherine, the world’s oldest continuously inhabited monastery. Christian monasticism has its origins in Sinai. In the 3rd century, fleeing persecution from the Roman emperor Diocletian, Sinai was a logical location of retreat for many Christians who found safety in the remote wilderness, settling around the sites of religious significance in the South. The remains of small monasteries and chapels, dating back to this period, can still be seen in this area, some of them are still in use. But it is not only early Christianity that has left its archaeological footprint in South Sinai. The pharaohs built a temple at Serabit el Khadim, the area where they mined turquoise. The first roofed stone structures, the mysterious nawamis buildings, are only found in South Sinai; they are believed to date back to the copper age (4000 – 3150 BC). Rock inscriptions using ancient scripts – Proto-Sinaitic, Nabatean, ancient Greek, Hebrew and Arabic – can be seen in many places. Linking all of these incredible archaeological sites are the ancient caravan routes and desert trails that have been used since prehistoric times. In South Sinai you really are walking in the footpaths of history. Tying all this natural beauty and history together are the Bedouin people of South Sinai. Traditionally they belong to 7 tribes, although some tribes from the North are also present at some places. The Bedouin are mostly descended from people of the Arabian peninsula who arrived in Sinai in several waves along the centuries. The one exception to this is the Jabaleya tribe who live in the High Mountain area around St Katherine’s monastery. The tribe trace their origins back to when families from around the Black Sea were sent by Emperor Justinian to aid the building and running of the monastery. The lifestyle of these Bedouin is in a constant state of flux; traditionally water, herding, and in the specific case of the Jabaleya, seasonal orchard gardening, dictated their lives. Today it is mostly tourism. For many of the Bedouin of South Sinai their lives have become almost entirely sedentary. This is not to say that their traditions have disappeared, just that they have become mixed with modernity. The best way to experience the Bedouin way of life is to head out into the desert with a local guide and a camel. And this is precisely what this guide wants to enable people to do. Sinai is a land of wondrous variety of nature, history and people. We hope this guide goes someway towards opening your eyes to the possibilities offered here, and how to go about experiencing them.
www.discoversinai.net – A guide to the natural, cultural and historical faces of South Sinai
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