The Sinai Peninsula has been a part of Egypt from theFirst Dynasty of ancient Egypt (c. 3100 BC). This comes in stark contrast to the region north of it, theLevant (the present-day territories ofSyria,Lebanon,Jordan,Israel andPalestine), which, due largely to its strategic geopolitical location and cultural convergences, has historically been the center of conflict between Egypt and various states ofMesopotamia andAsia Minor. In periods of foreign occupation, the Sinai was, like the rest of Egypt, also occupied and controlled by foreign empires, in more recent history theOttoman Empire (1517–1867) and theUnited Kingdom (1882–1956). Israel invaded and occupied Sinai during theSuez Crisis (known in Egypt as theTripartite Aggression due to the simultaneous coordinated attack by the UK, France and Israel) of 1956, and during theSix-Day War of 1967. On 6 October 1973, Egypt launched theYom Kippur War, seizing most of the east bank of the Suez Canal while Israel seized even more area to its west. Israel exchanged the ten kilometers along the east bank and territory seized in 1973 for a 1974 ceasefire. In 1982, as a result of theEgypt–Israel peace treaty of 1979, Israel withdrew from all of the Sinai Peninsula except the contentious territory ofTaba, which was returned after a ruling by a commission of arbitration in 1989.
Because the Sinai Peninsula was the main region where mining ofturquoise was carried out in Ancient Egypt, it was calledBiau (the "Mining Country")[3] andKhetiu Mafkat ("Ladders of Turquoise")[5][6] by the ancient Egyptians.
Its modernArabic name isسِينَاءSīnāʼ (Egyptian ArabicسيناSīna;IPA:[ˈsiːnæ]). The modern Arabic is an adoption of the Biblical name; the 19th-century Arabic designation of Sinai wasJebel el-Tūr,[dubious –discuss][10][11] and the name of the mountain is derived[dubious –discuss] from the town ofEl Tor (formerly called "Tur Sinai"), whose name comes from the Arabic term for the mountain where the prophetMoses received theTablets of the Law from God, thus this mountain is designated as "Jabal Aṭ-Ṭūr (Arabic:جبل الطّور)",[dubious –discuss] and the town is also the capital of theSouth Sinai Governorate ofEgypt. As another Arabic word for "mass of very high land going up to a peak – mountain" is"Ṭūr".[citation needed][dubious –discuss]
Image fromGemini 11 spacecraft, featuring part of Egypt and the Sinai Peninsula in the foreground and theLevant in the background
Sinai is triangular in shape, with its northern shore lying on the southernMediterranean Sea, and its southwest and southeast shores on theGulf of Suez and theGulf of Aqaba of theRed Sea. It is linked to the African continent by theIsthmus of Suez, 125 kilometres (78 mi) wide strip of land, containing theSuez Canal. The eastern isthmus, linking it to the Asian mainland, is around 200 kilometres (120 mi) wide. The peninsula is on theAfrican Plate with theArabian Plate on its eastern boundary.[16]
Most of the Sinai Peninsula is divided among the twogovernorates of Egypt:South Sinai (Ganub Sina) andNorth Sinai (Shamal Sina).[17] Together, they comprise around 60,000 square kilometres (23,000 sq mi) and have a population (January 2013) of 597,000. Three more governates span the Suez Canal, crossing into African Egypt:Suez (el-Sewais) is on the southern end of the Suez Canal,Ismailia (el-Isma'ileyyah) in the centre, andPort Said in the north.
The largest city of Sinai isArish, capital of the North Sinai, with around 160,000 residents. Other larger settlements includeSharm El Sheikh andEl-Tor, on the southern coast. Inland Sinai is arid (effectively a desert), mountainous and sparsely populated, the largest settlements beingSaint Catherine andNekhel.[17]
Climate
Sinai is one of the coldest provinces in Egypt because of its high altitudes and mountainous topographies. Winter temperatures in some of Sinai's cities and towns reach −16 °C (3 °F).
From the time of theFirst Dynasty or before, the Egyptians minedturquoise in Sinai at two locations, now called by theirEgyptian Arabic namesWadi Maghareh andSerabit el-Khadim. The mines were worked intermittently and on a seasonal basis for thousands of years. Modern attempts to exploit the deposits have been unprofitable. These may be the first historically attested mines.[citation needed]
The fortressTjaru in western Sinai was a place of banishment for Egyptian criminals. The Way of Horus connected it across northern Sinai with ancientCanaan.
Achaemenid Persian Period
At the end of the time ofDarius I, the Great (521–486 BCE) Sinai was part of thePersian province ofAbar-Nahra, which means 'beyond the river [Euphrates]'.[19]
Cambyses successfully managed the crossing of the hostile Sinai Desert, traditionally Egypt's first and strongest line of defence, and brought the Egyptians underPsamtik III, son and successor ofAhmose, tobattle at Pelusium. The Egyptians lost and retired toMemphis; the city fell to the Persian control and the Pharaoh was carried off in captivity toSusa in Persia.
Roman and Byzantine Periods
Saint Catherine's Monastery is the oldest working Christian monastery in the world and the most popular tourist attraction on the peninsula.
During theCrusades it was under the control ofFatimid Caliphate. Later, SultanSaladin abolished the Fatimid Caliphate in Egypt and took this region under his control too. It was the military route from Cairo to Damascus during the Crusades. And in order to secure this route, he built a citadel on theisland of Pharaoh (near present Taba) known by his name 'Saladin's Citadel'.
Mamluk and Ottoman Periods
The wilderness of Sinai, 1862The first scientifically accurate map of the peninsula: the 1869 Ordnance Survey of the Peninsula of Sinai
In 1956, Egypt nationalised theSuez Canal,[22] a waterway marking the boundary between Egyptian territory inAfrica and the Sinai Peninsula. Thereafter,Israeli ships were prohibited from using the Canal,[23] owing to the state of war between the two states. Egypt also prohibited ships from using Egyptian territorial waters on the eastern side of the peninsula to travel to and from Israel, effectively imposing a blockade on the Israeli port ofEilat. In October 1956, in what is known in Egypt as theTripartite Aggression,Israel Defense Forces troops, aided by theUnited Kingdom andFrance (which sought to reverse the nationalization and regain control over the Suez Canal), invaded Sinai and occupied much of the peninsula within a few days. In March 1957, Israel withdrew its forces from Sinai, following strong pressure from theUnited States and theSoviet Union. Thereafter, theUnited Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) was stationed in Sinai to prevent any further conflict in the Sinai.
Egypt-Israel border, looking north from theEilat Mountains (2008)Canadian and PanamanianUNEFUN peacekeepers in Sinai, 1974
On 16 May 1967, Egypt ordered the UNEF out of Sinai[24] and reoccupied it militarily. Secretary-GeneralU Thant eventually complied and ordered the withdrawal without Security Council authorisation. In the course of theSix-Day War that broke out shortly thereafter, Israel occupied the entireSinai Peninsula, andGaza Strip from Egypt, theWest Bank (includingEast Jerusalem) fromJordan (whichJordan had controlled since 1949), and theGolan Heights fromSyria. The Suez Canal, the east bank of which was now occupied by Israel, was closed. Israel commenced efforts at large scaleIsraeli settlement in the Sinai Peninsula.
Following the Israeli conquest of Sinai, Egypt launched theWar of Attrition (1967–70) aimed at forcing Israel to withdraw from the Sinai. The war saw protracted conflict in the Suez Canal Zone, ranging from limited to large-scale combat. Israeli shelling of the cities ofPort Said,Ismailia, andSuez on the west bank of the canal, led to high civilian casualties (including the virtual destruction of Suez), and contributed to the flight of 700,000[25] Egyptian internal refugees. Ultimately, the war concluded in 1970 with no change in the front line.[26]
On 6 October 1973, Egypt commencedOperation Badr to retake the Sinai, while Syria launched a simultaneous operation to retake the Golan Heights,[citation needed] thereby beginning theYom Kippur War (known in Egypt as theOctober War). Egyptian engineering forces builtpontoon bridges to cross the Suez Canal, and stormed theBar Lev Line, Israel's defensive line along the Suez Canal's east bank. Though the Egyptians maintained control of most of the east bank of the Suez Canal, in the later stages of the war, theIsraeli military crossed the southern section of the Suez Canal, cutting off theEgyptian 3rd Army, and occupied a section of the Suez Canal's west bank. The war ended following a mutually agreed-upon ceasefire. After the war, as part of the subsequentSinai Disengagement Agreements, Israel withdrew from immediate proximity with the Suez Canal, with Egypt agreeing to permit passage of Israeli ships. The canal was reopened in 1975, with PresidentAnwar Sadat leading the first convoy through the canal aboard anEgyptian Navy destroyer.
1979–1982 Israeli withdrawal
In 1979, Egypt and Israel signed apeace treaty in which Israel agreed to withdraw from the entirety of the Sinai Peninsula. Israel subsequently withdrew in several stages, ending in 1982. The Israeli pull-out involved dismantling almost all Israeli settlements, including the settlement ofYamit in north-eastern Sinai. The exception was that the coastal city ofSharm el-Sheikh (which the Israelis had founded asOfira during their occupation of the Sinai Peninsula) was not dismantled. The Treaty allows monitoring of Sinai by theMultinational Force and Observers, and limits the number ofEgyptian military forces in the peninsula.
Article 2 of Annex I of the Peace Treaty called for the Sinai Peninsula to be divided into zones. Within these zones, Egypt and Israel were permitted varying degrees of military buildup:
Zone A: Between theSuez Canal andLine A. Egypt is permitted a mechanized infantry division with a total of 22,000 troops in Zone A.
Zone B: BetweenLine A andLine B. Egypt is permitted four border security battalions to support the civilian police in Zone B.
Zone C: BetweenLine B and the Egypt–Israel border. Only theMFO and the Egyptian civilian police are permitted within Zone C.
Zone D: Between the Egypt–Israel border andLine D. Israel is permitted four infantry battalions in Zone D.
Early 21st century security issues
Since the early 2000s, Sinai has been the site of severalterror attacks againsttourists, the majority of whom are Egyptian. Investigations have shown that these were mainly motivated by a resentment of the poverty faced by manyBedouin in the area. Attacking the tourist industry was viewed as a method of damaging the industry so that the government would pay more attention to their situation.[27] (See2004 Sinai bombings,2005 Sharm El Sheikh bombings and2006 Dahab bombings). Since the2011 Egyptian revolution, unrest has become more prevalent in the area including theAugust 2012 Sinai attack in which 16 Egyptian soldiers were killed by militants. (SeeSinai insurgency.)
Also on the rise arekidnappings of refugees. According to Meron Estifanos, Eritrean refugees are often kidnapped by Bedouin in the northern Sinai, tortured, raped, and only released after paying a large ransom.[28][29]
Under Presidentel-Sisi, Egypt has implemented a rigorous policy of controlling theborder to the Gaza Strip, including the dismantling of tunnels between Gaza and Sinai.[30]
The two governorates ofNorth Sinai andSouth Sinai have a total population of 597,000 (January 2013). This figure rises to 1,400,000 by including Western Sinai, the parts of thePort Said,Ismailia andSuez Governorates lying east of the Suez Canal. Port Said alone has a population of roughly 500,000 people (January 2013). Portions of the populations of Ismailia and Suez live in west Sinai, while the rest live on the western side of the Suez Canal.
The population of Sinai has largely consisted of desert-dwellingBedouins with their colourful traditional costumes and significant culture.[31] Large numbers of Egyptians from the Nile Valley andDelta moved to the area to work in tourism, but development adversely affected the native Bedouin population.[citation needed] In order to help alleviate their problems, variousNGOs began to operate in the region, including theMakhad Trust, a UK charity that assists the Bedouin in developing a sustainable income while protecting Sinai's natural environment, heritage and culture.[citation needed]
Dromedary herding is important here.Trypanosoma evansi is a constant concern and is transmitted by severalvectors. Althoughticks have not been proven to be among them, Mahmoud and Gray 1980 and El-Kady 1998 experimentally demonstrate survival ofT. evansi in camel ticks of theHyalomma for several hours in the real bio-climatic conditions of Sinai.[33]
Dahab in southern Sinai is a popular beach and diving resort
Gabal or Jebel Musa, identified by Christians withMount Sinai
^abJanuary 2018 population data gives the North and South governorates' population at approximately 560,000 (per"اPop. Estimates by Governorate 1/1/2018".www.capmas.gov.eg.Archived from the original on 2 November 2018.). In 1997 these two governorates accounted for 97% of the peninsula's population.Greenwood, Ned (1997).The Sinai: A Physical Geography. University of Texas Press. pp. 5.ISBN978-0-292-72799-1.Over 94 percent of the area and probably 97 percent of the population are found in the large governorates, leaving less than 6 percent of the area and 3 percent of the population attached to As Suways (Suez), Al Ismailiyah (Ismailia), and Bur Said (Port Said) governorates.
^De Vaux, Roland (1978).The Early History of Israel. Darton, Longman & Todd. p. 429.ISBN978-0-232-51242-7.The name 'Sinai peninsula' is modern. It is derived from the Christian tradition, according to which Sinai was located in the south of the peninsula. This Christian tradition goes back to the fourth century, to the time when the Spanish pilgrimEgeria (or Etheria) visited Sinai in A.D. 383. From this time onwards, Christians grouped all the Old Testament memories round the Jebel Musa.
^Jastrow, M.; Ginzberg, L.; Jastrow, M.; McCurdy, J. F. (1906)."Burning Bush".Jewish Encyclopedia.Archived from the original on 5 November 2021. Retrieved2 December 2021 – via JewishEncyclopedia.com.
^Homberg, Catherine and Martina Bachmann,Evolution of the Levant Margin and Western Arabia Platform Since the Mesozoic, The Geological Society of London, 2010, p 65ISBN978-1-86239-306-6
^Samir A. Mutawi (18 July 2002).Jordan in the 1967 War.Cambridge University Press. p. 93.ISBN978-0-521-52858-0.Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved29 October 2015.Although Eshkol denounced the Egyptians, his response to this development was a model of moderation. His speech on 21 May demanded that Nasser withdraw his forces from Sinai but made no mention of the removal of UNEF from the Straits nor of what Israel would do if they were closed to Israeli shipping. The next day Nasser announced to an astonished world that henceforth the Straits were, indeed, closed to all Israeli ships
^Spencer, Tucker.Encyclopedia or the Arab-Israeli Conflict. p. 175.
Gardner, Ann (2000). "At Home in South Sinai".Nomadic Peoples. Vol. 4 (New Series), Iss. 2: Special Issue: Employment and Unemployment Among Bedouin. pp. 48–67.JSTOR43123605. Detailed account of Bedouin women.
