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The Sinai Peninsula, or, simply
Sinai, is a triangular peninsula situated between the
Mediterranean Sea in North, the Red Sea in South, being a
territory of Egypt. The peninsula has an area of about 600.000
km˛. The tourists who come here have the impression that in the
Sinai Peninsula` s rocks the whole world’s history can be read.
And this is due to the El Maghara`s mines, the Ras Mohammed’s
fossilized reef animals. More, there are numerous places where
the visitors from old times left their tracks in stones. One of
these places is Rock of Inscriptions, close to Dahab. In Serabit
El-Khadem some carvings with our alphabet` s emergences were
discovered by archeologists. The three big religious:
Christianity, Judaism and Islam recognize Sinai as being a holy
land that was visited by saints, prophets, warriors and
pilgrims. The Sinai Peninsula was also the wandering place for
the Israelites, for 40 years. Numerous popular conquerors used
to visit Sinai, too, such as Salah el-Din, Napoleon Bonaparte,
Ramses II and Alexander the Great with his army. But the Sinai
also knew the effects of the conflict between Arabs and
Israelites, effects that can be seen in some regions of the Suez
coast. The Sinai Peninsula was for many years visited for its
legends about the people who came here. But recently, and as a
true beginning, Sinai is visited for its people, its incredible
natural beauty and for its artifacts. Today the people come here
for the land itself, for its wonderful coral reefs, for its huge
cultural heritage, its deserts and mountains. All these and many
more assure a different type of present and future history for
Sinai than the one written by the famous people who visited it.
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