Sinai - Cruise Line Fans: Cruise Forum, Reviews and Chat From Real Cruisers

PagodaSwan · 11-25-2005, 02:34 PM

There are moments in Sinai when one feels as if the history of all the world can be read in its stones. Indeed, the land here is a monument to the antiquity of life on Earth, from the fossilized reef animals of Ras Mohammed to the mines of El Maghara, whose copper fueled the Bronze Age. In many places visitors from thousands of years ago literally recorded their passage in stone, as at the Rock of Inscriptions near Dahab. And at Serabit El-Khadem, near ancient mining sites, archaeologists have discovered carvings that record the very earliest emergence of our alphabet.

All three of the West's great religious traditions--Judaism, Christianity, and Islam--know Sinai as a holy land, a vast expanse traversed time and again by prophets, saints, pilgrims, and warriors. Sinai is most familiar to many as the "great and terrible wilderness" through which the Israelites wandered for forty years. However, it was also the path by which Amr swept down into Egypt in 640 AD, bringing Islam in his wake. Even after the muslim conquest, the monks of St. Catherine Monastery (founded in 547 AD) continued to greet pilgrims to the site of the Burning Bush.

Many of the most memorable conquerors have passed through Sinai as well. Alexander the Great crossed at the head of a great army, as did Ramses II, Napoleon Bonaparte, and (in the opposite direction) Salah el-Din. The Arab-Israeli conflicts of this century raged across the Sinai as well, their passage still evident in the ghostly wreckage that marks certain parts of the Suez coast.

In recent years, and for the first time, the history of Sinai seems to be emerging as a story about the land itself--its artifacts, its people, and its extraordinary natural beauty--rather than the story of those who pass through that land. Today, it is the Sinai's brilliant coral reefs, its striking mountains and deserts, and its enormous cultural heritage that hold the future--once again, though in a very different way, the history of Sinai seems to be written in the land itself.

PagodaSwan · 11-25-2005, 02:35 PM

"In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai..."--Exodus, Chapter 19

So begins one of the Bible's most memorable sagas, the 40-year wanderings of Moses and the Israelites through the vast and barren prison of Sinai. No story has done more to put Sinai on the map than Exodus, and for many, a visit to the land where manna fell from heaven and Moses received the Ten Commandments is nothing short of a pilgrimage.

Most of the places mentioned in Exodus are unknown. Where the Israelites crossed the Red Sea, where they first set foot in Sinai, and even the location of biblical Mt. Sinai itself is the subject of relentless argument among scholars, historians, and theologians. Exodus may have put Sinai on the map, but putting Exodus back into a geographical context is an unfinished labor that often involves sifting through desert sands and Old Testament manuscripts for minute clues. There are three main theories as to the route the Israelites used when they crossed into Sinai. The first has Moses and his tribes moving out of Egypt past modern-day Suez, then crossing into Sinai near Ain Musa. The second places the crossing further south, near a place called Ain Sukna. The third and most popular theory focuses on the north and the Nile Delta region. This region is far richer in pastures, water, and manna-producing tamarisk trees, and it also would have been the safest: the southern routes would have taken the Israelites dangerously close to Pharaoh's turquoise and copper mines, which were heavily garrisoned.

However the Israelites entered Sinai, the mystery of where they roamed once they got there is even greater. Central to the story of the wanderings is the location of Mt. Sinai, the sacred height where God gave Moses the Ten Commandments. The variety of mountain theories is practically endless. One theory even says that Mt. Sinai is really a low mount in southern Israel, another that it's a highland in Saudi Arabia. Within the Sinai Peninsula itself, there are so many possibilities that a rigorous study could only narrow the search to 20 peaks. Wherever the "real Mt. Sinai" is, it is indisputable that Southern Sinai's Gebel Musa ("Mountain of Moses") carries enormous spiritual and historical significance for Christians, Jews, and Muslims. In the 4th century AD, Coptic Christians came to the mountain and founded a small church at the spot where it was believed God spoke to Moses in the form of the burning bush. Later on, the site evolved into St. Catherine's Monastery, revered by many as one of the most sacred places on Earth.

It may take years before any solid, physical traces of Exodus can be found. Moses and the Israelites were wanderers here, not builders of cities. But if they were in Sinai for four decades then they undoubtedly saw quite a bit of it. They passed through the wadis and drank from the desert wells. The ancient trails they must have walked are the same ones denizens of the Sinai have been walking for eons. The physical evidence may be long gone, but the landscape - and the story - are eternal and inseparable.

PagodaSwan · 11-25-2005, 02:36 PM

Bedu, the Arabic word from which the name bedouin is derived, is a simple, straightforward tag. It means "inhabitant of the desert," and refers generally to the desert-dwelling nomads of Arabia, the Negev, and the Sinai. For most people, however, the word "bedouin" conjures up a much richer and more evocative image--of lyrical, shifting sands, flowing robes, and the long, loping strides of camels. For several centuries, such images were not far from the truth. In the vast, arid expanses of the Sinai, as in the Negev and the deserts of Arabia, the many tribes of the bedouin journeyed by camel from oasis to oasis, following a traditional way of life and maintaining a pastoral culture of exceptional grace, honor, and beauty.

Most of the bedouin tribes of the Sinai are descended from peoples who migrated from the Arabian peninsula between the 14th and 18th centuries, making the bedouin themselves relatively recent arrivals in this ancient land. Today, many of the bedouin of the Sinai have traded their traditional existence for the pursuits and the conventions of the modern world, as startling changes over the last two decades have irrevocably altered the nature of life for the bedouin and for the land they inhabit.

PagodaSwan · 11-25-2005, 02:38 PM

Few places in the desert are capable of supporting the life of even a small community for an extended period of time, and so the bedouin of the Sinai, like those of Arabia and the Negev, would stay on the move. With herds of sheep and goats as well as camels, the Sinai bedouin migrated from one meagrely fertile area to another--each offered sustenance and shelter for time, while the others were naturally replenished.

In such an unforgiving environment, any violation of territorial rights was viewed with severe disfavor. It is a hallmark of bedouin culture that such trespasses were neither easily forgiven nor quickly forgotten. At the same time, a shared respect for the dangers and hardships of the desert imbued bedouin culture with a profound and justly celebrated sense of hospitality. In the vast silence and brooding solitude of the Sinai, simply encountering another person was--and in some regions still is--a rather unusual and noteworthy event. A new face was cause for great interest, for happy generosity and careful etiquette, and for common civility, all values celebrated in bedouin poetry, sayings, and songs.

The bedouin of the Sinai share with other Egyptians the jalabiyya, a long, hooded robe that is a standard form of clothing both in the teeming metropolis of Cairo and in the solitary plains of the Sinai.

The most easily recognised aspect of a bedouin's attire is his headgear--which consists of the kufiyya-cloth and 'agal-rope that constitute proper attire for a bedouin man. The headrope in particular carries great significance, for it is indicative of the wearer's ability to uphold the obligations and responsibilities of manhood. Bedouin women, too, signal their status with their headgear--while all women are required to keep their hair covered, married women in particular wrap about their forehead a black cloth known as 'asaba.

Bedouins mark their graves with exceptional simplicity, placing one ordinary stone at the head of the grave and one at its foot. Moreover, it is traditional to leave the clothes of the deceased atop the grave, to be adopted by whatever needy travellers may pass by.

A bedouin tent is customarily divided into two sections by a woven curtain known as a ma'nad. One section, reserved for the men and for the reception of most guests, is called the mag'ad, or 'sitting place.' The other, in which the women cook and receive female guests, is called the maharama, or 'place of the women.'

Having been welcomed into a bedouin tent, guests are honored, respected, and nourished, frequently with copious amounts of fresh, cardamom-spiced coffee.

Visitors are also cause for some festivity, including music, poetry, and on special occasions even dance. The traditional instruments of bedouin musicians are the shabbaba, a length of metal pipe fashioned into a sort of flute, the rababa, a versatile, one-string violin, and of course the voice. The primary singers among the bedouin are the women, who sit in rows facing each other to engage in a sort of sung dialogue, composed of verses and exchanges that commemorate and comment upon special events and occasions.

PagodaSwan · 11-25-2005, 02:39 PM

When Belgian artist Jean Berame came to Sinai in 1980, the theme song for the work he did here might have been "Don't it make your brown rocks blue." Armed with ten tons of UN-blue paint, making enormous brown boulders blue (the color of peace) was exactly what Berame did. The result is an extraordinary installation between St. Catherine and Dahab in which the artist has used the landscape of Sinai -- once a battleground in the 1967 war between Egypt and Israel -- as a canvas to honor the realization of peace between the two nations.

The Blue Desert, however, transcends its functionality as a peace monument. The four miles of painted stones, some of which rise to heights of over 30 feet, is a vision in which Berame has used color to successfully alter the substance of the rocks. At times they appear more like giant balloons, or great gobs of cast-out chewing gum. The stones contrast vividly with the reds, browns, and yellows of the desert, and masterfully compliment Sinai's deep-blue sky.

PagodaSwan · 11-25-2005, 02:40 PM

Millions of years ago, Sinai was covered by the sea, and nowhere has the ancient ocean left a more brilliant legacy upon the landscape than at the Colored Canyon, near Nuweiba.

A visit to the canyon provides instant recognition of where it gets its name. The walls of the canyon, which reach up to sixteen stories, are easily the most colorful and intriguing rock formations in all of Sinai. They were created by the erosion of water upon sandstone and limestone. In some places the deep coloration of rocks gives the canyon walls a prismatic and metallic sheen; in others, the stone is so smooth that it appears soft and pillowy.

The canyon mouth is accessible by car, and its short length (about 700 meters) makes for perfect hiking. As one ventures into the canyon, the walls narrow in width to just a few feet in some places, giving the channel a close and secretive atmosphere. The canyon is most commonly compared to the Jordanian city of Petra, although here the spectacle is completely natural.

PagodaSwan · 11-25-2005, 02:41 PM

Dahab is the Arabic word for gold, and it is almost certain that this locale in eastern Sinai derived its name from the fine yellow sand that colors its beaches. Though it has not yet achieved the popularity of Sharm el-Sheik to the south, Dahab has a growing following, and the name may soon refer to the wealth that tourism is bringing to the small Bedouin village of Assalah. The combination of soft sand, gorgeous blue water, and a luxuriant strip of palm trees is pulling in the world.

Assalah is the most developed part of Dahab, a sprawling conglomeration of palm trees, shops, campgrounds, hotels, bars, and restaurants that lie along the shore of Ghazala Bay. Assalah has a distinctly bohemian feel, and during the Israeli occupation it wasn't uncommon to see soldiers patrolling the same beaches as dreadlocked vagabonds from Europe and America. Less laid back, but still relaxed, is the area just south lying along El-Qura Bay.

Within just a few miles of Dahab are some great adventure spots. Excellent dive sites lie both to the north and south, including Blue Hole, one of Sinai's best. Just south are the wadis of Qnai el-Rayan and Qnai el-Atschan.

PagodaSwan · 11-25-2005, 02:43 PM

Few places are as steeped in Biblical mystery as the great Wadi Feiran-the Sinai's largest wadi and one of it's most archeologically important stretches of terrain. It was here, according to locals, scholars, and legend, that Moses struck a rock with his staff, bringing forth a spring so his people could drink. Feiran is also the site of Rafadim, the fabled oasis where the Hebrews camped and battled the Amelecites. For the pilgrims and believers who have been coming to this wadi for centuries, a journey through Feiran is to pass through an entire chapter of the Old Testament itself, Exodus 17.

Given such prominence in the Old Testament, it is no surprise that Feiran is littered with the ruins of dozens of ancient churches; some dating back to 4th century AD, when Feiran began to develop into a major religious center for monks and pilgrims, many on their way to Mt. Sinai and St. Catherine Monastery further east. The Wadi's chief religious sites are the rock from which Moses drew water, which convention places at the western entrance to the oasis, and Mount Tahoun, which Moses supposedly used as an observation point to view the battle with the Amelecites. Atop the mountain is an ancient cross, and the ruins of a small church dating back to the 4th century.

As captivating as the Wadi's biblical lore are its natural spectacles. Chief among these is the Oasis of Feiran, the largest oasis in all of Sinai. The heart of the oasis is a spectacular and luxuriant sprawl of palms that stretches over four kilometers in length, the reason why Feiran is called the "Pearl of Sinai." Along the edges of the oasis and the wadi are the dramatic, often sheer cliffs of the wadi wall, which contribute to the valley's secretive and paradisiacal atmosphere.

PagodaSwan · 11-25-2005, 02:44 PM

Na'ama Bay, located just a few kilometers north of Sharm el-Sheikh, has in the past few years become the epicenter of tourism activity in the southern Sinai. Its resort hotels and shops, dive and tour operators, and energetic nightlife--to say nothing of the stunning beauty of the bay itself--make this recently developed area a magnet for visitors to Sinai.

Geographically, Na'ama Bay is a natural outgrowth of Sharm el-Sheikh. It is situated along a lovely stretch of coastline at the mouth of the Wadi el-Aat, itself an attraction of considerable beauty. All of the outstanding dive sites of the south Sinai, as one would expect, are within easy reach.

PagodaSwan · 11-25-2005, 02:45 PM

Eighty-five kilometers north of Dahab, and just above Abu Galum, lies the port and beach resort of Nuweiba. Like Sharm el-Sheikh, Nuweiba actually consists of several different locations, each with its own distinctive character. To the south, tucked at the foot of the steep mountains of the interior and lying on the shore of an expansive bay, are the port and luxurious oasis of Nuweiba Muzeina. This coastal resting spot has drawn travellers for centuries, having long been an important port for Muslim pilgrims en route to Mecca. Today, Nuweiba Muzeina's magnificent beaches and coral reefs are the most common draw, and the bay is home to a number of resorts and tourist villages. The port continues to offer ferry service to Aqaba on the Jordan coast on a daily basis.

Further north, on the far side of the prominence that thrusts out into the Gulf of Aqaba to form Nuweiba Bay, is Nuweiba el-Tarabin. Although possessed of an equally lovely beach, Tarabin is more modestly developed, for the area is home also to the Tarabin tribe of the Bedouin.

Also at Nuweiba el-Tarabin are the ruins of the great fortress of Tarabin, constructed at the outset of the 16th century by the Mameluke sultan Ashraf Qansouh el-Ghouri (1501-1506). The sultan was concerned to protect the Sinai from Turkish invasion, as well as to ensure the safety of travellers around this port city. Although the construction proved of little help against the Turks (who invaded shortly afterward), its well has for centuries served as a convenient source of fresh water for the Bedouins.