CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <head><script type="text/javascript" src="https://web-static.archive.org/_static/js/bundle-playback.js?v=7YQSqjSh" charset="utf-8"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://web-static.archive.org/_static/js/wombat.js?v=txqj7nKC" charset="utf-8"></script> <script>window.RufflePlayer=window.RufflePlayer||{};window.RufflePlayer.config={"autoplay":"on","unmuteOverlay":"hidden"};</script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://web-static.archive.org/_static/js/ruffle/ruffle.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> __wm.init("https://web.archive.org/web"); __wm.wombat("http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com:80/2009/03/sinai/teague-text","20091211233851","https://web.archive.org/","web","https://web-static.archive.org/_static/", "1260574731"); </script> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="https://web-static.archive.org/_static/css/banner-styles.css?v=p7PEIJWi" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="https://web-static.archive.org/_static/css/iconochive.css?v=3PDvdIFv" />  <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"/> <meta name="country" content="Egypt"/> <meta name="keywords" content="Sinai, peace, conflict, Egypt, Israel, Red Sea, Matthew Teague, Matt Moyer "/> <meta name="continent" content="Africa"/> <meta name="category" content="Geo-politics"/> <title>Sinai — National Geographic Magazine</title> <meta name="description" content=" Amid a sea of conflict, the Sinai offers pleasure, spiritual refuge, and potentially harmony."/> <title>National Geographic Magazine - NGM.com</title> <link href="/web/20091211233851cs_/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/css/style.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"/> <link href="/web/20091211233851cs_/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/css/widgets.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"/> <script src="/web/20091211233851js_/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/js/scripts.js" language="javascript" type="text/javascript"></script> <script src="/web/20091211233851js_/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/js/swfobject2.js" language="javascript" type="text/javascript"></script> <link rel="image_src" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851im_/http://www.ngm.com/2009/03/sinai/img/sinai-fire-160.jpg"/> </head> <body> <div id="global_nav"> <div id="global_nav_links"><a id="ngcom" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851/http://nationalgeographic.com/"></a> <span class="global_nav"> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851/http://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazines/index.html?intcmp=topnavGL2">Subscriptions</a> | <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851/http://shop.nationalgeographic.com/coupon.jsp?code=NG93000B&URL=%2Fjump.jsp%3FitemID%3D1%26itemType%3DHOME_PAGE">Shop</a> | <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851/http://newsletters.nationalgeographic.com/p/National%2520Geographic%2520Society/NG_Registration_Page">Newsletters</a> </span> <span class="global_nav"> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851/http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/">Animals</a> | <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/">News</a> | <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851/http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/">Environment</a> | <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851/http://games.nationalgeographic.com/">Games</a> | <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851/http://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/">History</a> | <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851/http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/">Kids</a> | <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/maps">Maps</a> | <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851/http://worldmusic.nationalgeographic.com/worldmusic/">Music</a> | <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851/http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography">Photography</a> | <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851/http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science">Science</a> | <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851/http://www.nationalgeographic.com/places/">Travel</a> | <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851/http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/">Video</a> </span> </div> </div> <div id="marginwrap"> <div id="wrapper"> <div class="ads_wide"> <div style="height:90px; width:250px; float:right; vertical-align:bottom;"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851/http://shop.nationalgeographic.com/coupon.jsp?code=NG80283&url=%2Fjump%2Ejsp%3FitemID%3D5244%26itemType%3DPRODUCT"><img border="0" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851im_/http://s.ngm.com/img/store/250x90_CNG_090909.jpg"/></a></div><div class="ad" style="height:90px;width:728px;"> <iframe id="ngmBigBox" name="adFrame_ngm_features_728x90" src="/web/20091211233851if_/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ads/ngm_features_728x90.html" width="728" height="90" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" frameborder="0">Sorry, your browser does not support iframes.</iframe> </div> </div> <div class="nav"> <div id="subhead"> <div id="current_issue"> <img src="/web/20091211233851im_/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/img/current/default.jpg" alt="Magazine"/> <span>Current Issue</span> <strong>December 2009</strong><br/> <a href="/web/20091211233851/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/12/table-of-contents">Table of Contents » </a> </div> <form id="hdr_search" action="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851/http://google.nationalgeographic.com/search" method="GET" name="searchform" target="_top"> <div id="ngm_link"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851/http://ngm.com/"></a></div> <div id="search"> <input type="hidden" name="site" value="ngm"/> <input type="hidden" name="client" value="ngm"/> <input type="hidden" name="proxystylesheet" value="ngm"/> <input type="hidden" name="output" value="xml_no_dtd"/> <input type="hidden" name="oe" value="UTF-8"/> <input id="hdr_q" type="TEXT" name="q" class="siteSearchField" value="Search" onmousedown="if( this.value == 'Search' ) this.value=''"/><input id="hdr_submit" type="submit" name="submit" value=""/></div> </form>  <div class="subheadlinkwrap"><a href="/web/20091211233851/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/" class="subheadlink"></a></div> </div> <div id="tabs"><ul><li><a href="/web/20091211233851/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/home">HOME</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20091211233851/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/featurehub">FEATURES</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20091211233851/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/photography">PHOTOGRAPHY</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20091211233851/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/your-shot/your-shot">YOUR SHOT</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20091211233851/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/myshot/">MY SHOT</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20091211233851/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/video/player">VIDEO</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20091211233851/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/maps">MAPS</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20091211233851/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/interactive">INTERACTIVE</a></li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851/http://blogs.ngm.com/">BLOGS</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20091211233851/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/how-to-help">FOLLOW UP</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20091211233851/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/geopedia">GEOPEDIA</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20091211233851/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/archives">ARCHIVES</a></li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851/https://w1.buysub.com/servlet/OrdersGateway?cds_mag_code=NGM&cds_page_id=71152&cds_misc_5=09NGMDECFRM7">SUBSCRIBE</a></li> </ul></div> <div class="subnav"><ul><li><a class="active" href="/web/20091211233851/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/03/sinai/teague-text">Feature Article</a></li> | <li><a href="/web/20091211233851/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/03/sinai/moyer-photography">Photo Gallery</a></li> | <li><a href="/web/20091211233851/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/03/sinai/sinai-map">Map</a></li></ul></div> </div> <div class="narrow_sidert"> <div class="ad" style="height:600px;width:160px;"> <iframe id="ngmBigBox" name="adFrame_ngm_features_160x600" src="/web/20091211233851if_/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ads/ngm_features_160x600.html" width="160" height="600" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" frameborder="0">Sorry, your browser does not support iframes.</iframe> </div> </div> <div class="narrow_side"> <div class="navblocktxt">Photo Gallery</div><div class="navblock"><a href="/web/20091211233851/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/03/sinai/moyer-photography"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851im_/http://s.ngm.com/2009/03/sinai/img/sinai-fire-160.jpg" width="160" height="160" border="0" alt="Sinai Fire" title="Sinai Fire"/> <div class="pointercontainhed">See Matt Moyer's Photos</div> <div class="pointercontainsub">Old enemies made a pact that seems to be holding.</div></a></div><div class="clear"></div><div class="line"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851im_/http://s.ngm.com/img/clear.gif" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt=" "/></div><div class="spacer"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851im_/http://s.ngm.com/img/clear.gif" width="1" border="0" alt=" "/></div><div class="navblocktxt">Map</div><div class="navblock"><a href="/web/20091211233851/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/03/sinai/sinai-map"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851im_/http://s.ngm.com/2009/03/sinai/img/sinai-map-160.jpg" width="160" height="160" border="0" alt="Sinai Map" title="Sinai Map"/> <div class="pointercontainhed">Explore the Sinai</div> <div class="pointercontainsub">For millennia the Sinai Peninsula has served as a land bridge and also a metaphysical bridge between man and God.</div></a></div><div class="clear"></div><div class="line"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851im_/http://s.ngm.com/img/clear.gif" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt=" "/></div><div class="spacer"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851im_/http://s.ngm.com/img/clear.gif" width="1" border="0" alt=" "/></div> </div> <div class="main_3narrow_wrap"> <div class="main_3narrow"><div class="article_title"><span class="published">Published: March 2009</span><h1>The Sinai</h1></div> <div class="featurepic"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851im_/http://s.ngm.com/2009/03/sinai/img/sinai-615.jpg" alt="Beachgoers near Sharm el Sheikh" title="Beachgoers near Sharm el Sheikh"></div><h2 class="title">A Separate Peace </h2><h3 class="title"> Amid a sea of conflict, the Sinai offers pleasure, spiritual refuge, and鈥攑otentially鈥攈armony</h3><div class="article_credits_author">By Matthew Teague</div> <div class="article_credits_photographer">Photograph by Matt Moyer</div> <div class="content"> <p> All seemed quiet in the coastal village of Taba. On this night, as on every other, the sun dropped west behind the Sinai mountains so that darkness slid downhill, gathering speed as it approached the sea. At the Hilton resort, guests shrugged off bikinis in favor of evening dresses and sport coats. The desert wind blew cold at night in October, so the hotel's management drained the seawater pool until morning. </p> <p></p> </div> <div class="nextpage_continue"> <a class="first_page_next" href="/web/20091211233851/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/03/sinai/teague-text/2">Continue »</a><div class="article_featurehub"><a class="emailafriend" href="/web/20091211233851/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/emailafriend.html"><img src="/web/20091211233851im_/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/img/icon-email.gif" border="0" width="18" height="14" alt="email a friend icon"/></a><a class="printerfriendly" href="/web/20091211233851/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/print/2009/03/sinai/teague-text"><img src="/web/20091211233851im_/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/img/icon-print.gif" border="0" width="19" height="14" alt="printer friendly icon"/></a><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851/http://del.icio.us/post?url=http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/03/sinai/teague-text&title="><img src="/web/20091211233851im_/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/img/icon-delicious.jpg" border="0"/></a><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851/http://bookmarks.yahoo.com/toolbar/savebm?u=http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/03/sinai/teague-text&t="><img src="/web/20091211233851im_/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/img/icon-yahoo.jpg" border="0"/></a><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851/http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&url=http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/03/sinai/teague-text&title="><img src="/web/20091211233851im_/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/img/icon-digg.jpg" border="0"/></a>   |   </div></div> <div class="subscribe"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851/https://w1.buysub.com/servlet/OrdersGateway?cds_mag_code=NGM&cds_page_id=31670&cds_misc_5=09MARFEAT9" class="subscribe">Subscribe to <em>National Geographic</em> magazine »</a></div> </div> </div>  <div class="clear"></div> <div id="footer"> <div class="more_interactive"><span>Online Extras</span><br/> <div class="undercontain"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851/http://blogs.ngm.com/"><div class="undercontain_left"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851im_/http://s.ngm.com/img/icon-blog.gif" border="0" alt="Blog Central" title="Blog Central"/></div><div class="undercontainhead">Blog Central</div><div class="undercontain_right">Read our reports and tips, then share your comments. </div></a></div> <div class="undercontain"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851/http://newsletters.nationalgeographic.com/p/National%2520Geographic%2520Society/NG_Registration_Page"><div class="undercontain_left"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851im_/http://s.ngm.com/img/icon-nl.gif" border="0" alt="Newsletters" title="Newsletters"/></div><div class="undercontainhead">Newsletters</div><div class="undercontain_right">Have <em>National Geographic</em> photography delivered to you.</div></a></div> <div class="undercontain"><a href="/web/20091211233851/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/widgets "><div class="undercontain_left"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851im_/http://s.ngm.com/img/icon-widget.gif" border="0" alt="NGM Widgets" title="NGM Widgets"/></div><div class="undercontainhead">NGM Widgets</div><div class="undercontain_right">Put <em>National Geographic</em> images and puzzles on your Web page.</div></a></div> <div class="undercontain"><a href="/web/20091211233851/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/map/atlas/africa-geophysical.html "><div class="undercontain_left"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851im_/http://s.ngm.com/img/icon-map.gif" border="0" alt="Atlas Explorer" title="Atlas Explorer"/></div><div class="undercontainhead">Atlas Explorer</div><div class="undercontain_right">See interactive world maps from our Maps division.</div></a></div> </div><div class="featured_packages"><ul><li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851/http://shop.nationalgeographic.com/ngs/browse/productDetail.jsp?productId=1076013&code=NG80295"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851im_/http://s.ngm.com/home/img/footer/subscribe.jpg" border="0" alt="" title=""/></a></li> <li><a href="/web/20091211233851/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/wallpaper/download"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851im_/http://s.ngm.com/home/img/footer/wallpaper.jpg" border="0" alt="Desktop Wallpaper" title="Desktop Wallpaper"/>Desktop Wallpaper</a></li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851/http://www.nationalgeographicstock.com/kiosk/IC_060209_9722.html?utm_source=NGcom&utm_medium=NGbutton&utm_campaign=15off" target="_blank"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851im_/http://s.ngm.com/home/img/footer/prints.jpg" border="0" alt="Buy NG Photos" title="Buy NG Photos"/>Buy NG Photos</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20091211233851/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/special-editions/special-editions" target="_blank"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851im_/http://s.ngm.com/home/img/footer/special.jpg" border="0" alt="Special Issues" title="Special Issues"/>Special Issues</a></li> </ul><div class="clear"></div></div> </div> </div> <div id="global_footer"> <li><a href="/web/20091211233851/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/contact-us">Contact Us</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20091211233851/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/privacy-policy">Privacy Policy</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20091211233851/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/rss.xml">RSS Feed</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20091211233851/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/masthead">Masthead</a></li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851/http://www.ngmservice.com/">Customer Services</a></li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851/http://stylemanual.ngs.org/intranet/styleman.nsf">NG Style Manual</a></li> <div id="copyright">© 2009 National Geographic Society. All rights reserved.</div> </div> <script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript"> var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851/https://ssl." : "https://web.archive.org/web/20091211233851/http://www."); var ga_ver = "google-analytics.com/urchin.js"; // ga.js version (not ready yet) // var ga_ver = "google-analytics.com/ga.js"; var gaJsStr = "%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + ga_ver +"' type='text/javascript' %3E%3C/script%3E"; document.write( unescape( gaJsStr ) ); </script> <script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript" src="/web/20091211233851js_/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/js/_tracker.js"></script> </body> </html>