Archaeologists have found that the very earliest known settlers in the Sinai--they arrived about 8,000 years ago--were miners. Drawn by the region's abundant copper and turquoise deposits, these groups slowly worked their way southward, hopping from one deposit to the next. By 3500 BC, the great turquoise veins of Serabit el-Khadem had been discovered.

Just a few kilometers south of Taba, at the very top of the Gulf of Aqaba and just a few hundred meters from the coast, lies Pharaoh's Island. Surmounted by the imposing crenellated bulk of the restored citadel of Salah ad-Din, Pharaoh's Island is one of the most blatantly picturesque spots in the entire gulf. While the restored fortifications have firmly imposed a medieval character upon the island, the history of Geziret Faroun in actually one of exceptional complexity and interest.

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. Click here for Ferian Oasis photos

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.