Sinai: Braids of Hope and Pain: A Reading in the Thought of Gamal Hamdan

By: Dr. Sahar Hassan Ahmed

Sinai is the Promised Land. Sinai is the land of heroism and glory. Undoubtedly, anyone who visits Sinai and sets foot upon its sacred soil is overcome by a profound sense that it is a part of their very soul. Who among us has not been to Sinai—whose every grain of sand has been dyed with the blood of Egyptians?

It is no coincidence that Sinai—Egypt’s eastern gateway—is both its most important and most perilous portal. The Sinai Peninsula lies between the arms of the Red Sea, to the east of the Nile Delta, northwest of the Arab lands, and to the west and southwest of Jordan, Palestine, and Syria (the Levant). In this sense, Sinai represents a point of convergence between the southwestern edge of Asia and the northeastern edge of Africa. Consequently, this diversity of location has also been reflected in the diversity of its resources.

The importance of Sinai is closely tied to its role as a route of communication and passage, a function shaped by its geographic location. Its significance has fluctuated depending on environmental conditions and on whether the region itself was a destination of interest or merely a corridor leading to other lands beyond its borders.

However, Sinai’s importance has not been limited to its role as a transit route. It has historically served as a pathway for incursions into the Nile Delta. Bedouin groups would traverse the peninsula to raid Egypt’s fertile lands, sometimes in small waves and at other times in more organized campaigns—most notably the Hyksos invasion of Egypt.

Nor was Sinai merely a passage for nomads and raiders. From ancient times through the medieval period and into modern history, the peninsula has witnessed the movement of organized armies. Egypt itself frequently used Sinai as a corridor for external expansion. In times of strength, Egypt extended its influence into the Levant, projecting power across the region and confronting powers such as the Assyrians and Babylonians. Likewise, during the reign of Ramesses II of the Nineteenth Dynasty, campaigns against the Hittites were conducted through Sinai.

Throughout the eras of Alexander the Great, the Ptolemies, and later under Mamluk and Ottoman rule, military movements across Sinai—both into and out of Egypt—remained constant. During the period of Muhammad Ali Pasha, the peninsula again served as a strategic route for expansion toward Anatolia.

When Egypt fell under British occupation, Sinai became a critical link between Egypt and the territories of the Ottoman Empire, which itself attempted—unsuccessfully—to seize part of Sinai during the Taba Crisis of 1906. In the era of President Gamal Abdel Nasser, Israel launched its war against Egypt through Sinai, occupying its eastern bank during the 1967 setback.

He further emphasized the strategic importance of Sinai, as noted by former governor Jarvis Pasha in the introduction to his work on the Sinai Peninsula. He portrayed its military significance as Egypt’s primary line of defense along its eastern frontier. However, with the construction of the Suez Canal, this strategic configuration shifted, and the canal itself became the principal defensive line.

Beyond its military value, Sinai has also held considerable importance as a commercial corridor. It served as one of the principal routes for trade caravans, facilitating the movement of goods between Asia and Africa. The peninsula hosted several key ports, including Qulzum, Suez, Al-Tur, Aydhab, and Al-Qusayr.

Another vital dimension of Sinai’s significance lies in its role as one of the oldest pilgrimage routes. Pilgrims would travel from Qift or Qus along the Nile to ports such as Aydhab or Al-Qusayr on the Red Sea, and from there proceed to Jeddah in the Hejaz. Alternatively, journeys were made by sailing vessels from Suez to Jeddah. Additional inland routes across Sinai, such as the Darb al-Hajj (Pilgrimage Road), also played a central role in facilitating these movements.

Finally, it is important to note that Sinai has long been—and continues to be—a repository of rich historical and religious heritage. Its landmarks include the inscriptions of Serabit el-Khadim and Wadi Maghara, Saint Catherine’s Monastery, and sites associated with the story of Prophet Moses and the Israelites—from the divine mission to the Exodus. Among these are the Springs of Moses, Pharaoh’s Baths, Mount Sinai (Jabal Musa), the Mount of Supplication, and the Plateau of al-Tih, among others.

Returning to the central question: why focus on the writings of Gamal Hamdan? The answer lies in the profound importance of his work on Sinai. Hamdan approached Sinai from a strategic perspective, producing some of the most significant analyses ever written on the region. He possessed a comprehensive vision of the structural components—geographical, human, and civilizational—that shape any territory, as well as a keen understanding of the factors underlying both strength and vulnerability.

Moreover, Hamdan did not limit himself to analyzing past and present realities; he demonstrated a forward-looking perspective and an exceptional ability to anticipate future developments. This raises another question: who was the mind behind such a vision?

He was Gamal Mahmoud Saleh Hamdan, one of Egypt’s foremost geographers. Born in the village of Nay in Qalyubia Governorate on February 4, 1928, Hamdan emerged as a leading intellectual figure who skillfully employed his scholarship in service of broader civilizational and national concerns.

Despite his intellectual stature, Hamdan endured decades of marginalization and neglect. For more than thirty years, he lived in relative isolation, dedicating himself to research, analysis, and the reinterpretation of established facts and assumptions. It was only after his tragic death that broader recognition emerged of his extraordinary intellectual discipline and his ability to devote himself fully to scholarship—often portrayed as a personal choice, though in reality shaped by imposed isolation resulting from his national positions and the inability of intellectual institutions and Arab elites to fully engage with ideas that were far ahead of their time.

Over the course of his life, Hamdan produced a substantial body of work, including approximately 29 books and 79 studies and articles. At the forefront of these works stands his seminal book “The Personality of Egypt: A Study in the Genius of Place and Time.” In its introduction, he articulated his distinctive vision of geography as a discipline, effectively establishing an advanced school of structured strategic thought.

In this work, Hamdan uniquely integrated geography with history, economics, and political science, formulating what he termed the “Geography of Life.” He argued that geography is, in its substance, a science; in its treatment, an art; and in its theoretical dimension, a philosophy. This multidimensional approach elevates geography from a descriptive discipline concerned with static facts to a dynamic mode of thinking concerned with deeper patterns and ideas.

Accordingly, geography becomes the perceptive eye of history, just as history becomes the perceptive eye of geography.

It is hardly surprising that a scholar of the stature of Gamal Hamdan received numerous awards both within Egypt and internationally. He was awarded the State Encouragement Prize in Social Sciences in 1959, followed by the State Appreciation Award in Social Sciences in 1986. He also received the First-Class Order of Sciences in 1988 for his seminal work The Personality of Egypt, in addition to the Kuwait Prize for Scientific Advancement in 1992. Despite being nominated for several prestigious positions, Hamdan declined all such offers, preferring to devote himself entirely to academic research.

Regarding his death, Hamdan passed away at approximately sixty-five years of age following a fire that broke out in his apartment on April 13, 1993. However, the forensic report confirmed that he neither died as a result of the fire nor from gas inhalation. Close associates also discovered that drafts of several manuscripts he had been close to completing—most notably three books on Judaism, Zionism, and the Arab world—had disappeared. Consequently, significant suspicion has persisted that his death may have involved foul play.

Accordingly, when Hamdan addressed Sinai in The Personality of Egypt, particularly in its tenth chapter, and later published it as a standalone work under the title Sinai (Dar Al-Hilal), before further developing and republishing it as Sinai in Strategy, Politics, and Geography (Madbouly Bookstore), this progression clearly reflects the central importance he attributed to Sinai—an importance that can be discerned through his writings.

There is little doubt that Sinai, as Egypt’s eastern gateway, constitutes a cornerstone of Egyptian national security. Historically, it has served as the principal route through which invasions and military campaigns entered Egypt. Sinai is a uniquely distinctive region—unique in its climate, its terrain, and its geographical position. It is also home to significant mineral and petroleum resources and represents one of Egypt’s greatest reservoirs of tourism potential, encompassing diverse forms of tourism, including religious, cultural, historical, therapeutic, and recreational tourism.

From Hamdan’s perspective, the importance of Sinai is best captured in his own words:

“If we examine the northern gateway under a magnifying lens, we find that while the Sinai triangle constitutes the node linking Africa to Asia, its northern triangle—bounded roughly by a line extending from Suez to Rafah—represents the direct connective corridor between Egypt and the Levant. More precisely, the northern basal rectangle, located approximately north of latitude 30°, is the region par excellence of movement, transit, and connectivity. In contrast, the southern triangle below this line constitutes a zone of isolation, refuge, and separation. The former carries the arteries of movement and centrality—the umbilical cord between the two continents—while the latter serves as a zone of expulsion, to which marginalized and persecuted groups have historically retreated.”

He further elaborated elsewhere:

“It is the hinge—the natural joint—that binds Africa to Asia.”

From this perspective, Gamal Hamdan’s forward-looking vision—articulated decades ago—becomes evident, particularly in light of contemporary developments. His analysis appears strikingly aligned with recent phenomena, including the resort of certain extremist elements to Sinai and the perpetration of violent acts under the guise of religion, often with external backing from major powers seeking to exploit the region. Such dynamics, in his view, risk severing the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, its motherland.

For this reason, Hamdan consistently emphasized—indeed insisted upon—the necessity of developing and populating Sinai so that it is not left vulnerable to exploitation and external ambitions. As he argued:

“It is development—yes, human settlement and urban expansion. For it is only a demographic and developmental vacuum that encourages greed and invites hostile ambitions to fill the void. Hence, there is a broad consensus on the necessity of redistributing the densely concentrated population of the Nile Valley toward the state’s peripheries—foremost among them Sinai. Development is, in essence, Egyptification.”

In this regard, Hamdan’s argument remains highly compelling: the development of Sinai represents the most effective means of safeguarding it, particularly given that its geology encapsulates, in many respects, the broader geological structure of Egypt.

Another recurring question concerns whether Sinai is geographically Asian or African. Hamdan addressed this issue with scientific clarity, stating:

“At the natural level, Sinai is more African than Asian, and more Egyptian—indeed far more—than it is Arab.”

He further added:

“Just as Egypt is in Africa geographically, it is in Asia historically.”

Elsewhere, he elaborated:

“Sinai is, in essence, an extension—or a reduced version—of Egypt’s Eastern Desert more than it is of the Arabian Peninsula. In its geology, topography, climate, water systems, and vegetation, it is closer to the former than to the latter. It is neither an inseparable part of Asia nor properly part of the Arab world or the Arabian subcontinent… Sinai, geographically and historically, is an integral part of the core national territory and homeland. It may have often been a land of pastoralists, but it has never been a land without an owner. Since the dawn of history, Sinai has been Egyptian.”

He continues:

“The soil of Sinai has been infused with Egyptian blood in defense of the nation—perhaps more than any comparable part of the national territory. Where the waters of the Nile nourished the valley, Egyptian blood has nourished the الرمال of Sinai.”

Thus, Hamdan decisively resolved this debate, affirming Sinai’s intrinsic Egyptian identity.

As for Sinai’s status as Egypt’s most critical and dangerous gateway—the cornerstone of national security—Hamdan observed:

“Whoever controls Palestine threatens Sinai’s first line of defense; whoever controls Sinai’s central defensive line controls Sinai; whoever controls Sinai controls Egypt’s final line of defense; and whoever controls that final line controls the Nile Valley.”

Accordingly, his analysis underscores the imperative of preserving and defending Sinai, as its defense is inseparable from the defense of Egypt as a whole.

Hamdan also described Sinai as:

Nevertheless, two critical observations may be raised regarding Hamdan’s work. First, his reliance on relatively dated sources—many of which date back to the 1920s, 1930s, and at best the 1960s—may be considered a limitation. Second, although Hamdan himself emphasized, in the introduction to The Personality of Egypt, the importance of field studies for geographers and warned against the limitations of purely theoretical approaches, he did not appear to conduct extensive fieldwork specifically on Sinai. This too may be viewed as a shortcoming.

In conclusion, as has often been said, Sinai is far more than a desert, a sacred land, a tourist destination, or even one-third of Egypt’s territory. Sinai is the fundamental pillar of Egyptian national security. Its loss—or its fall into the hands of hostile forces—would represent the gravest threat to Egypt as a whole.