The sacred place where Moses would have received the ten commandments, transformed into a luxury mega-resort. Tombs have been moved to make room for a car park

One of the most sacred places in the world, Mount Sinai, is transformed into a luxury mega-resort, despite international protests. The local Bedouins were evacuated, their tourist camps and even their relocated tombs, while the Egyptian authorities continue the construction of hotels.

One of the most sacred places in the world is transformed into a luxury mega-resort / photo: BBC

Grandios tourist project carried out by Egyptians

For years, visitors were climbing on Mount Sinai together with a Bedouin guide to look at the sunrise over the rocky and unaltered landscape or to participate in other hikes led by Bedouin.

Now, one of the most sacred places in Egypt-worshiped by Jews, Christians and Muslims-is at the center of a heated dispute regarding the transformation plans in a mega-project, according to bBC.com.

Known locally as Jabal Musa, Mount Sinai is the place where Moses received the ten commandments. Many also believe that this is the place where, according to the Bible and the Koran, God spoke to the prophet in the fierce bush.

Saint Catherine Monastery saved from demolition

The Saint Catherine Monastery, from the 6th century, led by the Greek Orthodox Church, is still here-and it seems that all the monks will remain, after the Egyptian authorities, under Greek pressure, denied that they would like to close it.

However, there are still profound concerns about how this isolated location, located in the desert – a UNESCO World Heritage site, which includes the monastery, the city and the mountain – is transformed. Luxury hotels, villas and commercial markets are built.

Here is a traditional Bedouin community, the Jebeley tribe. The tribe, known as “The Guardians of Saint Catherine”saw his houses and tourist camps eco with little or without compensation. They were even forced to move bodies from the graves in the cemetery to make room for a new car park.

The monastery was saved at the last moment after the Greek intervention / Photo source: Getty Images

Housing demolitions and moving the graves, imposed on the Bedouins against their will

The project was presented as one of “Sustainable development” Required, which will stimulate tourism, but was imposed on the Bedouins against their will, says Ben Hoffler, a British tourist writer who worked closely with the tribes of Sinai.

“This is not the development I see or ask for Jebeley, but what it looks he told the BBC.

“A new urban world is built around a Bedouin tribe with a nomadic inheritance. It is a world that they have always chosen to remain detached, whose construction have not agreed and which will change their place in their own homeland.”he added.

The locals, about 4,000, are not willing to talk directly about changes.

Tensions between Athens and Cairo

So far, Greece is the most vocal foreign power regarding the Egyptian plans, due to its connection with the monastery.

The tensions between Athens and Cairo escalated after an Egyptian court decided in May that the Saint Catherine Monastery – the oldest Christian monastery used in the world – is on state -of -state.

After a dispute that lasted decades, the judges said that the monastery has the right to “use” the land on which the archaeological and religious sites are located.

Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens, the head of the Church of Greece, quickly denounced the decision.

“The property of the monastery is confiscated and expropriated. This spiritual lighthouse of Orthodoxy and Hellenism is now under an existential threat,” he said in a statement.

In a rare interview, Archbishop Damianos, who drove the monastery for a long time, said for a Greek newspaper that the decision represents “A serious blow to us … and a shame”. The way he managed the situation led to divisions between monks and his recent decision to resign.

The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem emphasized that the holy place – on which it has ecclesiastical jurisdiction – received an act of protection from the prophet Muhammad himself.

She stated that the Byzantine monastery – which also houses a small mosque built during the Fatimide period – “It represents a symbol of peace between Christians and Muslims and a refuge of hope for a world immersed in conflicts.”

While the controversial court decision remains in force, the diplomacy led to a common statement between Greece and Egypt, ensuring the protection of identity and cultural heritage of the Saint Catherine Monastery.

Egypt's plans: hotels, visitors center, airport and a cable cable

Egypt began in 2021 the state project “Great Transfiguration” for tourists. The plan includes the opening of hotels, eco-logos and a large center for visitors, the extension of the small airport nearby and a cable car to Mount Moses.

The government promotes development as on “The gift of Egypt for the whole world and all religions.”

“The project will provide all the tourist and leisure services for visitors, will promote the development of the city [Sfânta Ecaterina] And of the surrounding areas, while preserving the ambient, visual and patrimonial character of the untouched nature, and will provide accommodation for those who work on Saint Catherine projects ”, declared the Minister of Housing Last year, Sherif El-Sherbiny.

Although the works seem to have been temporarily suspended due to financing issues, the El-Raha Plain-overlooking Saint Ecaterina-has already been transformed. New roads are built.

Appealed to King Charles III of Britain

This is the area where the descendants of Moses, the Israelites, were waiting after ce He climbed Mount Sinai. Critics say that the special natural value of the area is destroyed.

UNESCO emphasizes the exceptional universal value of the site, mentioning that “The injured mountain landscape around … forms a perfect framework for the monastery” And that “His location demonstrates a deliberate attempt to establish an intimate connection between natural beauty and isolation, on the one hand, and the spiritual commitment of man, on the other”.

In 2023, UNESCO expressed concern and asked Egypt to stop developments, check their impact and produce a conservation plan. This has not happened.

In July, the World Heritage Watch sent an open letter asking the UNESCO World Heritage Committee to include the Saint Ecaterina area on the list of world -ending.

The campaigns also appealed to King Charles, a owner of the Saint Ecaterina Foundation, who raises funds for the preservation and study of the monastery heritage, including his collection of valuable Christian manuscripts. The king described the site as “A great spiritual treasure that must be kept for future generations”.

Mount Sinai known as the place where Moses would have received the 10 commandments / Photo source: BBC

The Egyptian government was harshly criticized

The mega-project is not the first in Egypt criticized for the lack of sensitivity to the unique history of the country.

But the government sees these great schemes as essential for the revitalization of the weakened economy.

The Egyptian tourist sector, once prosperous, had begun to recover from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, but was hit by the Brutal War in Gaza and a new wave of regional instability. The government has declared its goal to attract 30 million visitors by 2028.

Under the successive governments, the commercial development of Sinai was achieved without consulting the indigenous Bedouin communities.

The peninsula was captured by Israel during the six-day war of 1967 and returned to Egypt after the two countries signed a peace treaty in 1979. Bedouins have since complained that they were treated as second-hand citizens.

The construction of the popular destinations on the Red Sea, including Sharm El-Sheikh, started in the South Sinai in the 1980s. Many see similar to what is happening at Saint Catherine.

“Bedouins were the people of the region, the guides, the workers, the people to rent. Then the industrial tourism came and were pushed back – not only from business, but physically”, says Egyptian journalist Mohannad Sabry.

The changes that take place on Mount Sinai are “irreversible”

As has happened to the areas of the Red Sea, it is expected that the Egyptians from other parts of the country will be brought to work on the new project from Saint Catherine. However, the government states that “Modernize” and Bedouine residential areas.

The Saint Catherine Monastery has survived many overturns over 1,500 years, but when the oldest monks initially moved here, it was still an isolated refuge.

It began to change as the extension of the resorts on the Red Sea has brought thousands of pilgrims for one day trips.

In recent years, large crowds have often gathered to see what is said to be the remains of the bush lit or to visit the museum that exhibits pages in Codex Sinaiticus – the oldest complete copy of the New Testament.

Now, even if the monastery and the deep religious significance of the place will remain, the surroundings and ways of life that lasted centuries seem to be changed irreversibly.