page_title: Sinai Peninsula
section_title: Roman and Byzantine Periods
hierarchical_section_title: Sinai Peninsula / History / Roman and Byzantine Periods
caption_attribution_description: Česky: Klášter svaté Kateřiny pod horou Sinaj Deutsch: Katahrinenkloster, Sinai, Ägypten English: Saint Catherine's Monastery, Sinai, Egypt Türkçe: Aziz Katerina Manastırı, Sina, Mısır Français&#160;: Le monastère Sainte-Catherine, monastère orthodoxe situé sur les pentes du mont Sainte-Catherine, dans le sud de la péninsule du Sinaï, en Égypte.
context_page_description: The Sinai Peninsula or simply Sinai is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is situated between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is a land bridge between Asia and Africa. Sinai has a land area of about 60,000 km² and a population of approximately 600,000 people. Administratively, the vast majority of the area of the Sinai Peninsula is divided into two governorates: the South Sinai Governorate and the North Sinai Governorate. Three other governorates span the Suez Canal, crossing into African Egypt: Suez Governorate on the southern end of the Suez Canal, Ismailia Governorate in the center, and Port Said Governorate in the north.
  The peninsula acquired the name Sinai in modern times due to the assumption that a mountain near Saint Catherine's Monastery is the Biblical Mount Sinai. Mount Sinai is one of the most religiously significant places in the Abrahamic faiths.
  The Sinai Peninsula has been a part of Egypt from the First Dynasty of ancient Egypt.
context_section_description: Rhinocorura (Greek for "Cut-off Noses") and the eponymous region around it were used by Ptolemaid Egypt as a place of banishment for criminals, today known as Arish.
  After the death of the last Nabatean king, Rabbel II Soter, in 106, the Roman emperor Trajan faced practically no resistance and conquered the kingdom on 22 March 106. With this conquest, the Roman Empire went on to control all shores of the Mediterranean Sea. The Sinai Peninsula became part of the Roman province of Arabia Petraea.
  Saint Catherine's Monastery on the foot of Mount Sinai was constructed by order of the Emperor Justinian between 527 and 565. Most of the Sinai Peninsula became part of the province of Palaestina Salutaris in the 6th century.
caption: St. Catherine's Monastery is the oldest working Christian monastery in the world and the most popular tourist attraction on the peninsula.
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