Mount Sinai, one of the world's most sacred religious sites, is at the centre of a controversy over plans for a luxury mega resort. The area, revered by Christians, Muslims, and Jews as the place where Moses received the Ten Commandments, is seeing rapid development including luxury hotels, restaurants, shopping bazaars, villas, a cable car, and expanded airport facilities.
The project, known in Egypt as the Great Transfiguration Project, has already led to the demolition of homes and eco-camps belonging to the Jebeleya Bedouin community. Reports indicate that residents have been forced to exhume bodies from a local cemetery to make way for a car park. British travel writer Ben Hoffler described the development as imposed top-down, serving outsiders' interests over those of the local community.
The site is home to the 6th-century St Catherine's Monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage site and the world's oldest continuously used Christian monastery. In July, World Heritage Watch sent an open letter to UNESCO calling for the area to be listed as 'in danger', citing misleading information from Egyptian authorities. The group stressed that the remoteness and serenity of the area must be preserved to maintain its sacred character.
Egyptian state media, however, has hailed the development as a 'multi-billion-pound masterpiece' aligned with President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi's vision. Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly has expressed intentions to present the project as a 'gift to the entire world and all religions'. The local Bedouin population of around 4,000 reportedly feel unable to speak out about the scale of the changes.
