El Tor, Egypt

History

Monastery

The Raithu desert is situated around El Tor, between Saint Catherine and the Red Sea. It is part of the Archdiocese of Mount Sinai and Raithu of the Eastern Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem. The "Martyrs of Raithu" were 43 anchorites (early Christian hermits) murdered by bedouins (desert dwellers) during the reign of Emperor Diocletian (284-305CE). Christian monks fleeing persecutions had been present since the 3rd century, and the Raithu monastery (or Rutho) was commissioned in the 6th century by Byzantine emperor Justinian. The latter was proposed as a UNESCO World Heritage site on November 1, 1994, in the Cultural category. Theodore of Raithu was champion of neo-Chalcedonism in the early 7th century.

Portuguese attack

En route to Suez with the objective to seek and destroy the Ottoman fleet, a Portuguese Armada was sent in 1541 to Red Sea.

After several days sailing, the commander Estevão da Gama gave the order to direct a surprise attack. The troops were able to disembark and the defenders came out to the shore but were pushed to the city not managing to close the city doors. The Portuguese as the city fell, were ready to loot, but two priests came to the Commander, and appealed to him avoiding the destruction. Several soldiers were armed Knights after a mass, and the armada stayed for a few days preparing to sail and attack Suez.

Modern Egypt

El Tor was captured by Israel during the Six-Day War of 1967. It was returned to Egypt, along with the rest of the Sinai Peninsula, following the 1979 Egypt–Israel peace treaty.

Geography

Climate

Its climate is classified by Köppen-Geiger system as hot desert (BWh).

|Jan record high C = 28.8 |Feb record high C = 29.7 |Mar record high C = 35.9 |Apr record high C = 38.9 |May record high C = 42.6 |Jun record high C = 42.4 |Jul record high C = 42.5 |Aug record high C = 40.5 |Sep record high C = 38.2 |Oct record high C = 35.6 |Nov record high C = 31.7 |Dec record high C = 28.7 |year record high C = 42.6 |Jan record low C = 2.6 |Feb record low C = 4.2 |Mar record low C = 5.6 |Apr record low C = 8.8 |May record low C = 13.2 |Jun record low C = 18.4 |Jul record low C = 20.3 |Aug record low C = 20.7 |Sep record low C = 17.2 |Oct record low C = 10.5 |Nov record low C = 7.0 |Dec record low C = 5.8 |year record low C = 2.6 | access-date = October 25, 2015}}

References

References

1. "Aṭ-Ṭūr (Kism (urban and rural parts), Egypt) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map and Location".
2. (2008). "The Enigma of 'Aydhab: a Medieval Islamic Port on the Red Sea Coast". International Journal of Nautical Archaeology.
3. [https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/194/ Rutho Monastery - UNESCO World Heritage Centre] Retrieved on 2009-03-26.
4. "El Tor, Egypt Climate, Global Warming, and Daylight Charts and Data". Climate Charts.