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Pilgrims To Tourists: Evolution Of Travel In South Sinai In The 19th And 20th Century, Daniele Salvoldi Dr.

Faculty Journal Articles

Since Late Antiquity, South Sinai has been anattraction or travellers. For centuries, the fortune the region had laid in its holy character for both Christianity and Islam. It is only in the 19thcentury that other motivations arose and what wasa traditional pilgrimage turned often into leisure travel. In the words of Joseph Hobbs: “All who travelled overland to Mount Sinai emphasized the hazards along the way. From the early 19th century such obstacles became an attraction in themselves, a reason to travel.” 1 The main difference between pilgrims and travellers was the motivation: “Pilgrimage formost was necessity, penance, exile, suffering …