Lying halfway between St Catherine’s Monastery and the Red Sea coast, at the foot of the 2,000-m (6,560-ft) high Mount Serbal, Wadi Feiran is the largest oasis in south Sinai.
A winding valley, thick with shady palms, tamarisks and orchards, the oasis is believed to be the Rephidim mentioned in Exodus – the last place of rest for the weary Israelites before they reached Mount Sinai.
An early Christian community flourished here and, in AD 451, it became the seat of a bishopric that governed St Catherine’s Monastery (seepp222-5).
The bishop’s palace and convent were destroyed in the 7th century, but a small convent was rebuilt on the site with stone from the original Byzantine buildings. Today, the oasis belongs to the Tawarah tribes.
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