El-Tor

El-Tor ( _ar. الطور "transl|ar|aṭ-ṭūr"), also known as "Tur Sinai", formerly Raithu, is the capital of Janub Sina' governorate of Egypt, located at the Sinai Peninsula. The name of the city comes from the Arabic name of the mountain where according to Abrahamic religions, their prophet Moses received the tablets from God; this mountain is called "Jabal Al Tor", or "Tor Sinà" in the Qur'an.

The El Tor strain of cholera was discovered here in 1905.

The Raithu desert is situated around El-Tor, between Mount Sinai and the Red Sea. It is part of the Archdiocese of Mount Sinai and Raithu of the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem. The "Martyrs of Raithu" were 43 anchorites slain by Saracens or by invading Bedouins. Christian monks fleeing persecutions had been present since the 3rd century, and the Raithu monastery was commissioned in the 6th century by Byzantine emperor Justinian.

External links

*http://www.egypttoday.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=6855