ʻArish or el-ʻArīsh ( ar, العريش ' , ''Hrinokorura'') is the

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

and largest city (with 164,830 inhabitants ) of the

North Sinai Governorate North Sinai Governorate ( ar, محافظة شمال سيناء ') is one of the governorates of Egypt. It is located in the north-eastern part of the country, and encompasses the northern half of the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered in the north b ...

of Egypt, as well as the largest city on the entire

Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai (now usually ) (, , cop, Ⲥⲓⲛⲁ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is a l ...

, lying on the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

coast northeast of

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

. It borders the Gaza Strip and Israel. ʻArīsh is distinguished by its clear blue water, widespread fruitful palmy wood on its coast, and its soft white sand. It has a

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships o ...

, and many luxury hotels. The city also has some of the faculties of

Suez Canal University The Suez Canal University is an Egyptian public university serving the Suez Canal region. Its faculties are located in the three governorates of the Suez Canal Region (Port Said, Ismailia & Suez). It was established in 1974. It is well-known for ...

. ʻArīsh is located by a big

wadi Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water onl ...

, the Wādī al-ʻArīsh, which receives

flash flood A flash flood is a rapid flooding of low-lying areas: washes, rivers, dry lakes and depressions. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a severe thunderstorm, hurricane, or tropical storm, or by meltwater from ice or snow flowing o ...

water from much of north and central Sinai. The Azzaraniq Protectorate is on the eastern side of ʻArīsh.

History

Staff of von Kressenstein at El Arish, 1916

The earliest historical attestation for the city is found in the Septuagint, Isaiah 27:12. The city grew around a

Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and A ...

settlement near the ancient

Ptolemaic Ptolemaic is the adjective formed from the name Ptolemy, and may refer to: Pertaining to the Ptolemaic dynasty * Ptolemaic dynasty, the Macedonian Greek dynasty that ruled Egypt founded in 305 BC by Ptolemy I Soter * Ptolemaic Kingdom Pertaining ...

outpost of

Rhinocorura Rhinocorura ( grc-gre, Ῥινοκόρουρα, ''Rhinokóroura'', or , ''Rhinokoúroura'') or Rhinocolura (, ''Rhinokóloura'') was the name of a region and associated town (or towns) and rivers lying between Ancient Egypt and the Land of Israel. ...

(in

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

"''the place where noses (of criminals) are cut off''"). In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, pilgrims misidentified the site as the

Sukkot or ("Booths, Tabernacles") , observedby = Jews, Samaritans, a few Protestant denominations, Messianic Jews, Semitic Neopagans , type = Jewish, Samaritan , begins = 15th day of Tishrei , ends = 21st day of Tishre ...

of the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

. ' means "palm huts" in

Modern Standard Arabic Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) or Modern Written Arabic (MWA), terms used mostly by linguists, is the variety of Standard language, standardized, Literary language, literary Arabic that developed in the Arab world in the late 19th and early 20th ...

. M. Ignace de Rossi derived the Arabic name from the Egyptian cop, ϫⲟⲣϣⲁ(ⲓ), transliteration=Jorsha, translation=noseless, label=none, an analogue of Greek Rhinocorura. New fortifications were constructed at the original site by the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

in 1560. During the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

, the French laid siege to the fort, which fell after 11 days on February 19, 1799. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the fort was destroyed by British bombers. It was later the location of the 45th Stationary Hospital which treated casualties of the Palestine campaign. The remains of those who died there were later moved to Kantara Cemetery.

Theodor Herzl Theodor Herzl; hu, Herzl Tivadar; Hebrew name given at his brit milah: Binyamin Ze'ev (2 May 1860 – 3 July 1904) was an Austro-Hungarian Jewish lawyer, journalist, playwright, political activist, and writer who was the father of modern p ...

, the founder of

Zionism Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a Nationalism, nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is ...

, proposed ʻArīsh as a Jewish homeland since neither the

Sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...

nor the

Kaiser ''Kaiser'' is the German word for "emperor" (female Kaiserin). In general, the German title in principle applies to rulers anywhere in the world above the rank of king (''König''). In English, the (untranslated) word ''Kaiser'' is mainly ap ...

supported settlement in

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

. In 1903,

Joseph Chamberlain Joseph Chamberlain (8 July 1836 – 2 July 1914) was a British statesman who was first a radical Liberal, then a Liberal Unionist after opposing home rule for Ireland, and eventually served as a leading imperialist in coalition with the Cons ...

, the British colonial secretary, agreed to consider ʻArīsh, and Herzl commissioned the lawyer

David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for leading the United Kingdom during t ...

a charter draft, but his application was turned down once an expedition, led by Leopold Kessler had returned and submitted a detailed report to Herzl, which outlined a proposal to divert some of the Nile waters to the area for the purpose of settlement.'' Jerusalem: The Biography'', page 380–381,

Simon Sebag Montefiore Simon Jonathan Sebag Montefiore (; born 27 June 1965) is a British historian, television presenter and author of popular history books and novels, including ''Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar' (2003), Monsters: History's Most Evil Men and ...

, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2011. El-ʻArīsh Military Cemetery was built in 1919 marked the dead of

. It was designed by

Robert Lorimer Sir Robert Stodart Lorimer, KBE (4 November 1864 – 13 September 1929) was a prolific Scottish architect and furniture designer noted for his sensitive restorations of historic houses and castles, for new work in Scots Baronial and Gothi ...

. On December 8, 1958, an air battle occurred between Egyptian and Israeli air forces over ʻArīsh. ʻArīsh was under military occupation by Israel briefly in 1956 and again from 1967 to 1979. It was returned to Egypt in 1979 after the signing of the

Egypt–Israel peace treaty The Egypt–Israel peace treaty ( ar, معاهدة السلام المصرية الإسرائيلية, Mu`āhadat as-Salām al-Misrīyah al-'Isrā'īlīyah; he, הסכם השלום בין ישראל למצרים, ''Heskem HaShalom Bein Yisrael ...

. In the Sinai mosque attack of 24 November 2017, 305 people were killed in a bomb and gun attack at the mosque in

Bir al-Abd Bir al-Abed ( ar, بئر العبد, biʾr al-ʿabd; arz, بير العبد) is one of the cities of North Sinai in the north east of Egypt. It is the capital of Bir al-Abd Markaz, located on the international coastal road on the shores of Lake ...

al-Rawda, North Sinai Al-Rawda ( ar, الروضة) is a village in the markaz of Bir al-Abed, in the North Sinai Governorate of Egypt. It is a center of the Jaririya Sufi order, with the majority of the population following it (though that might have changed with rece ...

near ʻArīsh. On 9 February 2021 six locals were killed by

ISIL An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...

militants.

Geography

Arish is in the northern Sinai and is about from the

Rafah Border Crossing The Rafah Border Crossing ( ar, معبر رفح, Ma`bar Rafaḥ) or Rafah Crossing Point is the sole crossing point between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. It is located on the Gaza–Egypt border, which was recognized by the 1979 Egypt–Israel peace ...

with the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...

.Palestinian airline resumes flights
" ''

Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse (AFP) is a French international news agency headquartered in Paris, France. Founded in 1835 as Havas, it is the world's oldest news agency. AFP has regional headquarters in Nicosia, Montevideo, Hong Kong and Washington, D.C ...

'' with the ''

Khaleej Times ''Khaleej Times'' is a daily English language newspaper published in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Launched on 16 April 1978, ''Khaleej Times'' is the UAE's longest-running English daily newspaper. History and profile A partnership between the U ...

''. 10 May 2012. Retrieved on 10 May 2012. Arish is the closest larger settlement to

Lake Bardawil Lake Bardawil ( ar, بحيرة البردويل ''Buḥayrat al-Bardawīl'' or سبخة البردويل ''Sabḵat al-Bardawīl''), is a large, very Salinity, saline lagoon nearby the protected area of Zaranik (also known for diversities of inse ...

Transport

The city is served by

el Arish International Airport El Arish International Airport ( ar, مطار العريش الدولي) is an airport near El Arish, Egypt. In 2011 the airport served 5,991 passengers (-45.4% vs. 2010). Operations The airport was the home base of Palestinian Airlines which ...

. The construction of the northern coast highway in Egypt (North Sinai part) was expected to be finished by 2008 linking El-Qantarah at the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...

in the west to the Gaza Strip border passing by Arish. The railway line from Cairo is also under re-construction and it recently reached the "Ser and Qawarir zone" west of Arish. This route was formerly part of the

Palestine Railways {{Infobox rail , railroad_name = Palestine Railway , logo_filename = , logo_size = , system_map = , map_caption = , map_size = , marks = , image = AwmB00283.Samakh.jpg , image_size ...

built during

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

to connect Egypt with Turkey. The railway was cut during the formation of Israel. The North Sinai is a milestone for the Egyptian government planners to redistribute the high-density population in the

Nile Delta The Nile Delta ( ar, دلتا النيل, or simply , is the delta formed in Lower Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the world's largest river deltas—from Alexandria in the west to Po ...

, and it is expected that by accomplishing the transportation and irrigation projects, three million Egyptians will settle in North Sinai.

Climate

Its

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

hot desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one ...

(BWh), although prevailing

winds moderate its temperatures, typical to the rest of the

northern coast of Egypt The Northern Coast of Egypt ( ar, الساحل الشمالي, "'", North Coast, commonly shortened to "'", "The Coast" or "The Egyptian Coast") extends for about along the Mediterranean Sea, it covers entirely the northern territory of Egypt. ...

. The highest record temperature was , recorded on May 29, 2003, while the lowest record temperature was , recorded on January 8, 1994.

References

{{Authority control Cities in Egypt Governorate capitals in Egypt Populated coastal places in Egypt Populated places in North Sinai Governorate Tourism in Egypt Ports and harbours of the Arab League Transport in the Arab League

History

Geography

Transport

Climate

See also

References