Sinai’s Imaginary Boundary Line in Twenty-first Century

Abstract

ABSTRACT An imaginary line had been assigned on small-scale non-survey or non-treaty compiled maps to mark the Egyptian-Levantine boundary, a repetitive pattern since – at least – the sixteenth century CE. It ran through Sinai Peninsula between Suez and Rafah. Little is discussed about the origins of the line which dates back to the emergence of the cartographic states. The Ottomans first attempted to formalize this line in the Firman of 1841 CE. The latter became a favorable start point during the negotiations of the Turco-Egyptian boundary line between Egypt/British and Palestine/Ottoman in 1906 CE, and a point of historic review throughout the twentieth century CE. This commentary explores the origins of the line, whether it is a line “through the sand” or represents the notion of a “natural boundary,” or a cartographic thought driven from “tribal territories” or an “administrative boundary.” Paradoxically, the line was utilized to support the political position of the Egyptian government in twenty-first century CE.