ABSTRACT
The northeast corner of Africa comprises Egypt and Libya. Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula offers one of three major bridges linking Africa to Asia and Europe (the others are the Bab al-Mandab Straits on the Red Sea between Yemen and Ethiopia and Gibraltar on the Mediterranean between Morocco and the Iberian Peninsula). Prior to the opening of the Suez Canal in the nineteenth century, the Sinai Peninsula provided the only land route to Africa. From time immemorial, traders, travelers, conquerors, and migrants moved in or out of Africa via Egypt. Eventually, with the advancement of shipping and sailing technologies, other routes into Africa, especially around the Indian Ocean, became available.
