Naḵl

Nekhel lies in the arid interior of Sinai on the route followed by the pilgrimage caravan from Egypt to Mecca. Its fort guarded a stopping place in a landscape where reliable water was precious. The Mamluk sultan Qansuh al-Ghuri ordered the fortress built in the early sixteenth century, shortly before the Ottoman conquest of Egypt. Its garrison helped secure the passage of pilgrims and traders across the peninsula.