Qaṭyā

Qatya is an oasis on the northern Sinai route between Egypt and Palestine. Date palms and wells made it a welcome stopping place amid the sandy desert. Travellers in the late fifteenth century described its gardens and its position on a road furnished with wells at intervals for those crossing from Bilbeis. Officials also examined merchants' goods and collected dues here, making the oasis a point of contact between caravans and the authorities of Egypt.