Ain Sokhna

Ain Sokhna, in Arabic al-Ain al-Sokhna, meaning the Hot Spring, is a town in Suez Governorate on the western shore of the Gulf of Suez, an arm of the Red Sea. It lies about 55 kilometres south of Suez and about 120 kilometres east of Cairo. Archaeological excavations since 1999 have shown an ancient Egyptian port and settlement here, comparable with the port of Mersa Gawasis further south, which connected the mining areas of Sinai with Memphis across the Eastern Desert and was important for turquoise and copper. Seafaring expeditions on the Red Sea were organised from this port as early as the Old Kingdom, and activity continued in the Middle Kingdom, with an expedition of 3,000 men under Mentuhotep IV and some 4,000 men under Amenemhat I. Today the town has the Ain Sokhna port, and its climate is hot desert (BWh).