Bare granite mountains and mile after mile of sand interrupted here and there by an acacia tree—until 1967, this was the image conjured by the word “Sinai.” But in that year, following the Six Day War, Israeli archaeologists started exploring Sinai. For the next 15 years—until Sinai was returned to Egypt as part of the Camp David peace accords—Israeli archaeologists conducted hundreds of surveys and excavations. The result: rediscoveries of sites long forgotten and surprising new discoveries of cultures as old as civilization itself. These excavations have now collectively filled in numerous blank spots in the archaeological map of Sinai. One of the most prominent Israeli archaeologists who explored Sinai during this brief time was Itzhaq Beit-Arieh, who takes a wide-angle …