Mons Porphyrites

Porphyry, the deep purple stone reserved for imperial use in Rome and later in Byzantium, came from one place: Gebel Dokhan in the mountains behind the modern Hurghada coast, worked from the first century AD for about four hundred years, into the fifth century. The quarries are cut high on the mountain sides and connected by slipways down which the blocks were lowered, and around them lie the settlements that made the work possible, with a fort, houses, a temple to Serapis, cisterns, and animal lines for the donkeys that hauled the stone to the Nile. Because the stone was an imperial monopoly, the operation was run by the state and the remains are correspondingly organised. Blocks and part-worked pieces still lie on the slopes where they were left when the quarries closed.

History

The quarries were discovered by Caius Cominus Leugas in AD 18, and hundreds of ostraca trace their working from soon after until the 430s; under the Roman Empire they were the only known source of the purple imperial porphyry, used in Rome and Constantinople for decoration and above all for imperial sarcophagi. Five scattered workers' villages surrounded a central complex at Wadi Abu Ma'amel with a settlement, a fort and temples to Isis Megiste, dated to 113, and to Sarapis, of 117-119; a second temple, to Isis Myrionyma, of 137-138, stands across the wadi, and the earliest settlement, with Leugas's inscription, has a temple to Pan. The site could be reached only by a winding branch of the road between Caene on the Nile and the Red Sea coast (Wikipedia, Mons Porphyrites).

What to look for

• Purple porphyry quarry faces - the sole known source of the imperial stone.
• Stone slipways - the ramps blocks were lowered down.
• The temple of Serapis - a small shrine among the workings.
• Abandoned worked blocks - pieces left on the slopes when work stopped.

When to go

October to April. A full day from Hurghada with an early start, and some walking uphill at the site. The quarries are scattered across the mountain, so a guide who knows which to visit matters.

Good to know

Reaching the quarries involves rough four-wheel-drive and then steep walking on loose ground. No facilities of any kind and no shade. Permits are sometimes required and trips can be turned back. Taking porphyry fragments is illegal, however tempting.

Nearby

Mons Claudianus lies south in the same range; Hurghada is on the coast east.

Key facts