Nawamis

The nawamis are small circular buildings of dry-laid sandstone, two to three metres across and about the same high, with corbelled roofs and a low doorway that in almost every case faces west. They were built in the fourth millennium BC as tombs, and because nobody has knocked them down, they are among the oldest roofed structures anywhere still standing with their roofs on. Several groups survive in the wadis of central Sinai, the best known in Wadi Nawamis and near Ain Khudra, sitting in the open desert with nothing else in sight. Excavation found multiple burials in them with beads, shells from both the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, and copper. The name comes from an Arabic word for mosquito, from a local story about the builders sheltering from them.

What you actually see

• Corbelled stone roofs - drystone domes intact after five thousand years.
• West-facing doorways - a consistent orientation across the groups.
• Clusters in open desert - the tombs standing alone in bare wadis.
• Fine dry-laid masonry - flat sandstone slabs fitted without mortar.

When to go

October to April. Half a day from Nuweiba or Dahab, usually attached to a canyon or oasis trip. Morning or late afternoon light shows the masonry best. There is nobody else there on most days.

Honest expectations

You need a guide and four-wheel-drive; the sites are unmarked and impossible to find alone. There is no interpretation, no fence and no supervision, which is also why entering or climbing on them is a bad idea. Some groups have been damaged by visitors. No shade or water.

Nearby

Ain Khudra oasis is close; the White and Colored canyons lie on the same circuit.