Wadi Hammamat

Wadi Hammamat carries the shortest route from the Nile bend at Qift across the Eastern Desert to the Red Sea at Quseir, and it has been used for that since predynastic times, which is why its rock walls are among the most densely inscribed in Egypt. There are royal expedition texts recording the quarrying of the dark green greywacke used for statuary and sarcophagi, hieroglyphic and hieratic graffiti from Old Kingdom to Roman date, Greek, Nabataean and Arabic inscriptions, and boat drawings that predate the pharaohs. The quarries themselves are still visible in the wadi walls, along with wells and Roman watchtowers spaced along the route. The modern asphalt road runs through the same gap, so several of the main panels are accessible directly from it.

History

Quarrying in Wadi Hammamat began some 6,000 years ago, in the Pre-Dynastic period, when its greywacke and slate, the "bekhen stone", were made into cosmetic palettes, bracelets and stone vessels; from the Old Kingdom the stone went into statues, stelae and sarcophagi, the pharaohs sent expeditions of up to thousands of men, and gold mining began in the valleys around. The quarries stayed in use almost without a break through ancient Egyptian history, and the expeditions left detailed reports carved in hieroglyphs on the rock, with prayers to the triad of Coptos, Min, Isis and Horus, Min being the protector of caravan routes. The wadi was also the most direct road from the Nile at Coptos to the Red Sea, leading to the galena mines of Gebel Zeit and towards the Land of Punt, probably reaching the coast near El Qoseir, where the port of Myos Hormos was later built; the route mattered so much that in the first millennium BC the Red Sea was called the "Sea of Coptos". In the First Intermediate Period Thebes and Coptos contended for control of the wadi, and Thebes under Intef the Elder prevailed (Wikipedia, Wadi Hammamat).

The main sights

• Royal expedition inscriptions - texts recording quarrying missions.
• Predynastic boat drawings - carvings older than the pharaonic state.
• Greywacke quarry faces - the dark stone used for statuary.
• Roman watchtowers - the road stations along the desert route.

When to go

October to April. Half a day, usually as part of the drive between Luxor and the Red Sea coast, which the road makes easy. Morning or late light rakes the panels and makes them legible.

Practical notes

Panels are unsigned and easy to drive past; a guide or precise coordinates help enormously. Modern graffiti has damaged some. The road carries fast truck traffic and stopping on it needs care. There are no facilities on the route.

Nearby

El Quseir is at the Red Sea end; Qift and the Nile valley are west.

Key facts