Wadi Mukattab

Mukattab means written, and the wadi earns the name: its sandstone walls carry several thousand inscriptions cut by travellers over roughly two thousand years, the great majority Nabataean, along with Greek, Latin, Coptic, Arabic and earlier Egyptian marks. Most are short, giving a name and a greeting or a prayer, left by caravan traders, pilgrims heading toward the holy mountain, and miners moving between the turquoise workings, so the wadi functions as a long record of who passed through this route and when. Early European travellers made a great deal of the inscriptions and various fanciful theories attached to them before they were properly read. The wadi is otherwise bare and quiet, on the road toward Serabit el-Khadim.

What you actually see

• Thousands of Nabataean inscriptions - names and greetings cut into sandstone.
• Greek and Coptic texts - later travellers on the same walls.
• Egyptian carvings - earlier marks from the mining expeditions.
• The caravan route setting - a wadi used as a road for two millennia.

When to go

October to April. Half a day, almost always combined with Serabit el-Khadim on the same trip. Morning or late light rakes across the rock and makes the inscriptions far easier to see.

Honest expectations

The inscriptions are shallow and hard to see in flat midday light, so timing matters. Some have been damaged by modern graffiti and by weathering. There is no signage, no path and no protection. A guide is required to find the best panels.

Nearby

Serabit el-Khadim is further inland; the Gulf of Suez road runs west.