Wadi Hammamat is one of a great number of dry river beds that wind
through the rugged mountains of Egypt’s Eastern Desert and the modern
road that runs through it connects Qift (Greek Coptos) to the port of
Qusieir on the Red Sea. The route was used for millennia as a trade
route from the Coast to the Nile, but the area was also famed for its
quarries and gold mines. Scores of ancient ruins line the route; remains
of watchtowers, forts, wells and mines from various periods show much
evidence of ancient quarrying and mining activity. The wadi is perhaps
best known however, for its hundreds of hieroglyphic and hieratic rock
inscriptions which record the activities of expeditions sent by many
kings to obtain the precious resources of bekhen-stone which were used for small-scale building projects, sarcophagi, statues and vessels during the Pharaonic Period. 
Marsa Alam has lots of popular tourist attractions that are a must visit, once you're out of the deliciously cool sea. Make time for them along with diving and snorkeling and other water activities when you visit Marsa Alam. A fascinating tourist attraction of Marsa Alam is the ancient Wadi Hammamat which is sure to keep you riveted for hours.
Wadi Hammamat lies somewhere in the middle between Quesir and Qena. This road in the Nile trough is supposed to be the shortest between the Nile River and the Red Sea.
You'll love the numerous rock inscriptions dating back to the distant past all carved on the walls of the wadi. The walls are also full of intricate Egyptian hieroglyphics.There are even pictures here in relief showing Egyptian reed boats which are considered to go as far back as 4000 BC.
Besides these rock carvings, there's so much to explore along Wadi Hammamat in Marsa Alam! All along the wadi, you can see ruins of old time fortresses, watchtowers and even wells, mines and quarries.
In the ancient timesWadi Hammamat was part of the the world's most famous mining complex. Iron as well as various types of granites used to be mined from the quarries along Wadi Hammamat.
Among the many gold mines in exotic Egypt, Wadi Hammamat was one of the most famous. Bir Umm Fawakhir which is a part of the Wadi Hammamat as well as the entire stretch of the Wadi Hammamat yielded the yellow metal right up to the end of the 20th century.
But above all, it was the Bekheney stone mined from these quarries that made Wadi Hammamat a legend. This beautiful green decorative rock was considered sacred and used in making statues, bowls and sarcophagi right up to the Roman period in Egypt. The famed Bekheney stone was even used by the ancient Egyptian royalty inside their pyramids.
So come and be fascinated by the mysteries of the past at Wadi Hammamat in Marsa Alam!
There is evidence in the area of prehistoric man, desert dwellers and nomads who left crude petroglyphs bruised into the rocks in the form of curved reed boats, hunters and long-gone animals, including elephants and ostriches, suggesting that the desert was at that time a more hospitable place. This route through the mountains of the Eastern Desert was taken by travellers and expeditions from the Old Kingdom onwards, right through to the Romans who exploited the quarries and gold mines the most, and who built stone watchtowers on the tops of the hills to guard the road and the wells. Wadi Hammamat contains a variety of sandstone, greywacke and schist-type rocks which were all known as Bekhen-stone in ancient times. The colours of the rocks vary from a very dark basalt-like stone, through reds, pinks and greens and although this stone was usually too flawed for building large monuments it was highly prized for palettes, statues, sarcophagi and smaller shrines.
The Turin Papyrus mining map, thought to have been found by Drovetti at Deir el-Medina and now reconstructed in the Museo Egizio in Turin, is the oldest topographical and geological map known from Egypt. It was drawn by a scribe named Amennakhte, son of Ipuy, who was commissioned to make the map during an expedition of Rameses IV, the king who sent one of the largest recorded quarrying expeditions to the Wadi Hammamat. The map shows part of the route through the wadi and depicts identifying features, such as hills, together with distances between quarries and mines. The use of different colours and textures for the different features with a descriptive legend was very innovative.
The bekhen quarry on the northern side of the road still contains remains of workmens huts built from the dark schist stone and nestled in the lee of the cliff. Quarry marks can be seen everywhere and halfway up the cliff there is an abandoned sarcophagus which perhaps split or fractured during quarrying. On the southern side of the road the cliffs are littered with inscriptions left by expedition members, many of which can be dated to the year of the reigning pharaoh, providing invaluable historical records of the activities of a long line of kings.
One of the earliest pieces of evidence of the use or exploitation of the Wadi Hammamat may be a graffito containing a serekh of the Early Dynastic King Narmer, which is inscribed on a rock in the Wadi el-Qash, an offshoot of the Wadi Hammamat. The Wadi Hammamat was known to have been used during Dynasty VI and probably earlier, as a route to the Red Sea and from there to the East African coast and the Land of Punt. Texts that can be dated with accuracy point to possibly several expeditions sent by Pepi I (who is represented in around 80 inscriptions) to extract blocks of bekhen-stone for temple statuary. An undated graffito also shows the presence of an expedition of Merenre, the last Old Kingdom pharaoh to be featured here. Quarrying and military activities account for the majority of inscriptions from the Old Kingdom and the names of other kings briefly mentioned in graffiti include Khufu, Khafre, Djedefre, Menkaure, Sahure and Unas. Also thought to date from the Old Kingdom is a curious text of an official Zaty, named as ‘King’s Son’ and ‘General’ in the reign of an unknown king Imhotep.
The First Intermediate Period was a time of upheaval in the whole of Egypt with a decline in the state’s economy and political structure, though there are a couple of small graffiti mentioning Merykare and Ity, Herakleopolitan rulers of Dynasty X.
It seems to be Nebhepetre Mentuhotep II of Dynasty XI who re-opened the Wadi Hammamat route and possibly sent quarrying expeditions there at the beginning of the Middle Kingdom and a short hieroglyphic graffito most probably dates to his rule. His son, Sankhkare Mentuhotep III sent a large expedition of 3000 men in Year 8 of his reign, attested by a text of his Chief Steward Henenu. The purpose was to establish a trade contact with Punt, but they may also have done some quarrying. In the final recorded Dynasty XI journey, Nebtawyre Mentuhotep IV sent an even larger expedition in Year 2 of his reign, shown in four large rock-stelae. We are told by Vizier Amenemhat (probably the later Pharaoh Amenemhat I) how their mission was to quarry bekhen-stone for the King’s sarcophagus and how a gazelle gave birth on the block they had chosen, an auspicious omen which greatly encouraged the workforce of 10,000 men. Another of Vizier Amenemhat’s texts records the ‘wonder of rain’, a flash flood that produced a well of clear water.
Most of the Middle Kingdom texts in the
Wadi Hammamat are long and include dedications to the local god, Min of
Coptos, his consort Isis and their son Horus, who are often depicted
receiving offerings. A cartouche of the king is usually inscribed, along
with the year of the reign and name of the expedition leader, often
giving details of the mission. Dynasty XII begins with the Pharaoh
Amenemhat I, who left a single undated rock-stela in the Wadi Hammamat.
His son Senusret I sent missions there in reignal years 2, 26 and 38,
the third of which was the largest ever to work in the wadi. A team of
roughly 18,660 skilled and unskilled workers, including soldiers,
hunters, brewers, bakers and of course the scribes, artisans and
labourers, had the task of quarrying stone for 60 sphinxes and 150
statues. Two large rock-stelae date to this expedition and give names of
personnel and even the rations that were issued. Later Middle Kingdom
rulers attested here include Senusret II and III, each sending a single
mission and Amenemhat III who sent at least four expeditions in years
2,3,19 and 20 of his reign.
First discovered in 1950 and thought to be an Old Kingdom text, but more likely dating to the Middle Kingdom, a brief, crudely-worked, but important graffito constitutes one of the earliest king-lists, written by a minor official which names Old Kingdom rulers Khufu, Djedefre and Khafre, written in cartouches. The author of this unusual inscription also includes the names of Princes Hordjedef and Bauefre in cartouches.
The chronology at the end of the Middle Kingdom into the Second Intermediate Period is difficult to ascertain, but the period is represented in the Wadi Hammamat by a stele of Sobekhotep IV Khaneferre, while there were possibly two or three graffito naming King Sobekemsaf I Sekhemre-wadjkhau.
There are surprisingly few texts from New Kingdom Pharaohs among the rock-inscriptions in Wadi Hammamat, perhaps because a more northerly route may also have been used to cross the Eastern Desert at this time. Names and titles have recently been found representing Ahmose I and Amenhotep II, but the two brief texts of Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten) found there are more interesting historically as they both mention a high priest of Amun who was sent to collect bekhen-stone. Presumably this was from the king’s early reign while the Theban priesthood were still in favour. Though the wadi was likely to have continued to be used during Dynasty XVIII, no evidence of other rulers have been found. In Dynasty XIX, Seti I usurped a relief of Amenhotep IV, showing the king kneeling with two vases before Amun-re and two more images of Seti I have been found offering Ma’at and flowers to Amun-re. Seti II is also represented in a relief and a stela by the Vizier Paraemheb in which the king is in the presence of Min, Horus and Isis.
While the long reign of Rameses II is represented by only one set of cartouches in Wadi Hammamat, the most prolific New Kingdom Pharaoh was undoubtedly Rameses IV Hekamaatre Setepenamun of Dynasty XX, whose inscriptions have been firmly dated to four missions during the first three years of his reign, describing expeditions sent to procure stone for his Theban monuments. Stelae inscribed by several priests and officials describe the expeditions of Rameses IV and there are many minor graffiti dating to the reign. A text of Turu, high priest of Montu, dates to Year 1 and depicts the king in the presence of many deities, while a stela dating to Year 2 mentions the extracting of bekhen-stone for the ‘Place of Eternity’. The largest mission was in Year 3, when Ramesesnakht, high priest of Amun, was sent with a large workforce to quarry stone for the ‘Place of Truth’ (the Theban necropolis), which he recorded on two stelae. This was the expedition that produced the Wadi Hammamat mining map.
The only Third Intermediate Period ruler to be mentioned here is the Theban High Priest Menkheperre of Dynasty XXI. This was another period of economic decline and political disruption in Egypt and expeditions were not documented again until Dynasty XXV and XXVI. A text by a quarryman, Psenuenkhons, is recorded from the time of the Divine Adoratrice Amenirdis I, Year 12 of King Shabaqo. Cartouches and graffiti relating to Taharqa, Psamtek I, Necho II and Psamtek II have also been found.
The latest hieroglyphic inscriptions in the Wadi Hammamat date to the reign of Nectanebo II of the Dynasty XXX but there are also many demotic or Greek texts from the Ptolemaic and Roman Periods. The Romans brought renewed interest in the wadi, especially as a trading route, building watchtowers and signal posts, forts and a fortified well at Bir Hammamat. In the bekhen-stone quarries, a temple containing several side-chambers has been dated to the time of Tiberius by an inscribed naos. Graffiti in the wadi record activity under Emperors Augustus, Nero, Titus, Domitian, Antoninus and Maximinus.
Bir Hammamat was a Roman fort and major watering station for travellers through the wadi. The stone walls can still be seen, built to protect the well, 34m deep, which had a winding staircase to the bottom. This is a great feat of Roman engineering and impresses on the visitor the vital importance of water in this arid landscape.
The first European descriptions of the Wadi Hammamat were from the Scottish traveller James Bruce in 1769, though he made no mention of the inscriptions. Sir John Gardner Wilkinson and Lepsius visited the wadi during the 19th century and the Russian Egyptologist Vladimir Golenishchev led the first modern study of the inscriptions in 1884-1885 but it was not until the early part of the 20th century that more interest was shown in the site by Arthur Weigall in 1909. In 1912 a thorough survey was undertaken and published by Couyat and Motet. In the 1930s the German pioneer Hans Winkler thoroughly explored the area by camel before world war II interrupted his work of recording the desert boats, which was never completed before his death. Wendorf and Schild explored the Eastern Desert regions, publishing their results in 1980. Susan and Donald Redford, Gerlad Fuchs, David Rohl who conducted the Eastern Desert Survey and Mike and Maggie Morrow who published RATS (Rock Art Topographical Survey) are just some of the latter-day explorers of Wadi Hammamat.
How to get there
The distance between Qift and Quseir is 180km and the ancient road beginning at the Roman watering station at Laghieta is about 50km from the turnoff south of Qift. After 83km, there is a narrow defile just as the road begins to pass between the higher mountains and where the scenery gets more spectacular with every kilometre. A little way past an ancient well known as Bir Hammamat to the northern side of the road, the road narrows into a rocky gorge between high, dark, jagged mountains towards Bir Umm Fawakir and this is where the concentration of a large number of rock inscriptions can be found. There is a small gafir’s hut opposite the inscriptions. At the entrance to Wadi Fawakir (108km) there is a coffee shop where travellers can stop for refreshments. A special permit is now required from the SCA to stop at the site of the graffiti and all photography is banned.
This site is home to 200 hieroglyphic tablets that adorn the cliffs, in addition to hundreds of magnificent rock inscriptions, some of which date back to 4000 BC. It is renowned for the production of the Bekheni stone, a stunning green ornamental rock, which is considered sacred. The stone was actively quarried from Pharaonic until Roman times to make bowls, statues and sarcophagi, many of which have been found in the Pyramids, graves and temples of those periods.
| My lord, the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Nibtowere,
living forever, sent me as one sending, in whom are divine members; to
establish his monument in this land, He chose me before his city, I was preferred before his court. Now, his majesty commanded that there go forth to this august highland an army with me, men of the choicest of the whole land: miners, artificers, quarrymen, artists, draftsmen, stonecutters, gold[workers], treasurers of Pharaoh, of every department of the White House, and every office of the king's house, united behind me. I made the highlands a river, and the upper valleys a water-way. I brought for him a sarcophagus, an eternal memorial, an everlasting reminder. Never descended its like in this highland since the time of the god. My soldiers descended without loss; not a man perished, not a troop was missing, not an ass died, not a workman was enfeebled. It happened for the majesty of my lord as a distinction, which Min wrought for him because he so much loved him, that his ka might endure upon the great throne in the kingdom of the two regions of Horus. [He made (it) as something greater than it.] I am his favorite servant, who does all that he praises every day.
Reign of Mentuhotep IV
J.H.Breasted, Ancient Records of Egypt, Part One, § 445ff |
Nibtowere: Mentuhotep IV (c. 1998-1991 BCE) preferred before his court: Royal family members and other courtiers were often chosen for such missions. miners, artificers, quarrymen ////////.: According to this list most of the work on the sarcophagus seems to have been done in situ. I made the highlands a river: i.e. there was water everywhere My soldiers descended without loss: Successful commanders often prided themselves for not losing any subordinates. |
| King of Upper and Lower Egypt,
Nibtowere, who liveth forever, born of the king's mother, Imi, second
month of the first season, day 23. One set to work in this mountain on the [lid] block of the sarcophagus. The wonder was repeated, rain was made, the forms of the god appeared, his fame was shown to men, the highland was made a lake, the water went to the margin of the stone, a well was found in the midst of the valley, 10 cubits by 10 cubits on its every side, filled with fresh water, to its edge, undefiled, kept pure and cleansed from gazelles, concealed from Troglodyte barbarians. Soldiers of old, and kings who lived aforetime, went out and returned by its side, no eye had seen it, the face of man had not fallen upon it, (but) to his majesty himself it was revealed. ////////////. Those who were in Egypt heard it, the people who were in Egypt, South and Northland, they bowed their heads to the ground, they praised the goodness of his majesty forever and ever.
Reign of Mentuhotep IV
                                 
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ntermediate Period. |
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