Wadi Hammamat

Coordinates: 25°57′52″N 33°30′15″E / 25.9644°N 33.5041°E / 25.9644; 33.5041
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Al-Qusayr
on the Red Sea.

Wadi Hammamat (

Nile Valley
in ancient times, and three thousand years of rock carvings and graffiti make it a major scientific and tourist site today.

Trade route

Hammamat became the major route from Thebes to the Red Sea and then to the Silk Road that led to Asia, or to Arabia and the horn of Africa. This 200 km journey was the most direct route from the Nile to the Red Sea, as the Nile bends toward the coast at the western end of the wadi.

The Hammamat route ran from

predynastic occupation also has been found along the route.[2]

Quarries

In

Nile Valley. Quarrying expeditions to the Eastern Desert are recorded from the second millennia BCE, where the wadi has exposed Precambrian rocks of the Arabian-Nubian Shield. These include Basalts, schists, bekhen-stone (an especially prized green metagraywacke sandstone used for bowls, palettes, statues, and sarcophagi) [3] and gold-containing quartz.[4] The Narmer Palette
, 3100 BC, is one of a number of early and predynastic artifacts that were carved from the distinctive stone of the Wadi Hammamat.

Pharaoh Seti I is recorded as having the first well dug to provide water in the wadi, and Senusret I sent mining expeditions there.

The site is described in the earliest-known ancient

geological map, the Turin Papyrus Map.[5]

Carvings

Today Hammamat is famous mostly for its ancient Egyptian

Common era

Occupying groups from the

Late Ptolemaic Period operated gold mines near the well Bir Umm el-Fawakhir. Yet, the New Kingdom of Egypt gold mines at Wadi el-Sid were on a larger scale.[5]
: 129, 136–141 

A modern asphalt road, the Wadi Hammamat road now runs for 194 km through the wadi, making it a vital transport route, and enabling tourists to travel easily between the sites of nearby Luxor and Thebes.[7]

Modern European description

The first European descriptions of the Wadi Hammamat were from the Scottish traveler

led the first modern study of the inscriptions in 1884–1885.

Popular culture

In 1993, The Pogues wrote a song about it, entitled Girl From The Wadi Hammamat in their album Waiting for Herb.

See also

References

  1. ^ Meeks, Cf. D. Coptos et le chemin de Pount. p. 303.
  2. ^ The Archaeology of the Eastern Desert, Appendix F: Desert Rock Areas and Sites. Andie Byrnes, University College London, June 2007. Retrieved September 2007.
  3. ^ Survey of ancient Egyptian stone quarries (rock varieties and images, locations, and ages). James A. Harrell, Professor of Geology, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Toledo. Retrieved September 2007.
  4. ^ Dollinger, André, Mining, An introduction to the history and culture of Pharaonic Egypt. 2000. Retrieved September 2007.
  5. ^ .
  6. ^ Desert Boats Home Page Wadi Hammamat: Gallery and description of several dynastic and predynastic sites in the Wadi, by Francis Lankester. Retrieved June 2013.
  7. ^ "12 Top-Rated Things to Do in the Red Sea Region – #12: Discover the Eastern Desert's Rock Inscriptions at Barrameya and Wadi Hammamat". PlanetWare. Retrieved 21 February 2023.

External links

25°57′52″N 33°30′15″E / 25.9644°N 33.5041°E / 25.9644; 33.5041