Wadi Hammamat is one of several dried-up riverbeds in Egypt's desert and is the modern road that leads to the shores of the Red Sea. The route was used for thousands of years as a trade route from the sea coast to the Nile, but the area was also known for its quarries and gold mines. Hundreds of ancient ruins lie along the line of the route; the remains of watchtowers, forts, catchments and mines from different historical periods testify to ancient mining activity.
What made the ancient dry riverbed famous was the discovery of many hieroglyphs and graffiti paintings on the rocks. These inscriptions and paintings record the activities of various expeditions for valuable resources. There are artefacts confirming that the desert was inhabited by prehistoric people and nomads who left crude petroglyphs on the rocks in the form of curved reed boats, hunting scenes and long extinct animals. This route through the eastern desert mountains was used by travellers and expeditions from the Old Kingdom through to the Roman era, when quarries and gold mines were most exploited. The Romans built stone towers on the peaks of the hills to guard roads and wells. The Wadi Hammamat area is rich in sandstone, graywacke and slate, and was prized for its variety of colours, from dark basalt to red, pink and green slabs used to decorate statues, sarcophagi and small shrines.
An ancient document, a papyrus, was found here, which is the oldest geological and topographical map of Egypt. It was compiled during the expedition of Ramses IV. The map describes a particular section of the route through the wadi and marks iconic sites such as hills, quarries and mines.
In the Bekhen quarry on the north side of the road, there are the remains of dark slate stone work huts on the leeward side. Traces of quarrying are visible everywhere, and halfway up the cliff top there is an abandoned sarcophagus that split open during quarrying. On the south side of the road the rocks are dotted with inscriptions left by members of the Pharaoh's expedition.
The road to the Hammamat Wadi passes through desert and rocks, descends into a gorge between high dark uneven mountains, so it is better to book a guided tour. A special permit is required for video, photography and stopping near graffiti.
