Sights in Eastern Desert
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Mons Claudianus
About 40km along the Safaga-Qena road, a signposted track breaks off northwest towards Mons Claudianus, an old Roman granite quarry/fortress complex, and one of the largest of the Roman settlements dotting the Eastern Desert. This stark and remote place was the end of the line for Roman prisoners brought to hack the granite out of the barren mountains, and was a hardship post for the soldiers sent to guard them.
It was more a concentration camp than a quarry - you can still see the remains of the tiny cells that these unfortunates inhabited. There is also an immense cracked pillar, left where it fell 2000 years ago, a small temple and some other ruins. Once the granite wa…
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Tomb of Sayyed al-Shazli
In addition to the many traces of Pharaonic and other ancient civilisations, the Eastern Desert is also home to numerous Islamic tombs and shrines. One of the best known is the Tomb of Sayyed al-Shazli, a 13th-century sheikh who is revered as one of the more important Sufi leaders. His followers believe that he wanted to die in a place where nobody had ever sinned. Evidently such a place was difficult to find, as the site was a journey of several days from either the Nile Valley or the coast.
Al-Shazli's tomb - which lies about 145km southwest of Marsa Alam at Wadi Humaysara - was restored under the orders of King Farouk in 1947, and there is now an asphalt road leading t…
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Mons Porphyrites
Mons Porphyrites is the site of ancient porphyry quarries worked by the Romans. The precious white-and-purple crystalline stone was mined and then transported across the desert along the Via Porphyrites to the Nile for use in sarcophagi, columns and other decorative work elsewhere in the Roman world. The quarries were under the direct control of the imperial family in Rome, which had encampments, workshops and even temples built for the workers and engineers here.
Evidence of this quarry town can still be seen, although not much of it is standing. A road leading to the site branches off the main road about 20km north of Hurghada.
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Wadi Gimal
Starkly beautiful Wadi Gimal, which extends inland for about 85km from its coastal opening south of Marsa Alam, is home to a rich variety of birdlife, gazelles and stands of mangrove. In ancient times, the surrounding area was the source of emerald, gold and other minerals used in Pharaonic and Roman civilisations.
Together with tiny Wadi Gimal Island, just offshore from the wadi's delta area, Wadi Gimal has been given protected status and targeted for development as an ecotourism destination. Because of its long history and abundance of historical monuments, the area has also been proposed as a Unesco World Heritage site.
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Wadi Hammamat
The high, smooth walls of Wadi Hammamat, about halfway along the road connecting Al-Quseir to the town of Qift, display a remarkable collection of graffiti dating from Pharaonic times down to Egypt's 20th-century King Farouk. The road through the wadi runs along an ancient trade route, and remains of old wells as well as other evidence of the area's long history can be seen along the way.
In Graeco-Roman times, watchtowers were built along the trail at short enough intervals for signals to be visible, and many of them are still intact on the barren hilltops on either side of the road.
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Rock Inscriptions
One of the most impressive collections of Rock Inscriptions, many of which date to prehistoric times, is found in the barren tracts fringing the Marsa Alam-Edfu road, beginning close to Marsa Alam, where the smooth, grey rock was perfect for carving. They include hunting scenes with dogs chasing ostriches, depictions of giraffes and cattle and hieroglyphic accounts of trade expeditions.
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Wadi Sikait
Wadi Sikait was an emerald-mining centre at least as early as the Ptolemaic period. It provided emeralds that were used throughout the ancient world and was the exclusive source of emeralds for the Roman Empire.
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Wadi Miya
In the remote Wadi Miya, in what was likely an ancient mine works, are the remains of a temple said to be built by Seti I.
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