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.