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About midway between Quseir and Qena is the legendary Wadi Hammamat. Through this valley runs an ancient road, the shortest from the Red Sea to the Nile. Hundreds of rock inscriptions adorn the wadi's walls. Some drawings, like the ancient Egyptian reed boats, date back to 4000 BC. | What made Wadi Hammamat famous during antiquity was the Bekheny stone; a beautiful green ornamental rock that was considered sacred. The stone was actively quarried from Pharaonic until Roman times for the production of bowls, statues and sarcophagi. A large number of Bekheny stone monuments have been found in pyramids, graves and temples of these periods. | Today you will not only marvel at the rock drawings of the distant past, but you can also admire the ruins of the quarries, mines, fortresses, watchtowers and wells that lie scattered along this principal route. |
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