The Oldest Surviving Topographical Map from Ancient Egypt: (Turin Papyri 1879, 1899, and 1969)

Cisterns, Wells and Use of Water in the Mining and Quarrying Sites of the Egyptian Eastern Desert

“…4 Pictorial evidence for the central section which runs through Wadi Hammamat, with its quarries, cisterns and other features was attested in the Turin papyrus map of the 12 th century B.C. 5 Inscriptions record traders in the Roman early imperial period and the Roman road through the desert to Berenice on the coast. There are several wells which still give water along this route.…”

Ancient Mining and Smelting Activities in the Wadi Abu Gerida Area, Central Eastern Desert, Egypt: Preliminary Results

“…1 (a)) was a principal gold-producing area in ancient times. The oldest mine map in the world was made during the reign of Ramses IV (1151-1145 bc) to depict the settlements of one of these gold mining sites at the Fawakhir area and to show the hills within which the gold veins occurred in the central Eastern Desert (Bromehead 1940;Harrell and Brown 1992;Habashi 2005). The oldest mine map in the world was made during the reign of Ramses IV (1151-1145 bc) to depict the settlements of one of these gold mining sites at the Fawakhir area and to show the hills within which the gold veins occurred in the central Eastern Desert (Bromehead 1940;Harrell and Brown 1992;Habashi 2005).…”

“…Klemm et al (2001) linked the legendary wealth in gold of ancient Egypt to the high number of gold mining sites in the Eastern Desert. The oldest mine map in the world was made during the reign of Ramses IV (1151-1145 bc) to depict the settlements of one of these gold mining sites at the Fawakhir area and to show the hills within which the gold veins occurred in the central Eastern Desert (Bromehead 1940;Harrell and Brown 1992;Habashi 2005). In addition to gold, the Eastern Desert was a source for other ores such as copper, iron and lead (Lucas 1962;Afia 1985;El Gayar and Jones 1989;Scheel 1989;Castel et al 1995).…”

‘A Place Full of Whispers’: Socializing the Quarry Landscape of the Wadi Hammamat

“…By comparison, however, only very limited investigations have been made of the broader cultural landscape in which the inscriptions are embedded, including quarries, settlements and other domestic and logistical infrastructure. To date, these investigations have consisted of geological and geoarchaeological descriptions of the quarries (Harrell 2002, 238-40;Harrell & Brown 1992;Hume 1934, 258-66;Klemm & Klemm 1993, 355-76;2008, 296-311), together with a small amount of archaeological research, primarily focused on the Roman Period remains (Cuvigny 2003;Zitterkopf & Sidebotham 1989) and, to a much lesser extent, on those of the Predynastic to Early Dynastic (Debono 1951).…”