Appendix F - E. Desert Rock Art Areas & Sites

179_7924aPage Objectives

The idea of this page is to give visitors an idea of the sort of rock art that can be seen and described.  It complements that Rock Art Gallery which, unfortunately, is currently hosted at another site:
www.rockart.cd2.com

The following overviews are taken from a limited number of resources, which should be consulted for more detailed and extensive information about these and other areas:

  • Francis Lankester’s Desert Boats website
  • Desert Rock Art Topographic Survey (Morrow and Morrow 2002)
  • The Eastern Desert Survey (Rohls 2000)

The sites are listed by wadi:

  • Wadi Barramiya
  • Wadi Abu Wasil
  • Wadi Mineh
  • Wadi Hammamat
  • Wadi Atwani
  • Wadi Umm Salam
  • Wadi ‘Isa
  • Wadi Qash
  • Wadi Nakheil

 


Wadi Barramiya

Overview

The Wadi Barramiya is an eastern extension of the Wadi Abbad.  The Wadi Abbad extends from Edfu in the west, to El Kanais, where it divides into Wadi el Miya, heading roughly north-west and Wadi Barramiya, heading west from Kanais. 

Fuchs (1989) observes that a “more or less continuous series of sites stretches over many kilometres” (p.128), only showing serious discontinuities where tributaries and the wadi intersect.   Many thousand engravings are contained within the wadi at over 50 main sites, all located at the rocky margins of Wadi Barramiya, “where by lateral erosion near-vertical rock faces with heights up to 20m have been cut into the Nubian Sandstone, with boulder heaps and screes at the base” (p.128).  Both the bedrock itself and the fallen boulders have provided surfaces for petroglyphs.

The wadi has been surveyed by a number of different project teams – that of Gerald Fuchs in 1985, 1989 and 1991, the Theban Desert Road Project, the EDS and RATS.  All teams recorded new sites. 

The Wadi Barramiya sites have proved to be particularly vulnerable to vandalism, probably due to their location near to a busy modern road.

Fuchs (1991, p.68) says that the rock art is remarkable both in terms of the number of sites and the quality of the images depicted.  The rock carvings include numerous boat images, some of them of considerable size (upto 205cm in length).  Many of the boats show crews either on board or towing the vessels, some with animals on board or in the vicinity.  Some of the animals appear to be herded and led, whilst others are clearly wild species.  Human figures are shown in a variety of forms.  Vessels are of a number of different types.

The combination of superimposition, patination and styles indicates to Fuchs that the site was used over a very long period of time (1991, p.62), with images added to earlier scenes.  These more recent scenes are often quite easy to identify, either due to their subject matter (e.g. camels, which did not arrive until the Graeco-Roman period) or due to considerable differences in patination.

Fuchs (1991) says that patination on the Wadi Barramiya petroglyphs may vary considerably. All the examples in his survey were etched into Nubian sandstone.  He points to a number of different techniques for carrying out the engraving:  pecked (or punched) techniques are most common.  Other methods, including engraving, incising, scratching, whetting and polishing are restricted to less than 5% of all images (1991, p.61).

Sites

  • Site ET-A/WB-1 (ET=Egypt, WB= Wadi Barramiya) , is located on the southern side of the Wadi, with most of the engravings on a north-facing vertical rock face and a few on nearby boulders(Fuchs 1989).  Subjects include human figures (10-70cm high), animals (giraffes, horned animals, bovids, ibex, ungulates and indeterminate), a falcon and boats of different types.  Several examples of superimposition indicate that the sites were used over periods of time.  Patination varies from very dark to light.  Techniques include pecking, engraving and scratching.
  • Site ET-A/WB-2 (Fuchs 1989) and consists of two sites WB-2a and WB-2b, about 100m apart, both on north facing rocks located to the south of the wadi.  The first site, to the west has a 60cm pecked boat and a hieroglyphic inscription.  The site to the east has pecked figures 15-60cm wide and a very simple linear scene including animals and several boats, one of which has a figure standing on board. 
  • Site ET-A/WB-3 (Fuchs 1989), is located to the south of the wadi on an 80m stretch of north-facing surface and nearby boulders. Images include figures, animals and boats executed in a number of different styles, from very simplistic to subnaturalistic.  Patination varies from dark to light.
  • Site ET-A/WB-4 (Fuchs 1989; 1991) extends over 100m on the southeastern side of the wadi, with the central part facing north-west. Motifs also occur on boulders, sloping rock faces and in niches.  As usual, pecking is the most commonly used technique, but rubbing, engraving and scratching are also used.  Fuchs (1989) believes that most of the images were executed within a short period, and there are very few superimpositions.  Patination is very variable. It is particularly noted for its “great procession” scene, with some of the images being very detailed and the entire tableau being somewhat complex in structure.  This depicts different types of vessel accompanied by people and large numbers of animals.  One of the boats, a type V, has a raised loop-armed figure in it.  It is also renowned for having one of the largest Type VII  boat depictions in the Eastern Desert – measuring 1.8m in length, with a bovid inside it (perhaps dating to the Middle Kingdom on typological grounds).   It is located very near by to the sites mentioned below.
  • Site ET-A/WB-5, (Fuchs 1989) comprises two rock shelters on the south side of the wadi on walls, floors and ceilings.  Most of the motifs are within a size range of 10-60cm.  Most are pecked but some are engraved and one is rubbed smooth.  Patination varies.  Motifs include boats, figures, animals (ibex, giraffes, antelopes indeterminate animals, a hippo, a flacon, a snake), abstract signs and recent Arabic inscription.  A hunting scene is accompanied by dogs.
  • Site ET-A/WB-6 (Fuchs 1991) is located in a tributary of the main wadi on a south-facing rock and includes many images over a 60m area, with other single images in an area of about 400m.  The petroglyphs form single pictures and small scenes, with some superimposition.  Camels and boats are abundant in scenes, whilst cattle are not well represented.  Animals identified include oryx, ibex, an elephant, a possible lion and a rare crocodile.  A few abstract signs are also present.
  • Site ET-A/WB-7 (Fuchs 1991) is found on the northwestern side of the wadi facing south-east where big boulders are covered with hundreds of petroglyphs.  The recording of the images was incomplete due to differential lighting conditions and heavy weathering of some images.  A number of images stand out, including a sickle-shaped boat some 2.60m long, and simple linear depiction of a boat containing a bovid or ungulate with a disc-shaped item between its horns and a small falcon above.  Other bovids are featured, as are ibex, hunters with bows and dogs hunting ibex and antelopes, hippopotamus, giraffes, antelopes, an equid, birds, and sundry quadrupeds.  Of possibly more recent date are unidentified marks (possibly tribal wusum), camels, camel riders, and pecked cup marks.  Arabic inscriptions are also present.
  • Site ET-A/WB-8 (Fuchs 1991) is located on the northern side of the wadi facing south.  Numerous petroglyphs, some forming scenes, are found on boulders and in two rock shelters both of which contain traces of former camp sites, over an area of some 100m.  In one case a hieroglyphic inscription sits next to a quadruped, with a camel beneath in a lighter patina.  Other examples include many animals, including antelopes, ibex, a giraffe, an anthropomorphic figure with a two-feather head-dress and raised looped arms, boats, an elephant, warriors, camels and Arabic inscriptions.  ON one face the detail of the horns of one ungulate is so detailed that it has been ascribed to the species Mendes antelope (Addax nasomaculatus).
  • Other sites in the Wadi (Fuchs 1989; 1991) include similar images (e.g. ET-A/WB9, 10, and 11).  ET-A/WB11 is of particular interest.  It consists of a rocky outcrop with huge borders on its northern side, with petroglyphs from all periods.  It is adjacent to the remains of hammerstones, worked lithics and pottery, again indicating long periods of use.  Early petroglyphs are confined mainly to the east and north east.  More recent images are abundant over the entire site.  A number of different types of boat are present but one deserves particular mention.  It is a Cervicek Type III boat with an open-winged bird standing in it next to a boat with a raised loop-armed figure standing in it.  Faunal representations include ibex, cattle, ostrich, antelope, and a giraffe and a lion.

For more details and photographs online, see Francis Lankester’s Wadi Barramiya page.


Wadi Abu Wasil

  • Site 26 consists of a south-facing collection of rock art images, carved into a vertical rock face. The images include a boat 114cm long, dominated by two large figures, each with bows and twin plumes and accompanied by three smaller figures.  A smaller boat is depicted with 11 individuals on board together with a single large figure holding a throwing stick, again wearing the twin-plume.  There are a number of depictions of animals, including a large number of bovids, some ostriches and human figures as well as a curved apparently abstract shape on a separate boulder.

For more details and photographs online, see Francis Lankester’s Wadi Abu Wasil page


Wadi Mineh

  • In the northern part of the wadi Winkler’s Site 24b has been located and recorded.  It lies within a crevice which forms an artificial cave formed of fallen rocks.  As well as artistic depictions there are inscriptions written in Pharaonic hieroglyphs, Greek and Latin.  Some of the images are particularly impressive.  Different types of boat are again accompanied by human figures.  One of the boat shows a falcon perched on the prow.  One of the boats is surmounted by a figure with the arms raised and looped to meet over the head – a recurrent theme in Eastern Desert rock art.
  • Site 25a is located to the south of the Wadi, to the eastern edge of a small tributary.  Again, boats and figures are shown, as well as a crocodile, spiral motifs, and a radial abstract image.

For more details, with photographs, see Francis Lankester’s Wadi Mineh page.


Wadi Hammamat

Wadi Hammamat is probably the most famous of the rock art wadis, due to its accessibility and the sheer number and density of the rock art, particularly of the Pharaonic period, the Wadi Hammamat has been extensively visited. 

Extending from Qift (ancient Coptos) in the east (x miles to the north of Luxor), which was inhabited at least from the First Dynasty, the modern road today follows the Wadi to Quseir on the west on the Red Sea Coast, and this is the route that was followed at least from early Pharaonic times from east to west.  Due to the Qena bend in the Nile, this route is the shortest overland section between the Red Sea coast and the Nile Valley (200km). 

Settlement is recorded from the Wadi Hammamat from the Tasian and Badarian periods, with Naqada I and II remains also having been identified. 

Throughout the Pharaonic period, stone quarrying activities and expeditions which used the Wadi as a through-route were accompanied by hieroglyphic inscriptions commemorating these events.  The quarrying expeditions exploited two types of stone - the siltstone which was used to make Predynastic palettes, and the Bekhen stone which was used for a number of Pharaonic monuments.  The temple of Min at Qift (Coptos) produced evidence of shells, horn, ivory, incese, feathers and skins, all indicators of its association with areas much further afield.

A series of watch-towers, considered to be broadly Roman/Byzantine in date, line the wadi edges.  During the Roman period taxes were levied on goods between Qift and Quseir:

In the Byzantine period a gold mining settlement was established at Bir Um Fawakhir.

Many of the inscriptions are made in rock faces that flank the road.  As well as the very specific and beautiful hieroglyphic inscriptions, there are many examples of other types of rock art surface.

  • Winkler’s Site 5 shows a total of 15 boats, all different in form and character, one of which may be of more recent date.  Again, they are accompanied by figures, some with the raised looped arm posture.
  • Winkler’s Site 4 is the only painted petroglyph known from the Eastern Desert, with the pigment obtained from the immediate area.

Today, quarrying and mining mean that the sites are increasingly vulnerable to damage. 

For more details, with photographs, see Francis Lankester’s Wadi Hammamat page.

 

Wadi Atwani

  • To the north of the Wadi Hammamat, and extending roughly north from it, the Wadi Atwani is not a major modern route, but it is notable for the quality and volume of its rock art, with varying degrees of accessibility.
  • Winkler’s Site 13 includes a number of boats, animals including elephants, ibex, giraffes and ostriches, a number of figures and a set of figures standing in a line with linked hands.
  • Winkler’s Site 14 consists of two parts, one high up on a vertical cliff face and the other at the base of the cliff.  The former set include hands, crocodiles and net-like shapes.  Although hand prints are common in Western Desert rock art, the are rare in the Eastern Desert.  The ground level set consist of two large boats together with a figure with twin plumes.
  • Near to Site 14, other rock art inscriptions are found, including boats with figures and animals associated.
  • Winkler’s Site 17 has some similar depictions to those of Site 14, including hand prints and crocodiles, as well as animals and boats.  One of the apparently abstract images has been interpreted as a map of the nearby wadi system.

For more details, with photographs, see Francis Lankester’s Wadi Atwani page.

 

Wadi Umm Salam

46 sites have been found so far in the Wadi Umm Salam – the largest number for any one wadi. 

The images include boats, animals including ibex, human figures and an abstract image which may be a wadi map. 

  • The Wadi Map shown in Wilkinson’s Genensis of the Pharaohs (2002) (and at Frances Lankester’s website) looks fairly credible.
  • Site SAL-14 (which which was named by the Desert RATS team as the “Jacuzzi site”) is signposted by three natural stones and contains a deep rock basin which is used by nomadic bedu.  A very fine rock panel shows around 90 animals including ibex, giraffe, antelope, dog, ostrich, bovids, snakes, hippos, camels, horses and others.  A boat is also shown.

For more details, with photographs, see Francis Lankester’s Wadi Umm Salam page.

 

Wadi ‘Isa

To the south of Wadi Hammamat and north of Wadi Qash, the Wadi ‘Isa produced some previously unrecorded graffiti in the Quseir al-Qadim Project’s survey of winter of 1982-83 (Bell et al 1984).  Most of this dated to the Old Kingdom. 

Wadi ‘Isa is a north-south wadi, and the rock art is concentrated on both sides of a narrow granite-flanked section some 12km south of Wadi Hammamat road (Bell et al 1984, p.28). 

As well as a series of animals including ostriches, gazelles and bovines, a Horus falcon and 10 hieroglyphic inscriptions were found, of which nine are late Old Kingdom private inscriptions and one is a Middle Kingdom cartouche.  The authors imply that the animal inscriptions date to the Old Kingdom, but I have seen nothing to either support or contradict this interpretation.
 

Wadi Qash

Before the Wadi Hammamat was paved in modern times, the Wadi Qash, which lies to the south of it, was also a popular east-west route through the Eastern Desert.  At the western end of the wadi, near Laqeita, Winkler found a number of inscriptions from many periods, including a serekhs of Narmer. 

  • Winkler’s Site 18 is one of the key sites of the wadi.  For a long time, the whereabouts of Winkler's Site 18 was unknown. For several years it was believed to lie under a great sand dune. But Winkler had actually marked it wrongly on his map. 
    • As Francis Lankester points out, “like 24b in the Wadi Mineh, the rock art is on and in a shelter formed by large boulders”.
    • It was clearly a place visited over many eras, with pharaonic, Greek and Latin inscriptions. There are also three serekhs, two examples of what may be a type of Red Crown, and a Naqada III/Early Dynastic boat.
    • Inside the cave a surface to the left of the chalked elements is covered in a palimpsest of rock art. It is quite hard to make out individual features. Boat towing, an elephant, a figure with raised arms, a lassooed crocodile are many of the Eastern Desert motifs are represented here.

For more details, with photographs, see Francis Lankester’s Wadi Qash page.


Wadi Nakheil

  • At a point in Wadi Nakheil where the wadi narrows into a gorge, an L-shaped rock is covered in images made using a number of different techniques.  A number of different motifs are represented, including Greek inscriptions.  Animals shown include dog, oryx, gazelle and ostrich(soton rock Nakheil page).  Boats are shown , one of which has a representation of six figures below it, who are apparently walking in pairs, and two of whom are holding an object  The boat itself has an elevated stern and two steering oars with a large square structure in the middle, and a human figure sitting on the stern.  It is flanked by “two double vertical lines that could represent that banks of a river” (soton rock Nakheil page).
  • Other engravings, again showing mixed techniques, appear along outcrops and boulders to the south of the wadi.  Motifs include oryx, duck, ibex and camel, images of hands and feet, tribal wasm, and other Greek inscriptions.


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Copyright Andie Byrnes 2007