Ancient Roman Fort Near El Gouna Researched
Since I was a kid I have loved history. When visiting historical sites, I imagined how it must have been in the old days, the fact that I stood where knights, soldiers, even kings once lived fascinated me. I wondered how day to day life was for the ordinary folk; the ones that didn't make the history books by name.
So imagine my excitement when I stumbled upon an ancient site right here in El Gouna!
The Fortress of Abu Sha'ar.
Once one of the three most important coastal ports of the Red Sea, along Qusier (Myos Hermos) and Berenike. The Abu Sha'ar Fort was erected in the late Roman era, possibly rebuilt, around 309-311 AD and initially used for military purposes to monitor the trade routes through the surrounding desert and coastal movements, but had possibly also an economic purpose. The unit was most likely a dromedary unit that would patrol the area.
I imagine the hustle and bustle of slaves and soldiers from different corners of the empire, tents and flags around the fortified walls. Soldiers coming back from patrols, tending to their animals, traders displaying their goods and telling stories of lands they visited. On the coast we d probably find men fishing and collecting shells to eat. Water came from Bir Abu Sha'ar, about 6km west of the fort.
At the height of its activity, the fort could have housed between 200 and 300 soldiers. But with the decline of the empire, the soldiers abandoned the fort and it was left uninhabited for a while.
With the rise of early Christianity, the fort was used as a monastery. The wells at the foot of the hills to the west provided drinking water and irrigation water for crops, so the monks must have been self sufficient. Pilgrims on the way to the monestaries of St Paul and St Anthony to the north and Saint Catherine in Sinai found refuge here along their way. There is also reason to believe that the site itself was a pilgrimage. In this period, the site was also known as Deir Um Deheis, named after the Wadi between Gebel Dukhan and the monastery
When we follow Wadi Um el Deheis to the west we end up at Gebel Dukhan, Dukhan itself is interesting from a geological point of view because of its volcanic history. But also here the Roman history is fascinating.
Gebel Dukhan is the only place known to find Imperial Porphyry, a deep purple porphyry stone that was believed to have almost magical powers by the romans. The room in the Imperial palace in Constantinople, where the empress would give birth, was entirely lined with Imperial Porphyry from a mountain 35km west of El Gouna.
Mons Porphyrites is a 9 square kilometer parcel of land that consists 5 dispersed villages for workers, several quarries, a bath and cemetery. The central complex has temples to Serapis and Isis Megiste.
From Mons Porphyritus the road would continue to Kainopolis (Qena) and from there the rock would be transported over the Nile. Parts of the roman caravan route between modern day El Gouna and Qena are still paved and marked.
There has been extensive, but little known, research by Delaware University and the University of Leiden in the 80s and 90s. Some of the reports can be found online.
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very good Sytze.....
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