Wadi Umm Wikala
 
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The Wadi Umm Wikala is located in the eastern Egyptian desert and was the most important quarry for gabbro , especially in Roman times (1st to early 3rd century AD) . It is probably the ancient Ophiates . The Latin name of gabbro was Ophites .
The quarries
The actual quarries, 13 of which could be identified, are located to the west and east of the wadi and were up to 100 m above it. Test holes were also observed several times in which the weathered uppermost stone layer of the desert had been removed, but the gabbro underneath was not suitable for mining for various reasons. The quarries are each characterized by a slide on which the broken stones were transported towards the wadi. In addition to the quarries, there were often platforms on which the stones that had just been broken were apparently worked on. Partly there were still half-finished stone components.
history
As the ceramics found above all show, the quarries were in operation from the first to the early third century. An inscription copied here, but now lost, dates back to 10/11 AD under Emperor Augustus and names the cult of Pan and the establishment of a sanctuary for him and the place name Ophiates. Another inscription dated under Tiberius , a third inscription dates from the years 150–153 AD and proves that the Cohors III Ituraeorum was present here. It has been calculated that around 100 people worked on site.
The quarry workers' settlement
The quarry workers' settlement was located directly on the wadi, on its west and east sides. Center, west of the wadi, was a rectangular stone building with 29 rooms along a central aisle. It can be assumed that the leading functionaries, but also the quarry administration, were housed here. Part of the building was a cistern made of burnt mud bricks . Loosely around this central building there were one-room houses in which the common workers were probably housed. On the other side of the wadi there was a small shrine that consisted of two rooms and was probably dedicated to the Pan / Min .
There was a fortified well, a hydreuma, about 2 km to the south . The facility is about 56 × 44 m in size and consisted of a fountain in the middle with a surrounding wall and a series of rooms that were built against the wall. Next to the fountain were two multi-room buildings.
In the vicinity of the facilities, three small cemeteries with 15, 7 or one burial could be observed.
literature
- Steven E. Sidebotham, Hans Barnard, James A. Harrel, Roberta S. Tomber: The Roman Quarry and Installations in Wadi Umm Wikala and Wadi Semna . In: Journal of Egyptian Archeology , Vol. 87 (2001), pp. 135-170, ISSN 0307-5133
Web links
Coordinates: 26 ° 26 ′ 0 ″ N , 33 ° 39 ′ 55 ″ E