The Roman Quarry and Installations in Wadi Umm Wikala and Wadi Semna

Abstract

A detailed surface survey of the gabbro quarry and related facilities in Wadis Umm Wikala and Semna indicates activity in the first to second or early third centuries AD. Surface pottery found associated with quarry faces, loading ramps, related huts, skopeloi, a putative temple, a main adminstrative building and nearby hydreuma attest to intensive operations here contemporary with periods of early exploitation of the larger quarries of Mons Claudianus and Mons Porphyrites farther north in the Eastern Desert. A lengthy Greek inscription of the early first century AD recovered here over a century ago records that the ancient name of the site was Ophites.

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