81 AMETHYST MINING IN THE EASTERN DESERT: A PRELIMINARY SURVEY AT WADI EL-HUDI By IAN SHAW and ROBERT JAMESON ‘The most important of the archaeological remains at Wadi el-Hludi are a series of amethyst mines of the pharaonic period. Inscriptions associated with the site were published by Ahmed Fakhry in 1952, but the ‘Middle Kingdom seitlement and fortress adjacont to the mines were only briefly described. A preliminary survey of the sito, undertaken in November 1992, has provided suflicient new data to allow the archaco~ logical significance of the Wadi el-Hludi mining sestiements to begin to be assessed. Wan1 el-Hudi, an extensive and geologically diverse region covering an area of some 300 sq. km in the Eastern Desert, lies approximately 35 km south-east of Aswan (fig. 1). in November 1992 the Cambridge University Egyptian Quarries Survey undertook a preliminary season of survey in the area, concentrating primarily on the remains dating to the Middle Kingdom. The initial aim of this survey was to cnable comparisons to be made between the miners’ settlements at Wadi el-Hudi and those of the alabaster quarry- workers at Hatnub.' Since the results of the Wadi el-Hudi survey are of interest in their own right, the present account is a straightforward survey report—detailed contrasts and comparisons with other pharaonic quarrying and mining settlements will form part of final report on the Hatnub survey? We would like to thank the officials of the Egyp Antiquities Organization for their advice and assistance during the season at Wadi el- ‘Hudi; we are particularly grateful to Mr Muttawa Balboush, as well as to the Director and Chief Inspector at Aswan and our Inspector Mr Ousamr Abd el-Latif. We would also like to thank the Wainwright Fund and the Seven Pillars of Wisdom Trust for their generous financial support of the Wadi el-Hudi survey, and Balfour Beatty Ltd, for their much- appreciated gift of an EDM total station. ‘The Wadi el-Hudi region is situated in the southern section of the Arabo-Nubian massif, which stretches from north-eastern Sudan up through the Eastern Desert to the Gulf of Suez. The Arabo-Nubian massif consists of a se of deformed and meta- morphosed sediments with numerous igneous intrusions. Like many other parts of the Eastern Desert, the Wadi el-Hudi region includes deposits of auriferaus quartz, The region has been exploited for its minerals (including mica, barytes, gold and amethyst)" since at least the early second millennium ac, and modern miners and quarriers are still extracting haematite and building stone from the immediate area. “Shave ‘A survey at Hatoub\ in B.1. Kemp, Amara Reports, (London, 1986), 189212: i, “The 1986 suryey of Hatnab in B.J. Kemp, Amara Report tv (London. 1987), 160-7. SL Shaw, The Hainub Survey (BES Occasional Publication, forthcoming). For helpful comments on the present article Before i went pts, we should lke to thank Professor Harry Siith “Amethyst, known tothe ancient Egyptians a0 hom, ie translucent form of quar (silicon dioxide) in hich the characterise purple solour is produced by the presence of a mangenese compound.82 IAN SHAW and ROBERT JAMESON JEAI9 WADI EL-HU01 1992 Fic. 1. Map of the Aswan region, showing the location of Wadi el-Hudi, Dabod and Kho Dehmit ‘The ancient remains at Wadi el-Hudi were rediscovered by the geologist Labib Nassim in 1923,’ but the first proper archaeological examination of the site did not take place until 1939, when it was visited by G. W. Murray and Ibrahim Abdel ‘Al of the Egyptian Topographicai Survey. At this time three stelae (WH143-5) were transferred from the Middle Kingdom area of Wadi el-Hudi (Fakhry’s sites 5 and 6) to the Cairo Museum, and numerous other inscriptions were transported to the Aswan Museum. Between 1939 and 1944 as many as twenty inscribed objects were stolen from the unguarded site (possibly including two small obelisks and an offering table), according to Ahmed Fakhry, who undertook three brief seasons of archaeological and epigraphic survey at Wadi el-Hudi in 1944, 1945 and 1949. Fakhry recorded the majority of the inscriptions and graffiti and provided the first general description of the pharaonic and Graeco-Roman remains,’ numbering the individual ancient ‘sites’ from 1 to 14 (see fig. 2). “L, Nassim, ‘Minerals of economical interest in the deserts of Egypy’, Congr international de gégraphie le Ceire, Aprit 1925, m (1926), 167; A. Lavcas, rev. J. Ro Harris, Ancient Egyptian Materials and Indusrics', ondon, 1962), 389. FALE. Rowe, “Three new stelze from the south-eastern desert’, ASAE 39 (1939). 187-91 A Fakhry, ‘A report ofthe inspectorate of Upper Egypt’, ASAE 46 (1949). 513: id, The Inscriptions ofthe Amethyst Quarries at Wadi Bl Hud (Cairo, 1952).1993 AMETHYST MINING AT WADI EL-HUDI 83 WADYEL-FDT 1682 Fic..2. Schematic map of the Wadi el-Hudi region, showing the principal sites (after Fakbry, op. ct, fig. 2) ‘The ancient road is as marked by Fakhry, ahough only a short section could stil be identified in 1992, Since then there has been no further archaeological work at Wadi el-Hudi, apart from three days of epigraphic study undertaken by Ashraf Sadek in 1975” In the 1940s the region of ancient mining activity at Wadi el-Hudi is said to have been easily accessible by car from Aswan via the old tarmac road to Abrak, which passes very close to the site of an ancient well and associated structures (Fakhry’s site 8). Nowadays special permission is required to visit the wadi, since it is situated in a military area. Only a few sections of the old Abrak road remain intact, but the area can still be reached by car via the first 15 km of the modern tarmac road to Wadi Allaqi, followed by a distance of some 18 km along a desert track regularly used by modern quarrying companies. General description of Wadi el-Hudi ‘The Wadi el-Hudi area is dominated by a large hill, the Gebel el-Hudi, which is located about halfway along the broad flat floor of the main wadi. The Wadi el-Hudi stretches for about 12 km from north-west to south-east, with a complex network of ridges and smaller wadis spreading out across the surrounding area to the west and the east. ‘The 2A.L Sadek, The Amethyst Mining Inscriptions of Wadi e-Hudi,1-u (Warminster, 1980-5). To visit Wadi el-Hudi it is necessary to head southwards through the suburb of Shell, evem distance of about 6 km from the corniche—turning south-east along a road signposted to Wadh Allagi. This road reaches a military installation at a distance of about 15 km from the Aswan corniche. At this point, having passed througi a military road-block, turn lef off the road onto a stony desert track heading east- wards. The ancient wel (ste 8) is reached om the leftchand side of the track after a distance of about 1 ‘To reach the Middle Kingdom mining area (sites 5~7 and g) i is necessary to continue for about 1.5 km ‘the anciem well and then turn left off the track; the Middle Kingdom sites-—not visible from the main track— are about 4.5 kim to the north-east