Stations and Towers on the Quseir–Nile Road

Abstract

During Roman times the Leukos Limen–Nile road served as a principal overland thoroughfare across the Eastern Desert of Egypt. Merchants plied this route with commodities imported from and exported to the ‘East’. Products of the mines and quarries of the region also passed along this road.

Eight fortified stations (hydreumata), other population centres and about 65 towers delineate the route. Many of the stations contain wells or cisterns as potable water supplies were a primary requirement. The stations, constructed for security reasons, cover areas of c. 1000–3000 m² and are built almost exclusively of stacked stones.

The towers are also built of stacked stones. However, comparison of architectural details shows that they differ from other towers in the Eastern Desert. Examination of the towers' locations, construction, size, shape and intervisibility indicates that they were signal platforms.