Ancient site · Red Sea
Mons Claudianus
A Roman imperial quarry in the Eastern Desert mountains, where granodiorite was cut for the empire and broken columns still lie.
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The story
Mons Claudianus was a Roman quarry in Egypt's Eastern Desert, comprising a garrison, a quarrying site, and quarters for civilians and workers. Granodiorite was cut here for use as building material across the Roman Empire. It lies in the Eastern Desert mountains about midway between the Red Sea and Qena, in today's Red Sea Governorate. Visitors can see fragments of granite and artefacts such as a broken column. A number of texts written on pottery shards have also been found at the site. Fieldwork shows the site was worked from roughly the mid-1st to the early 3rd century AD.
Good to know
- The site comprised a garrison, quarries, and civilian and workers' quarters.
- Texts written on broken pottery were found there.