Wadi Hammamat, the ancient bed of a dried-up, the right tributary of the Nile - the shortest route linking the area of ​​Thebes, to the Red Sea. In the heyday of ancient Egypt through this valley passed caravans of gold, copper, tin and stone mined in the vicinity of Wadi Hammamat.

This place is the largest in all of Egypt the number of rock inscriptions and drawings. They were made members of the expedition stops in the valley on the way to the Red Sea, the workers produced in the Wadi Hammamat dark green stone breccia or gold in a nearby Wadi Favahir. Just a valley about 2,300 inscriptions and drawings. Almost all the inscriptions found on the southern slope of Wadi Hammamat.

One of the earliest inscriptions in the Wadi Hammamat tells about the expedition, organized by Pharaoh Penalty 1 (2321-2287 BC.), To obtain valuable stone to decorate his pyramid at Saqqara. The inscription lists the names of the architect, the foreman, sculptors, clerks, treasurers and captains of vessels participating in the expedition.