This survey is part of a project exploring the ancient landscape in the eastern hinterland of the Coptic and Theban nomes in Upper Egypt, aiming to understand the coexistence of diverse cultural groups in the vicinity of the Nile Valley. In September 2023, the first survey campaign was launched in the Gebel el Nezzi area, east of Luxor, through collaboration between the ‘Coptite and Theban Eastern Desert Hinterlands’ Landscape Archaeological Survey Project and ‘Mobility between the Nile Valley and the Eastern Desert’. Previously unexplored, the Gebel el Nezzi area provides new data about routes to the quarries and mines, countering the notion that it was an impassable barrier. The survey concentrated on Wadi Medamud, linking the Nile Valley to the east and south, probably containing material culture from both Nile Valley inhabitants and nomadic groups, as suggested by nearby historic sites like the Middle Kingdom Temple of Montu and Khozam’s predynastic settlement.
Abdollah et al. (2026) studied this question.