Research Report: The Wadi el-Jarf Site: A Harbor of Khufu on the Red Sea

Wadi el-Jarf, located south of Zarafana, has parallels to two other Red Sea sites, Ain Sukhna (Ayn Soukhna) and Mersa/Wadi Gawasis. Over the course of two campaigns (2011-2012), an elaborate complex of storage galleries (some for storage of boat parts), including a system for closure, was excavated, as were camps, facilities for pottery production, dry-stone structures, and an L-shaped jetty with associated stone anchors. Inscriptional evidence allows for interpretation of the organization of the site and a date (reign of Khufu). Seemingly the earliest Egyptian harbor installation on the Red Sea, it may have been superceded by Ain Sukhna.