Ahmed Kamel – Egypt Daily News
A windswept sandstone plateau in South Sinai has emerged as one of Egypt’s most compelling new archaeological discoveries, revealing nearly 10,000 years of human presence etched and painted across its rocky face. Egyptian archaeologists have identified the Umm Arak Plateau, a previously unknown site that preserves an extraordinary record of prehistoric art, material culture and long-term occupation in a region long regarded as a bridge between continents and civilisations.
The discovery was made by an Egyptian mission from the Supreme Council of Antiquities during survey and documentation work in the Sinai Peninsula. Situated roughly five kilometres north-east of the ancient copper and turquoise mining zones that once supplied pharaonic Egypt, the plateau occupies a commanding position overlooking a vast expanse that stretches toward the Tih Plateau. Its location underscores Sinai’s enduring strategic value as a crossroads linking Africa and Asia, the Nile Valley and the Levant.
Archaeologists describe the site as a major addition to Egypt’s archaeological record. Beyond its scenic isolation, Umm Arak offers a rare, layered archive of human expression spanning from the late Stone Age to the Islamic era. Officials note that such continuity of use, preserved in a single location, provides valuable insight into how landscapes were inhabited, interpreted and memorialised over millennia.
At the heart of the discovery is a naturally formed sandstone rock shelter extending more than 100 metres along the eastern side of the plateau. Between two and three metres deep, the shelter’s ceiling slopes gradually downward from about 1.5 metres to just half a metre, creating a protected space that would have offered refuge from desert winds and intense sun. Within this elongated alcove, ancient artists left a vivid visual record of their world.
Painted in red pigment, numerous prehistoric figures date to between approximately 10,000 and 5,500 BC, a period when climatic conditions in the eastern Sahara and Sinai were markedly different from today’s arid environment. During the early Holocene, increased rainfall supported grasslands, wildlife and human communities whose livelihoods depended on hunting and seasonal mobility. The Umm Arak paintings depict a range of animals, reflecting both the ecological diversity of the time and the economic realities of subsistence life.
Among the most striking engravings is a dynamic hunting scene: a figure armed with a bow pursues an ibex, accompanied by dogs. The image conveys not only the importance of hunting but also the sophistication of early human-animal relationships, including the use of trained canines. Such scenes echo broader patterns seen in prehistoric rock art across North Africa and the Near East, where representations of game animals and hunters served as markers of identity, survival and possibly ritual practice.
In addition to the red-painted figures, archaeologists have recorded grey-toned drawings not previously documented in Sinai, as well as engravings executed through varied techniques. These layers suggest that the site was revisited repeatedly, with successive communities adding their own marks to an evolving visual landscape. Rock art panels thus became cumulative records of memory and meaning, rather than isolated artistic acts.
Material remains found at the site further attest to its long-term occupation. Flint tools discovered within and around the shelter point to prehistoric activity, likely associated with hunting and processing animal resources. Pottery fragments recovered during preliminary surveys indicate that Umm Arak did not lose its relevance after the prehistoric era. Some ceramics appear to date to Egypt’s Middle Kingdom, while others belong to the Roman period, particularly the third century AD. This chronological breadth suggests that the plateau continued to serve as a waypoint or seasonal station long after the age of the first painters.
The broader context of South Sinai adds another layer of significance. The peninsula’s mineral wealth, especially copper and turquoise, drew expeditions from the Nile Valley as early as the Old Kingdom. Mining installations, inscriptions and shrines found elsewhere in Sinai testify to organised state activity and religious devotion in what might otherwise appear a remote desert landscape. Umm Arak’s proximity to ancient mining areas raises the possibility that later visitors to the plateau included miners, traders or officials who left behind ceramic traces of their presence.
Yet it is the prehistoric imagery that may ultimately prove most transformative for scholars. Rock art in Sinai has historically received less attention than the monumental heritage of the Nile Valley. Sites such as those in the Eastern Desert and Western Desert oases have demonstrated the value of studying peripheral regions to understand ancient Egypt’s environmental and cultural frontiers. Umm Arak now joins this growing corpus, offering new data on how early communities adapted to shifting climates and inscribed their experiences into stone.
Researchers have begun detailed scientific analysis of the paintings and engravings, including pigment study, stylistic comparison and high-resolution documentation. Conservation planning is also underway to ensure sustainable protection of the plateau. Rock art sites are inherently vulnerable to erosion, vandalism and unregulated tourism. Authorities aim to balance public awareness with preservation, recognising that exposure can both enhance appreciation and accelerate deterioration.
The discovery arrives at a time when Egypt continues to expand its archaeological horizons beyond the iconic pyramids and temples that dominate global imagination. While the monumental architecture of the pharaohs remains central to the country’s heritage, sites like Umm Arak remind us that Egypt’s human story began long before dynasties and endured long after them. In the quiet shelter of a sandstone overhang, ancient hands recorded hunts, animals and perhaps beliefs now lost to time.
As scholars decipher the images and artefacts of Umm Arak, they are piecing together a narrative not of a single civilisation, but of countless generations who paused on this plateau to live, to observe and to create. Their marks, preserved against the odds in the desert rock, speak across ten millennia, a testament to the enduring human impulse to leave a trace of one’s presence in the world.
