Tell Ras Budran is an

Ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...

ian site on which an Ancient

fort A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...

was built. The site is located in the Sinai peninsula and lies 150 meters away from the shore of

Gulf of Suez The Gulf of Suez (; formerly , ', "Sea of Calm") is a gulf at the northern end of the Red Sea, to the west of the Sinai Peninsula. Situated to the east of the Sinai Peninsula is the smaller Gulf of Aqaba. The gulf was formed within a relative ...

. It is located not far from the most important as well as one of the oldest known mining areas for

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

and

turquoise Turquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is a hydrous phosphate of copper and aluminium, with the chemical formula . It is rare and valuable in finer grades and has been prized as a gemstone for millennia due to its hue. The robi ...

in the Sinai Peninsula. Less than 50 km away are the

Wadi Maghareh Wadi Maghareh (also spelled Maghara or Magharah, meaning "The Valley of Caves" in Egyptian Arabic) is an archaeological site located in the southwestern Sinai Peninsula, Egypt. It contains pharaonic monuments and turquoise mines dating from th ...

to the southeast and the temple complex of

Serabit el-Khadim Serabit el-Khadim (Arabic language, Arabic: سرابيط الخادم Arabic pronunciation: Help:IPA/Arabic, araːˈbiːtˤ alˈxaːdɪm also transliterated Serabit al-Khadim, Serabit el-Khadem) is a locality in the southwest Sinai Peninsula, ...

to the east.

History

The fort dates back to the

Fourth dynasty The Fourth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (notated Dynasty IV) is characterized as a "golden age" of the Old Kingdom of Egypt. Dynasty IV lasted from to c. 2498 BC. It was a time of peace and prosperity as well as one during which trade with othe ...

during the 26th Century B.C. It was contemporary with the

Wadi al-Jarf Wadi al-Jarf () is an area on the Red Sea coast of Egypt, south of Suez, that is the site of the oldest known artificial harbour in the world, developed about 4500 years ago. It is located at the mouth of the Wadi Araba, a major communication co ...

harbor which is on the other side of the

, thus some suggest that the fort was related to the harbor, since The harbor used to be the headquarters for some mining expeditions in Sinai during the construction of the

Great Pyramid The Great Pyramid of Giza is the largest Egyptian pyramid. It served as the tomb of pharaoh Khufu, who ruled during the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom. Built , over a period of about 26 years, the pyramid is the oldest of the Seven Wond ...

Layout

The fort is circular in shape. Its inner diameter is about 30 meters with a 5-meter-thick wall on average, making a total of 40 meters as an external diameter. The fort is among the earliest that have

battlements A battlement, in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at intervals t ...

and

bastions A bastion is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fire from the ...

References

{{coord missing, Egypt Fourth Dynasty of Egypt Forts in Egypt