Berenice Attractions

The remains of the once-important port of Berenice lie in the same latitude as Aswan in a spacious bay in the Red Sea, the Halig Umm el Ketef (the "unsafe bay"), which is enclosed on the north by the Ras Banas Peninsula and forms an excellent sheltered harbor.

History

The town was founded by Ptolemy II Philadelphus in 275 B.C. with the object of reviving trade in the Red Sea and was given the name of his mother. Situated at the end of the great caravan routes from Coptos (Qift) and Edfu in the Nile Valley to the Red Sea, it was for four or five centuries one of the most important ports on the Red Sea coast, carrying on trade with India, Arabia and the east coast of Africa.