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.
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.
Bender el-Kebir, Egypt
(Near Berenice)
Some 1.25mi/2km north of Berenice are the harbor, now of no importance, and the little fishing village of Bender el-Kebir. Linked with the project for the construction of a new road between Aswan and the Red Sea is a plan to build a modern port to the south of Ras Banas for the freight and pilgrim traffic to and from Jedda in Saudi Arabia.
Emerald Mines
The once famous emerald mines in the Wadi Sakeit (75mi/120km northwest) and on Gebel Zubara (95mi/150km northwest; 4,465ft/1,361m), the ancient Mons Smaragdus, were worked by the Arabs until 1370. In the 19th C. Mohammed (Mehmet) Ali attempted unsuccessfully to reopen the mines.
Temple
In the middle of the ancient site, now almost entirely covered by wind blown sand, are the remains, discovered in 1873, of a temple. Facing east northeast, it is preceded by a forecourt measuring 29ft/8.75m across and 12ft/3.66m from front to rear. The temple itself, 31ft/9-50m long, had two rows of chambers set behind one another. On the outer wall, to the left, is the figure of a Roman Emperor in the presence of a goddess, described in the accompanying inscription as the goddess of the "Green Mountain".
Topazos
Offshore lies the small island of Topazos, which has given its name to topaz and topazolite, a yellowish green variant of and radite garnet. Both these minerals were found in abundance here, as was chrysolite, a type of olivine which was prized from ancient times as a gemstone.
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