Stations on the Darb Al-Arba'in
It spelled lucrative trade for some and despair for others. Jenny Jobbins traces the steps of those who trod the Darb Al-Arba'in
AL-GWEITA: The Persians built a temple to the Theban triad on high ground at Al- Gweita, where it was surrounded by a village and farms. The mud-brick Roman fortifications have been much rebuilt, and in the Islamic period a village was established within the temple walls, causing soot damage to wall paintings. In spite of this, columns and capitals have been well-preserved under a covering of sand. There are fine reliefs, a stone staircase, and the remains of a Christian church.
QASR MUSTAFA KASHIF: Built by the Romans on a rocky hill north of Qasr Kharga, behind the Late-Roman Christian cemetery of Bagawat, Qasr Mustafa Kashif was one of the most important fortresses on the whole of the Darb Al-Arba'in. The present structure was constructed by the Ottoman tax collector after which the tower is named, and overlays a Roman fortress. The original fortress, which makes up the lower floors, is now mostly buried although the vaulted archways are visible through the sand and debris. The fortress commands a panoramic view of the surrounding terrain and nearby crossroads, from whereby one branch of the Dar Al-Arba'in led to Umm Dabadib, another to Labekeh and on to the Nile Valley, and a third, the Darb Al- Teir, over the Gabal Al-Teir to the east. In the early Christian period a monastery was built at the foot of the hill, which still has intact monks' cells. On account of its design, its basilica is suggested by some experts to be the oldest Christian church found so far in Egypt.
Nearby are two towers, one ruined, which were in turn Roman watchtowers, Mamluke windmill-granaries and Turkish forts.
