List of World Heritage Sites in Egypt
This is a list of World Heritage Sites in Egypt with properties of cultural and natural heritage in Egypt as inscribed in UNESCO's World Heritage List or as on the country's tentative list. As of 2021, seven sites in Egypt are included.[1] All of the sites are in the Cultural Criteria except for the Whale Valley which is listed in the Natural Criteria. In addition to its inscribed sites, Egypt also lists thirty-four properties on its tentative list.[1]
World Heritage Sites[]
Site | Image | Location | Criteria | Area ha (acre) |
Year | Description |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Abu Mena† | Alexandria Governorate, Egypt 30°51′00″N 29°40′00″E / 30.85000°N 29.66667°E |
Cultural: (iv) |
183 (450) | 1979 | The ruins of the former Christian holy city contain a church, a baptistery, basilicas, public buildings, streets, monasteries, houses, and workshops, and were built over the tomb of Menas of Alexandria.[2] | |
Ancient Thebes with its Necropolis | Luxor Governorate, Egypt 25°44′00″N 32°36′00″E / 25.73333°N 32.60000°E |
Cultural: (i)(iii)(vi) |
7,390 (18,300) | 1979 | The former capital of Egypt and the city of Amun, Thebes contains temples and palaces at Karnak and Luxor, as well as the necropolises at the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens, bearing witness to the height of the Egyptian civilization.[3] | |
Historic Cairo | Cairo Governorate, Egypt 30°03′00″N 31°15′40″E / 30.05000°N 31.26111°E |
Cultural: (i)(v)(vi) |
524 (1,290) | 1979 | One of the world's oldest Islamic cities and in the middle of urban Cairo, the site dates from the 10th century and reached its golden age in the 14th century. It contains mosques, madrasah, hammams and fountains.[4] | |
Memphis and its Necropolis – the Pyramid Fields from Giza to Dahshur | Giza Governorate, Egypt 30°03′00″N 31°15′40″E / 30.05000°N 31.26111°E |
Cultural: (i)(v)(vi) |
16,358.52 (40,422.8) | 1979 | The capital of the Old Kingdom of Egypt has some extraordinary funerary monuments, including rock tombs, ornate mastabas, temples and pyramids. In ancient times, the site was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World.[5] | |
Nubian Monuments from Abu Simbel to Philae | Aswan Governorate, Egypt 22°20′11″N 31°37′34″E / 22.33639°N 31.62611°E |
Cultural: (i)(iii)(vi) |
374 (920) | 1979 | Located along the Nile, the site contains monuments such as the Temple of Ramesses II at Abu Simbel and the Sanctuary of Isis at Philae, saved from being submerged by Lake Nasser as a result of the construction of the Aswan Dam.[6] | |
Saint Catherine Area | South Sinai Governorate, Egypt 28°33′22″N 33°58′32″E / 28.55611°N 33.97556°E |
Cultural: (i)(iii)(iv)(vi) |
60,100 (149,000) | 2002 | The orthodox monastery of Saint Catherine is among the oldest Christian monasteries still in function. Dating from the 6th century, it is positioned near Mount Horeb where, according to the Old Testament, Moses received the Tablets of the Law. The region is sacred for Christians, Muslims and Jews.[7] | |
Wadi Al-Hitan (Whale Valley) | Faiyum Governorate, Egypt 29°20′00″N 30°11′00″E / 29.33333°N 30.18333°E |
Natural: (viii) |
20,015 (49,460) | 2005 | Located in western Egypt, Wadi Al-Hitan contains fossil remains of the now extinct Archaeoceti, mapping the evolution of the whales from a land-based to an aquatic mammal.[8] |
Tentative list[]
In addition to sites inscribed on the World Heritage List, member states can maintain a list of tentative sites that they may consider for nomination. Nominations for the World Heritage List are only accepted if the site was previously listed on the tentative list.[9] As of 2016, Egypt lists thirty-three properties on its tentative list:[1]
Name | Date |
---|---|
Siwa archaeological area | 1994 |
Temple of Serabit Khadem | 1994 |
North Sinai Archaeological Sites Zone | 1994 |
Temple of Hator built by Ramses III | 1994 |
Dahshour archaeological area | 1994 |
El Fayoum : Kom Aushim (Karanis), Dimai (Soknopaiou Nesos), Qasr Qarun (Dionysias), Batn I hrit (Theadelphia), Byahma-Medinet el Fayoum (Crocodilopolis or Arsinoe), Abgig-Hawara, Seila-Medinet Madi (Narmouthis), tell Umm el-Breigat (Tebtunis) | 1994 |
El-Gendi Fortress | 1994 |
Rutho Monastery | 1994 |
Wadi Feiran | 1994 |
Pharaoh's Island | 1994 |
Dahab | 1994 |
Minia | 1994 |
Newibah castle | 1994 |
Ras Mohammed | 2002 |
Gebel Qatrani Area, Lake Qaroun Nature Reserve | 2003 |
Southern and Smaller Oases, the Western Desert | 2003 |
Bird Migration Routes | 2003 |
Desert Wadis | 2003 |
Mountain Chains | 2003 |
Great Desert Landscapes | 2003 |
Alexandria, ancient remains and the new library | 2003 |
Abydos, city of pilgrimage of the Pharaohs | 2003 |
Pharaonic temples in Upper Egypt from the Ptolemaic and Roman periods | 2003 |
Necropolises of Middle Egypt, from the Middle Empire to the Roman period | 2003 |
Raoudha nilometre in Cairo | 2003 |
The monasteries of the Arab Desert and Wadi Natrun | 2003 |
Two citadels in Sinai from the Saladin period (Al-Gundi and Pharaoh's island) | 2003 |
The An-Nakhl fortress, a stage on the pilgrimage route to Mecca | 2003 |
Oasis of Fayoum, hydraulic remains and ancient cultural landscapes | 2003 |
Historic quarters and monuments of Rosetta/Rachid | 2003 |
Dababiya | 2008 |
Helwan Observatory | 2010 |
Kharga Oasis and the Small Southern Oases | 2015 |
See also[]
- Tourism in Egypt
- List of World Heritage Sites in Africa
- List of World Heritage Sites in the Arab states
References[]
- ^ a b c "Egypt". UNESCO. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
- ^ "Abu Mena". UNESCO. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
- ^ "Ancient Thebes with its Necropolis". UNESCO. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
- ^ "Historic Cairo". UNESCO. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
- ^ "Memphis and its Necropolis – the Pyramid Fields from Giza to Dahshur". UNESCO. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
- ^ "Nubian Monuments from Abu Simbel to Philae". UNESCO. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
- ^ "Saint Catherine Area". UNESCO. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
- ^ "Wadi Al-Hitan (Whale Valley)". UNESCO. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
- ^ "Tentative Lists". UNESCO. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
- World Heritage Sites in Egypt
- Lists of World Heritage Sites
- Lists of tourist attractions in Egypt