El-Gabal el-Ahmar
mountain
El-Gabal el-Ahmar (Arabic: الجبل الأحمر) is a quarry located today within the boundaries of modern-day Cairo, near Nasr City. The name means "The Red Hill". The site was in full production in the times of Akhenaton, Amenhophis III, Tutankhamon and Ramses III. The quarry was directed by Huy, also known as "Chief of the King's Works" and also by Hori.
The famous Colossi of Memnon are made from blocks of quartzite sandstone suspected to be quarried at El-Gabal el-Ahmar.
Typical minerals known from this site:
Celestine, Quartzite or red sandstone.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “El-Gabal el-Ahmar” as mountain. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as mountain. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1496818. VIAF identifies the subject as 297383757. Authority coordinates are 30.083, 31.050. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “El-Gabal el-Ahmar”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow El-Gabal el-Ahmar primary sources, El-Gabal el-Ahmar archive and El-Gabal research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “El-Gabal el-Ahmar”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “El-Gabal el-Ahmar” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.