Qasr Dush (Kysis)
A Roman fortress and temple of Isis and Serapis at the southern tip of the Kharga Oasis, where a gold treasure was found.
A fortress on the Forty Days Road
Qasr Dush, ancient Kysis, stands on a hill at the southern end of the Kharga Oasis, near the village of Dush, about 100 kilometres south of the town of Kharga. In Roman times, it guarded the southern approaches to the oasis and the Darb al-Arba'in, the "Forty Days Road", a great caravan route that linked Egypt with Darfur in Sudan. Its massive mud-brick fortress, with walls rising high above the desert plain, is one of the most impressive Roman military buildings in Egypt's Western Desert.
The temple of Isis and Serapis
Within the fortified complex stands a sandstone temple dedicated to Isis and Serapis, built and decorated in the late first and early second centuries AD under the emperors Domitian, Trajan and Hadrian, whose inscriptions record the dedication. Around the fortress lie the remains of the ancient town, its houses, a church and cemeteries.
The Dush treasure
The site has been excavated since the 1970s by the French Institute of Oriental Archaeology (IFAO). In 1989, archaeologists discovered within the temple area a cache of gold objects — including a gold crown and jewellery decorated with images of Serapis — known as the Dush treasure, now displayed in Egyptian museums. The excavations have also revealed an ingenious system of qanats, underground water channels, used to irrigate the fields of the ancient town.
Exhibo editorial
At the far southern end of the Kharga Oasis, where the road runs out and the desert stretches all the way to Sudan, a mud-brick fortress rises on its hill like a castle at the edge of the world. This is where the Roman empire watched the caravans coming up the Forty Days Road.
Climb up through the ruins to the temple of Isis and Serapis and look south over the empty desert. Few places in Egypt feel as remote — or as cinematic at sunset. Combine it with Qasr al-Zayyan and Hassan Fathy's village of New Baris on the way.
Gallery
How to find it
Qasr Dush lies near the village of Dush, about 100 km south of Kharga town and south-east of Baris, reached by car along the southern oasis road. From the parking area, a path climbs the hill to the fortress and the temple.
