Wadi al-Jarf is an ancient harbor site on the Red Sea coast of Egypt, located approximately 119 km (74 mi) south of Suez at the mouth of Wadi Araba — a natural corridor linking the Nile Valley to the Red Sea across the Eastern Desert. According to Wikipedia, it is considered the oldest known artificial harbour in the world, developed roughly 4,500 years ago during the reign of pharaoh Khufu. The site has yielded more than 100 anchors (the first Old Kingdom anchors ever found in their original context), storage jars, and a remarkable cache of papyrus fragments now regarded as the oldest papyri ever discovered in Egypt. Much of the most compelling archaeological evidence lies underwater, which is precisely what drew Gates here — as he put it after a '150 hot and dusty miles' drive across the Sahara: 'The secret to the pyramids is underwater?' Gates traveled to Wadi al-Jarf to investigate with archaeologist Dr. Mohamed Abd El-Maguid whether the site could help answer one of history's greatest engineering mysteries: how was the Great Pyramid of Giza actually built?
Harbour constructed and in active use during the Fourth Dynasty reign of Khufu; papyri and anchors deposited at the site
Site first documented by explorer J. G. Wilkinson
Rediscovered by a French team, who named it Rod el-Khawaga; excavations halted when the Suez Crisis broke out in 1956
Joint French-Egyptian team resumes systematic excavation, leading to the discovery of papyri and anchors
Gates investigates the site in Expedition Unknown S16E01, 'Mysteries of the Great Pyramid'
Archaeologist Dr. Mohamed Abd El-Maguid, who greeted Gates on site during the S16E01 investigation, is part of the broader French-Egyptian team that resumed excavations at Wadi al-Jarf in 2011. The discoveries from that dig have been widely recognized in mainstream Egyptology as groundbreaking: the papyri found here are considered the oldest ever discovered in Egypt, and the more than 100 stone anchors recovered represent the first Old Kingdom anchors found in their original archaeological context. The storage jars unearthed at the site have also been linked to finds across the Red Sea, suggesting active maritime trade networks during the Fourth Dynasty.
The significance of Wadi al-Jarf to Great Pyramid research lies in what the papyri appear to document: the logistics of the pyramid's construction. According to mainstream archaeological interpretation, the harbour served as a supply hub — a staging point through which building materials and workers' provisions moved between the Nile Valley and Sinai. This logistical picture, made tangible by a working ancient port, helps explain how one of the ancient world's most ambitious construction projects was organized and sustained over decades.
What remains genuinely debated within mainstream scholarship is the precise relationship between sites like Wadi al-Jarf and the pyramid's specific construction techniques — the quarrying, transport, and lifting of enormous stone blocks. The harbour evidence answers some logistical questions while opening others, and no single site has yet provided a complete account of the engineering methods involved. Wadi al-Jarf is considered a major piece of that puzzle, but scholars continue to weigh it alongside evidence from Giza itself and other Fourth Dynasty sites.
Gates' S16E01 episode frames Wadi al-Jarf as a potential key to unlocking the pyramid's secrets, leaning into the drama of an underwater excavation in an otherwise lifeless desert. The episode's contribution is largely one of public awareness — bringing an under-publicized but genuinely important archaeological site to a wide audience — rather than any new on-camera discovery. As Gates himself acknowledged before suiting up to dive, his first reaction to the location was simply: 'I have no idea' what a Red Sea harbour has to do with the Great Pyramid. That honest curiosity is a fair summary of where the investigation begins.
The papyrus fragments discovered at Wadi al-Jarf are considered the oldest papyri ever found in Egypt, dating to roughly 4,500 years ago during the Fourth Dynasty.
More than 100 stone anchors were recovered at the site — the first Old Kingdom anchors ever found in their original archaeological context.
The site was first documented by J. G. Wilkinson in 1832, then effectively lost to scholarship until a French team rediscovered it in the 1950s and named it Rod el-Khawaga.
Wadi al-Jarf sits at the mouth of Wadi Araba, a natural desert corridor that connected the Nile Valley to the Red Sea, making it a strategically vital supply route during the age of pyramid-building.
Wadi al-Jarf is a remote site along the Red Sea coast and not a conventional tourist destination; reaching it requires travelling roughly 119 km south of Suez along desert roads, and there are no established visitor facilities on site. Access may be subject to permits or restrictions given ongoing archaeological work — check current Egyptian antiquities authority advisories before planning a visit.
Suez, approximately 119 km (74 mi) to the north.
If visiting the Red Sea coastal region, the cooler months between October and April are generally far more comfortable, as summer temperatures along this stretch of desert coast can exceed 40°C (104°F). Spring and autumn also tend to offer calmer sea conditions for anyone interested in the underwater aspects of the site.
Kingdom of Kush Pyramid Tombs
Another North African archaeological site investigated in the Gates universe that connects to ancient Egyptian civilization and monumental construction traditions.
Ancient Egyptian tomb (Moses investigation)
Part of the broader thread of Gates investigations into the ancient world of Egypt and the Exodus narrative, sharing the Red Sea and Sinai as geographical context.
Holy Land
The Holy Land appears in multiple Gates investigations exploring the ancient Near East, a region whose trade networks intersected with Fourth Dynasty Egypt and the maritime routes Wadi al-Jarf helped sustain.
Historical data sourced from Wikipedia