Excavations at The Bir Dunqash site, located at N24 56’ 22" / E33 52’ 14" has uncovered a compound estimated at 22 m x 13m. This site has three interior rooms with wheel-ridged redware sherds and red slip sherds surrounding it. These sherds have been dated to be roughly Roman or Byzantine.
This site gives evidence that the trade routes from Coptos to Berenice were actually farther north than previously thought and it gives evidence of Ptolemaic occupation in the important gold mining center. It has also shown that the Roman constructions were rebuilt several times and the latest shows that the structures have certain features that are different from their predecessors during the Ptolemaic occupation.
The differences are that they weren't laid out using any unit of measurement, relatively heavy walls with corner towers were built, and there is evidence that the cisterns were large and made of baked brick. Another difference is in the way the rooms are laid out. They have one to two rooms along the walls and units of three or more rooms are placed in the corners.