The world is full of incredible places and some of them are thousands of years old. That’s the case for what is believed to be the oldest paved road on the planet. The road is nearly 5,000 years old and when it was discovered back in 1994, it baffled archaeologists.
The road in question is the Lake Moeris Quarry Road, in Egypt’s Faiyum District, which is thought to be the oldest surviving paved road in existence. It was built between 2600 and 2100 BCE, during Egypt’s Old Kingdom, to move huge blocks of volcanic rock from a quarry to the edge of a lake connected to the Nile.
Stretching 7.5 miles through the desert, the road linked a basalt quarry to ancient Lake Moeris, now known as Lake Qarun, which lies about 50 miles southwest of Cairo.
The blocks were floated across the lake and into the Nile, then carried to sites such as Giza, where they were used in pyramids, royal temples and sarcophagi.
According to the American Society of Civil Engineers and IFLScience, the road was constructed from limestone and sandstone slabs and measured roughly 6.5 feet wide.
Some parts even included petrified wood. Despite its age, much of the original paving still survives today.
The slabs show little sign of deep wear, leading experts to believe that the basalt was likely transported using sleds, with logs laid over the stone surface to avoid damage.
This would have prevented the sleds from sinking into the soft desert sand while also preserving the road.
In 1994, geologists studying ancient Egyptian quarries discovered the road and dated it using pottery fragments and the remains of a nearby workers’ camp.
Their findings pushed back the timeline of road-building in Egypt and confirmed that this was the only known paved road constructed by the ancient civilisation.
Geologist James Harrell from the University of Toledo, who helped identify the road, told the LA Times at the time: “Not only is the road earlier than we thought possible, we didn’t even think they built roads.”
He described it as “a major engineering achievement.”
The area surrounding Lake Qarun remains of historical and ecological importance today.
The modern lake sits well below sea level and is now a protected wetland that attracts migratory birds from across Eurasia.
It’s also home to several fisheries and has been listed as a Ramsar site since 2012.
While there are older routes in the world, like the Sweet Track in England dating back to around 3800 BCE, the Lake Moeris Quarry Road holds the title as the world’s oldest paved road.