Having considered both the textual and archaeological evidence upon which the existence of a chain of fortresses was established, it becomes apparent just how speculative some of the conclusions actually are! The texts tell us virtually nothing beyond the fact that there were a number of fortresses somewhere to the west of Egypt proper. And from all but a handful of the suggested sites is the archaeological evidence anything more than insubstantial. Essentially, a few blocks bearing the cartouche of Ramesses II have been transformed into a chain of fortified settlements.
It is true that Egyptian policy on both its eastern and southern frontiers saw an interlinked system of fortresses established (click here for more details), and it is quite likely that such a chain once existed on the western frontier. However, the evidence to support this is scarce. Only two of the sites which may have formed such a chain can be identified with any confidence at this time: Zawiyet Umm el-Rakham and Kom el-Abqa'in.
These two sites have produced evidence to show that each was a fortified settlement in the New Kingdom, indicated by the large-scale defences and evidence of military personnel found at both. That Ramesses II established them seems almost certain; there is no evidence to indicate that anything existed at ZUR before his reign, although at Abqua'in we may be seeing the fortification of an existing site by Ramesses. It would seem logical that any threat that required forts at these two sites would also necessitate the defence of other sites in the region. However, we can only speculate as to where these might have been.
The remains located el-Alamein and el-Gharbaniyat bear certain similarities to the two identified fortress sites which might indicate that they were indeed similar institutions. These similarities include evidence dating solely to the reign of Ramesses II, the presence of "anti-Libyan" inscriptions at el-Alamein and, like ZUR and Abqa'in, both sites are situated in isolated locations, outside typical settlement patterns, e.g. away from cultivable land and easily accessible water supplies. Hopefully, future work may be able to clarify the nature of these sites.
The evidence from Koms Abu-Billo, Firin and el-Hisn gives us glimpses of activity in the New Kingdom and specifically during the reign of Ramesses II. This may be part of the same phase of activity as witnessed at Zawiyet Umm el-Rakham and Abqa'in, but to draw any confident conclusions is impossible. Kom el-Hisn is perhaps the most promising of the three and future work confirm whether a fortress existed there.
Khashm el-Eish, El-Bordan, Kom el-Idris, Ezbet Abu-Shawish and El-Kurum el-Tuwal have produced no certain evidence of activity in the New Kingdom, and although Rhacotis, Karm Abu-Girg and el-Barnugi possess remains of this period, their lack of context makes it next to impossible to determine what they may once have been.
If the archaeology is lacking and the texts are unhelpful, how else might we learn more about the nature of the western frontier defences?
Looking for an alternative way to pinpoint the location of potential fortresses, Kitchen (1990:18-19; 1999:329, 331) suggested that they were probably never more than two day's march or one day's chariot ride apart, a distance of about 80km. This would agree with the spacing of some of the North African remains: from el-Barnugi to el-Gharbaniyat is 80km, and it is a similar distance from there to el-Alamein. If this suggestion is correct, in the 240km between el-Alamein and Zawiyet Umm el-Rakham, one or two additional forts might have originally existed (Kitchen ibid.). But without hard archaeological evidence to back this theory up, it remains speculation; in the same way, a potentially strategic location might suggest itself as an ideal place for a fort, but this means little without without accompanying evidence.
Such evidence might be provided by future archaeological investigation, although one needs to remember that many sites have probably been lost over the past millennia, destroyed by changes in sea-level, torn apart at the hands of the sebbakhin or demolished to reuse their stone, for example. Other than the work at ZUR and Abqua'in, recent investigations in the region (Haldane 1998; White & White 1996) have failed to identify additional Late Bronze Age sites or shed new light on those we already know about.
White and White (1996) surveyed eight potential harbour sites between the modern Libyan border and el-Alamein, but failed to find any new evidence of Bronze Age activity. Whilst this work was useful, it only covered a limited number of sites and concentrated on the littoral zone, not extending landwards to any extent. Therefore, the lack of evidence at the surveyed sites does not eliminate the possibility of evidence further inland, if this has not already succumbed to coastal erosion, changes in sea level or development. It is worth noting that the Whites’ survey would have failed to locate the fortress at Zawiyet Umm el-Rakham if it wasn’t already known. It is quite possible, therefore, that further sites remain undetected.
The Institute of Nautical Archaeology has also undertaken some underwater survey work off the coast at Zawiyet Umm el-Rakham and elsewhere off North Africa (Haldane 1998). Although no definitive evidence of Late Bronze Age activity was discovered, the survey was far from comprehensive, looking at certain restricted locales. Although the INA plans to continue the survey, there are no details of when this might take place (Haldane pers comm).
So, although these surveys did not produce any evidence of unknown Bronze Age activity, their limitations mean that we should not completely exclude the possibility of the existence of new sites out there somewhere. Furthermore, we should not forget that there are already some sites which we know saw activity in the Late Bronze Age, i.e. those examined by people like Rowe and De Cosson. Whilst these scholars may have failed to prove that fortresses existed at these sites, the fact of the matter is that a number of them did produce evidence of something going on in the Late Bronze Age. What this something was has never been properly defined, and I believe that this should be a priority for those working in the region future. This is something that Dr Susanna Thomas is doing at Abqua'in and Dr Steven Snape is planning to do elsewhere.
Hopefully these efforts will not be too late. Ancient sites continue to be threatened by erosion, farming, land development and the like. For example, Egypt's Mediterranean coast is undergoing extensive development in an attempt to draw in tourists, putting at risk any surviving Late Bronze Age remains. Continued survey and excavation work is urgently required if the opportunity to learn more about ancient activity in this region is not to be lost.
In conclusion...
On the basis of existing evidence, to claim that there existed a chain of fortresses defending Egypt's western frontier is somewhat speculative. However, we know that Ramesses II saw the need to create at least two fortified settlements, at Zawiyet Umm el-Rakham and Abqua'in (and in all likelihood others).
The all-important question now is why?