Near the main road, about 75km north of Dush towards Kharga City, are the ruins of Qasr el-Zayyan, one of the largest and most important ancient settlements in Kharga Oasis.

One of the chain of fortresses built during Ptolemaic and Roman times, the settlement was known in ancient times as Takhoneourit, which the Greeks called Tchonemyris, meaning ‘The Great Well’. The town is still unexcavated, but was obviously of importance as a major water source in antiquity and would have been a place where travellers would stop for the night. The remains of the well can still be seen close to the mudbrick enclosure wall on the western side. Because of the availability of water in this part of the oasis, the town must once have been quite large and prosperous and surrounded by small farming settlements on agricultural land which consitutes the lowest part of the Kharga depression, at 18m below sea-level. It is here that the cemeteries of the ancient community are to be found. A major desert route led from Qasr el-Zayyan to Esna during Roman times, testifying to the importance of the settlement.

The rectangular mudbrick enclosure walls of the fortress measure 26m by 28m and are still well preserved. Within the walls there is a temple dedicated to the god ‘Amun of Hibis’, who was known to the Romans as Amenibis. This small sandstone temple measured only about 7.5m by 13.5m when it was first constructed during the Ptolemaic Period, but was renewed during the Roman rule of Antoninus Pius (AD138-161) and a brick hall, 22m long, was constructed in front of the main structure. Inside the fortress enclosure were the living quarters of the Roman garrison and modern clearance by the Supreme Council of Antiquities have uncovered rooms containing kilns and hearths, a water cistern and a cache of Roman coins.

The temple is entered through a sandstone gate in the southern side of the enclosure wall which depicts a dedicatory inscription in Greek: ‘To Amenibis the great god of Tchonemyris and to the other gods of the temple, for the eternal preservation of Antoninus Caesar, our Lord and his whole house . . .’ and goes on to name the governor and officials involved in the restoration. The inscription is dated 11 August AD140. The main temple building comprises a court leading to the sanctuary or offering chamber which has an elaborate cult-niche in the north wall and to an antechamber with a staircase leading to the roof.

The site was visited during the latter part of the 19th century by the German geographer, Georg Schweinfurth, who found pottery, coins, glass and cast bronzes within the enclosure. Modern restoration of the temple was undertaken in 1984-1986 by the Egyptian Antiquities Organisation and more recent extensive excavation and reconstruction by the Supreme Council of Antiquities.

Qasr el-Zayyan lies about 30km to the south of the city of el-Kharga and not far from the fortress of Qasr el-Ghueita. It can be easily reached by road and a 4x4 vehicle is not necessary.