Bahariya Oasis Reserve-New Valley,


The Bahariya oasis is one of the five most important inhabited depressions in the Egyptian part of the Libyan Desert. It is located about 370 kilometers southwest of Cairo. The elliptical depression extends roughly from the northeast to the southwest, is 94 km long, has a maximum width of 42 km and covers an area of ​​about 2,000 km2. The valley is surrounded by mountains and has many springs.

The valley has been known as Oasis parva (Little Oasis) since AD ​​45. The Greek historian Strabo (63 BC - 23 AD) called it the second oasis, and the historian Olympiodorus of Thebes (fifth century AD, Byzantine era) called it the third oasis. In the Coptic era, it was called an oasis of Medji (ancient Oxyrhynchus or Bahnasa today) and in the Islamic era an oasis of Bahnasa.

The current name is the Bahariya Oasis, meaning "the Northern Oasis". Apparently, the southern part of the depression did not have a separate name.
The navy was clearly settled since the Neolithic period. In the Al Haiz region, abrasives, arrowheads, scrapers, chisels and other lime tools as well as ostrich eggshells have been found at settlement sites within a few hundred square meters of only small groups of hunters and gatherers.

In 2007, remnants of settlements were found in the White Gard in the Al Haiz region, which could date back to the ancient empire. The sea depressions were under ancient Egyptian rule since the Middle Kingdom. This is evidenced by a scarab bearing the name of this oasis and rock inscriptions from travelers near the neighborhood. The most important testimony from the New Kingdom is the tomb of Amenhotep named Hui in Karah Hilwah, which clearly reveals the influence of Thebes. The valley reached its peak in the Twenty-Sixth Dynasty at the time of Pharaoh Amasis and in the Greco-Roman era. From the testimonies of the Twenty-Sixth Dynasty, the tombs of Qarah Qasr Salim and the village of Sheikh Sabaei in Al-Bawiti, in addition to the chapels of Ain Al-Muftala Testimonies from the Greek era include in particular the Temple of Alexander the Great - the only temple dedicated to him on Egyptian soil - in the al-Maqisaba Palace and the ibis halls in the village of Fararji. The forts of al-Hayyz, Qatrah al-Basin, the Warrior's Palace and the Roman Arc de Triomphe in the palace, palaces and wine-making facilities in the estate date back to Roman times.

Christians lived here as early as the Roman period from about the fourth century AD. Christianity did not emerge until the seventeenth century or the beginning of the eighteenth century, with the last Christians converting to Islam. Their churches were located near ancient Roman fortifications. St. Bartholomew is definitely a Saint. George.

French archaeologists have conducted research here since the 1970s, and as a result of findings in the "Valley of Golden Mummies", the number of Egyptian and Czech archaeologists has increased since the early 2000s.

In 1999 new discoveries from the Valley of the Golden Mummy were officially presented. This grave was discovered from the Greco-Roman period in 1996. A team led by Zahi Hawass discovered about 230 mummies in about 15 graves from the first and second centuries AD. These discoveries are currently being evaluated. According to generous estimates, the cemetery should contain around 10,000 graves.

German paleontologist Ernst Stromer von Reichenbach found fossils of three carnivorous dinosaurs that lived here 94 million years ago near Mount Idst (marine formation) here between 1911 and 1914. The remains displayed in the Munich Museum of Natural History were destroyed in a 1944 bomb attack. In the year 2000, an American team led by Joshua Smith of the University of Pennsylvania, east of the tomb of Sheikh Muhammad Gaddafi in Jabal Al-Faka, found another dinosaur with a Paralitanian Stromerian.
Five of the "golden mummies" are on display in a small museum. Also worth visiting is the pre-Christian tombs of Grandfather-Amun-F-Ansch and his son Bentiu of the Twenty-Sixth Dynasty, which are located on the hill of Qara Qasr Selim near the center. Colors and hieroglyphs are well preserved and no less than those of the Valley of the Kings. Alexander Temple can also be visited.

Black and white desert

The Lakes are also a good starting point for a drive through the Black Desert, to Crystal Rock and the White Desert National Park (White Desert). Farafra is one of the most important oases in its vicinity, 180 km to the south.

White desert

This reserve is the site of large white chalk rock formations, which were created by erosion by wind and sand at the time. It also contains cliffs (at the northern end of the Farafra Depression), sand dunes (part of the Great Sand Sea), as well as Wadi Hanis and oases in Ain al-Maqfi and Ain al-Wadi.

The black desert

The Black Desert is part of the Western Desert in Egypt. The name of this desert is due to the black dots on the hills. This black is ash from an erupting volcano. Ash is also mainly made of limestone.

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