The Western Desert:

The Western Desert covers more than two-thirds of the territory of Egypt. It starts at the banks of the Nile and stretches west into Libya, bordered by Sudan in the south and Mediterranean in the north. Oases are created when depressions, formed millions of years ago, have fallen below the average surface of the desert and are near or at sea level where subterranean water is easily accessible. The five oases on our itinerary are among the most spectacular. They have surprisingly long and rich histories. They were occupied in ancient times and were known to Herodotus who called them "Islands of the Blest". During the Roman era they were thriving trade centers en route from Egypt to Libya.

Situated between Alexandria and Mersa Matruh, El-Alamein takes its name from the twin-peaked hill, Tell el-Alamein, upon which it stands. Protected in the twin-peaked hill, Tell El-Alamein, upon which it stands. Protected in the north by the sea and in the south by the Qattara Depression, El-Alamein is a strong defensive position. Whoever controlled it, controlled the whole of Egypt, Middle Eastern oil and the canal route to India. It was here the Allied Eighth Army drove the Axis forces back, to ultimate defeat in Tunisia. Some 11.000 soldiers were killed and 70.000 wounded at El-Alamein alone.

Allied War Cemetery

The Cemetery was designed, erected and is maintained by the British Government. Planted with trees and flowers, it is a tranquil site for the graves of 7.367 allied soldiers. Though over half were Britons, the dead include Australians, New Zealanders, Canadians, French, Greeks, Poles, Indians, Malays, Melanesians and Africans.

German Memorial

A single octagonal building, erected in 1959, the Memorial houses the remains of 4.280 German soldiers.

Mersa Matruh (Sheltered Anchorage) has a long history. Founded by Alexander the Great on his way to Siwa, it was here that Mark Anthony and Cleopatra sought solace after their defeat at Actium and that her fleet put out to sea for its final battle against Octavian. Today Mersa Matruh, with a quarter of a million people (85% of them Bedouin), serves as a Bedouin trading center. With its beautiful beaches, it has become one of the most popular summer retreats in Egypt.

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Bahariya Oasis

Bahariya was famous for its wine as far back as 4000 years ago; Caravans have passed through this oasis since time immemorial. Bahariya is sometimes referred to as the Oasis of the black Desert the depression Plunges down into the heart of the Shiny black rock escarpments that constitute the Black Desert, a stark contrast with the Yellow Desert. Erosion of the dark mountains over the years has covered the desert floor with fine black specks of basalt. Caravans have passed through here since time immemorial, carrying olives, dates, salt and oil for sale in the Fayum region or Cairo. A Christian community settled near here in the 4th Century. Its rich history explains the presence of the ruins of wells and small forts and even a church with a basilica plan.

Not far from the centre of town lie the ruins of the Temple of Ain al-Muftillah (Spring of al-Muftillah).  Four chapels were excavated at the turn of the 20th Century. They were built around 600 BC, representing a departure from traditional Egyptian temple construction. Each is independent of the other with unusual decorations.

There are religious inscription on the interior walls one in particular is dedicated to the God Bes, patron of musicians and dancers. Bes is portrayed as a dwarf and is seldom given such prominence as to have a chapel dedicated to him. The chapels are built of local sandstones, streaked with ochre and sienna which make them look particularly colorful when compared with the customary grey stone found in the rest of Egypt.

Temple of Alexander the Great

This small, two-chamber temple is the only place in Egypt where Alexander the Great's effigy and cartouche have been found. The temple was built of local sandstone even though much as been eroded. It is believed to be founded by Alexander the Great when he passed through here en route from Siwa to Memphis.

Golden Mummies

In 1996 a donkey, belonging to an antiquities guard on duty in the temple of Alexander the great, got its foot caught in a hole. Peeping into the cavity, the guard saw something gleaming and notified the antiquities department, The Golden mummies, had been discovered. The well preserved mummies are those of aristocrats from the Greco-Roman periods. It is estimated that there are about 10,000 burials in this necropolis, making it the largest in Egypt.

Tombs of Zed Amoun of Ankh and Benantue

One tomb belongs to Zed Amoun of Ankh and the other to his son Benantue, They did not hold any governmental position. They must have been rich merchants or rich landowners.

To end the day in Beauty, contemplate a spectacular sunset from the English Mountain (gebal el Engeliz), the highest peak in the oasis

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The White Desert, gets its name from the floor of the Farafra depression, is a mixture of chalk and limestone, which gives the appearance of snow. Over eons of time, the chalk was eroded away, thus exposing the harder limestone formation. The areas that are topped with bedrock remain behind. Continued erosion sculpted them into various mysterious shapes, forming an unforgettable surreal sight. As the sun shifts, the white rock takes on pink, orange and even blue hues, adding to the already surreal aspect. The White Desert has fast become one of the most popular destinations in the desert

The Crystal Mountain (known locally as rock with a hole) is less a mountain than a ridge entirely composed of quartz crystal with a man height natural arch in the middle. Small crystals lie all around and there are lumps the size of footballs farther from the road.

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Farafra Oasis

The Farafra Oasis (Arabic: Al Farafra‎) is the smallest oasis located in Western Egypt, near latitude 27.06° North and longitude 27.97° East. It is located in the Libyan Desert, approximately mid-way between Dakhla and Bahariya. Farafra has an estimated 5,000 inhabitants living within its single village and is mostly inhabited by the local Bedouins.. Also located near Farafra are the hot springs at Bir Setta

Dakhla Oasis

Dakhla Oasis (Arabic: Al Wāḩāt ad Dākhilah), also called the "inner oasis", is one of the seven oases of the Western Desert of Egypt (part of the Libyan Desert). Dakhla Oasis is located at 350 km from the Nile Valley and is also situated between the oases of Farafra and Kharga. It measures some 80 km (50 miles) from east to west and about 25 km (16 mi) from north to south.

Thanks to the discoveries of Ahmed Fakhry and today to the work of the D.O.P (Dakhleh Oasis Project), more is known about the history of that oasis.

Dakhla pertains to the Egyptian Wadi al-Jadid ("New Valley") governorate.

History

Prehistory

The human history of this oasis started during the Pleistocene, when nomadic tribes settled sometimes there, in a time when the Sahara climate was wetter and where humans could have access to lakes and marshes. But about 60 000 years ago, the entire Sahara became drier, changing progressively into a hyper-arid desert (with less than 50 mm of rain per year). However, specialists think that nomadic hunter-gatherers began to settle almost permanently in the oasis of Dakhleh in the period of the Holocene (about 12 000 years ago), during new, but rare episodes of wetter times. In fact, the drier climate didn't mean that there was no more water in what is now known as the Western Desert. The south of the Libyan Desert has the most important supply of subterranean water in the world, and the first inhabitants of the Dakhla Oasis had access to surface water sources.

 Pharaonic Period

First contacts between the pharaonic power and the oases started around 2550 BCE.

After 1800

The first European travelers to find the Dakhla Oasis was Sir Archibald Edmonstone, in the year 1819. He was succeeded by several other early travellers, but it was not until 1908 that the first Egyptologist, Herbert Winlock, visited Dakhla Oasis and noted its monuments in some systematic

manner. In the 1950s, detailed studies began, first by Dr. Ahmed Fakhry, and in the late 1970s, an expedition of the Institute Français d'Archéologie Orientale and the Dakhla Oasis Project each began detailed studies in the oasis.

Temple of Deir El- Hager (Monastery of the Sandstone)

In the 1960s, Egyptian archaeologist Ahmed Fakhry began excavating this site. In 1992, the DOP, led by Dr. A. Mills, initiated an extensive rehabilitation and preservation of the 2000-year old site. Many stones and doors were replaced and a fence of palm branches was erected to protect the temple site from encroaching sands.

The temple erected by Roman Emperor Newo (54-68 CE), honors the Theban Triad and Seth, the god of the oases. Emperors Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian later embellished the precinct. Finely carved relief’s, some with colors, depict imperious paying homage to various gods, including Amun-Min, the fertility god, and Khnum, the ram –headed potter god, while inscriptions praise the imperial patrons. Besides the imperial cartouches are the names of about every explorer who visited the site in the 1800s. the lintels on the porticos are beautifully decorated with a sun disk flanked by a protective uraeus (royal cobra) and spread wings. Coptic graffiti indicates that the temple was later used as a church. The small sphinx statues seen at the Kharga Museum were found here.

El Qasr Village- This stunning old village is a great example of how life was 500 ears ago in the oasis, mud brick was the dominant structure, fortress like structures where built to protect against invading tribes. The old city is divided into family quarters, with each family sharing a grinding mill, olive press and butchery.

Geography

Dakhla Oasis consists of several communities, along a string of sub-oases. The main settlements are Mut, Al-Qasr, Qalamoun, together with several smaller villages. Some of the communities have identities that are separate from each other. Qalamoun has inhabitants that trace their origins to the Ottomans

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Kharga Oasis

El-Kharga' (meaning the outer oasis) is the southernmost of Egypt's five western oases. It is located in the Libyan Desert, about 200 km to the west of the Nile valley, and is some 150 km long. It is located in and is the capital of El Wadi el Gedid governorate. This oasis, which was known as the 'Southern Oasis' to the Ancient Egyptians is the largest of the oases in the Libyan desert of Egypt and "consists of a depression about 160km long and from 20km to 80km wide."

All the oases have always been crossroads of caravan routes converging from the barren desert. In the case of Kharga, this is made particularly evident by the presence of a chain of fortresses that the Romans built to protect the Darb el-Arbain, the long caravan route running north-south between Middle Egypt and the Sudan. The forts vary for size and function, some being just small outposts, some guarding large settlements complete with cultivation. Some were installed where earlier settlements already existed, while others were probably founded anew. All of them are made of mud bricks, but some also contain small stone temples with inscribed walls.

Kharga is the most modernized of Egypt's western oases.

The stunning Kharga Museum, constructed to resemble the tombs at Bagawat, contains both pharaonic and Islamic antiquities. The first floor is devoted to Islamic antiquities. The first floor is devoted to Islamic and Coptic item and is heavy with jewellery, coins and personal items. An entire room is devoted to silver service, plates, table cloth and other items from the Manial Palace in Cairo.

Built during the 6th C.BC, the Temple of Hibis was dedicated to Amun. It is the best preserved temple in Western Desert and is one of two built by the Persians in Egypt. The Temple is located in a picturesque palm grove in front of what was once a sacred lake.

Unfortunately, rising ground water is endangering the foundation. It is being dismantled to be reassembled on higher ground, near the Bagawat necropolis. However it is still worthwhile to view the exterior of this beautiful temple.

One of the earliest and best preserved Christian cemeteries in the world, Bagawat Necropolis has 263 mud-brick tombs with a church at the centre. Several tombs house chapels adorned with impressive ancient Christian frescoes, depicting scenes from the old and New Testaments. Most of the tombs date from the 4th to the 6th centuries.

Temple of Dush

Few of Egypt's sights are more remote than Dush, 125 km south of Kharga, deep into Sahara. The ruins of this ancient city overlook a valley that was fertile some 1,500 years ago. Today only a tiny little village remains. But trunks of palms dot the sand in all directions.
The ancient name was Kysis, and Kysis was a wealthy city benefiting from slave trade between Sudan and North Africa. Its wealth is easy to spot. The city must have housed 10,000 inhabitants, the distance between the 1st century CE Roman temple and the later Christian basilica is a few hundred meters, an area packed with house ruins.

The slaves transported through the desert, along the Forty Days Road were mainly blacks, often Nubians. Slaves were highly treasured, and the most valuable were young Nubian women. They were said to have a cool skin no matter what the heat.

Dush was a religious, military and civilian complex that primarily developed as the result of the slave trade, and was a staging point for caravans that either headed to Assiut or Esna. Built for Isis and Serapis, this temple located at the oasis of Baris

The temple of Dush (known as Kysis) was built in the 1st century CE, and dedicated to the gods Isis and Serapis. It has since 1967 been beautifully restored, and it also has a great location. It overlooks the all of the eastern valley below former Kysis. The temple appears to be unusually narrow, giving it a feeling of being long. There are two hypostyle halls, both with entrances in near perfect condition. On the doorway of the first entrance; the inscriptions are hardly touched by the near 2,000 years which has passed.

 

Most columns have been knocked down, but large pieces lie around. Note that the eastern side seems to have been without a wall, as allowing the fertile lands below to have been visible during ceremonies.

The last and smallest building of the temple was as always the holiest part. Here the divine figures lived; here the highest priests performed daily rituals. According to the world view of the locals, this was the place where the safety and prosperity of all of Kysis was preserved.
The inner building is almost intact. The columns stand as they used to, the roof is complete. But the wall decorations have not survived centuries of sand storms.
 

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