Dakhla Oasis (
Egyptian Arabic
Egyptian Arabic, locally known as Colloquial Egyptian ( ar, العامية المصرية, ), or simply Masri (also Masry) (), is the most widely spoken vernacular Arabic dialect in Egypt. It is part of the Afro-Asiatic language family, and ...
: , , "''the inner oasis"''), is one of the seven
oases
In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.”
The location of oases has been of critical im ...
of
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...
's
Western Desert. Dakhla Oasis lies in the
New Valley Governorate, 350 km (220 mi.) from the
Nile
The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest riv ...
and between the oases of
Farafra
The Farafra depression ( ar, واحة الفرافرة, ) is a geological depression, the second biggest by size in Western Egypt and the smallest by population, near latitude 27.06° north and longitude 27.97° east. It is in the large Wester ...
and
Kharga
The Kharga Oasis (Arabic: , ) ; Coptic: ( "Oasis of Hib", "Oasis of Psoi") is the southernmost of Egypt's five western oases. It is located in the Western Desert, about 200 km (125 miles) to the west of the Nile valley. "Kharga" or " ...
. It measures approximately 80 km (50 mi) from east to west and 25 km (16 mi) from north to south.
Etymology
The Arabic name of the oasis "''the inner oasis''" is a direct translation of its Coptic () and Greek () names.
History
Prehistory
The first contacts between the pharaonic power and the oases started around 2550
BCE.
The human history of this oasis started during the
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...
, when
nomad
A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the po ...
ic tribes settled sometimes there, in a time when the
Sahara
, photo = Sahara real color.jpg
, photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972
, map =
, map_image =
, location =
, country =
, country1 =
, ...
climate was wetter and where humans could have access to lakes and marshes. But about 6,000 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
The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togeth ...
(about 12,000 years ago), during new, but rare episodes of wetter times.
In fact, the drier climate didn't mean that there was more water than today 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 through the
Nubian Aquifer, and the first inhabitants of the Dakhla Oasis had access to surface water sources. In the third millennium BC the probably nomadic people of the
Sheikh Muftah culture lived here.
Pharaonic period
During the late
6th Dynasty,
hieratic
Hieratic (; grc, ἱερατικά, hieratiká, priestly) is the name given to a cursive writing system used for Ancient Egyptian and the principal script used to write that language from its development in the third millennium BC until the ris ...
script was sometimes incised into clay tablets with a
stylus
A stylus (plural styli or styluses) is a writing utensil or a small tool for some other form of marking or shaping, for example, in pottery. It can also be a computer accessory that is used to assist in navigating or providing more precision ...
, similar to
cuneiform
Cuneiform is a logo- syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedge- ...
. About five hundred such tablets have been discovered in the governor's palace at Ayn Asil (Balat) in the Dakhla Oasis. At the time the tablets were made, Dakhla was located far from centers of
papyrus
Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, '' Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'') can also refer to ...
production. These tablets record inventories, name-lists, accounts, and approximately fifty letters.
Deir el-Hagar
Deir el-Hagar, (
Egyptian Arabic
Egyptian Arabic, locally known as Colloquial Egyptian ( ar, العامية المصرية, ), or simply Masri (also Masry) (), is the most widely spoken vernacular Arabic dialect in Egypt. It is part of the Afro-Asiatic language family, and ...
: 'Monastery of Stone', , ''Sioua''), is a Roman sandstone temple on the western edge of Dakhla Oasis, about 10 km from Qasr ad-Dachla . The Temple was erected during the reign of the Roman Emperor
Nero
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 un ...
, and decorated during the time of
Vespasian
Vespasian (; la, Vespasianus ; 17 November AD 9 – 23/24 June 79) was a Roman emperor who reigned from AD 69 to 79. The fourth and last emperor who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty that ruled the Emp ...
,
Titus
Titus Caesar Vespasianus ( ; 30 December 39 – 13 September 81 AD) was Roman emperor from 79 to 81. A member of the Flavian dynasty, Titus succeeded his father Vespasian upon his death.
Before becoming emperor, Titus gained renown as a mili ...
and
Domitian
Domitian (; la, Domitianus; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was a Roman emperor who reigned from 81 to 96. The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Fl ...
. The temple was dedicated to the Theban triad, composed of
Amun-Ra,
Mut and
Khonsu, as well as to
Seth
Seth,; el, Σήθ ''Sḗth''; ; "placed", "appointed") in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Mandaeism, and Sethianism, was the third son of Adam and Eve and brother of Cain and Abel, their only other child mentioned by name in the Hebrew Bible. ...
, the main deity of the region.
File:DeirHagarGateway2.jpg, Gateway of the temple
File:Deir el-Haggar, Entrance Relief (XI) (4566138968).jpg, Roman emperor as pharaoh making offerings to Isis and Osiris
File:DeirHagarSarapammon.jpg, Graffiti of Sarapammon with ram and baboon
Qasr ad-Dachla
The fortified Islamic town of Qasr ad-Dachla or el-Qasr (
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
: قصر الداخلة, ''the Fortress'') was built in the 12th century on the remains of a Roman fort in the NW of the Dakhla Oasis by the
Ayyubid
The Ayyubid dynasty ( ar, الأيوبيون '; ) was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt. A Sunni Muslim of Kurdish origin, Saladin ...
kings. Many of the up to four-storey mud brick
Ottoman and
Mamluk
Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...
buildings contain blocks of stone with hieroglyphics from the ancient
Thoth
Thoth (; from grc-koi, Θώθ ''Thṓth'', borrowed from cop, Ⲑⲱⲟⲩⲧ ''Thōout'', Egyptian: ', the reflex of " eis like the Ibis") is an ancient Egyptian deity. In art, he was often depicted as a man with the head of an ibis or ...
temple of the nearby site of
Amheida. The three-storey, 21-meter-high minaret is dated 924 CE.
File:El-Qasr (XII).jpg, General view of Qasr el-Dakhla
File:Flickr - Argenberg - Al-Qasr city, Dakhla oasis (2007-05-219).jpg, Streets of Al-Qasr
File:Bahariyya Oasis, Egypt.jpg, Abuyyid minaret
File:DakhlaQasrLintel.jpg, Lintel in Qasr el-Dakhla
File:DakhlaQasrHieroglyphs.jpg, Hieroglyphic inscriptions
File:DakhlaQasrNasrMosqueInside.jpg, Inside the Nasr el-Din mosque
File:House in Al-Qasr, Egypt.jpg, Clay house
After 1800
Sir
Archibald Edmonstone visited Dakhla oasis in the year 1819.
[ He was succeeded by several other early travellers, but it was not until 1908 that the first egyptologist, ]Herbert Winlock
Herbert Eustis Winlock (February 1, 1884 – January 27, 1950)Note: ''Who Was Who'' notes death on January 27, Spring 1998 ''KMT magazine'' article states January 25. was an American Egyptologist and archaeologist, employed by the Metropolitan M ...
, 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 Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale and the Dakhla Oasis Project each began detailed studies in the oasis.][
]
Recent discoveries
In August 2017, archaeologists from the Ministry of Antiquities announced the discovery of five mud-brick tombs at Bir esh-Shaghala, dating back nearly 2000 years. Researchers also revealed worn masks gilded with gold, several large jars and a piece of pottery with unsolved ancient Egyptian writing on it.
Some of the tombs are completely large containing several burial chambers, while one tomb has a roof built in the shape of a pyramid and some of them with vaulted roofs.
Geography
Dakhla Oasis consists of several communities, along a string of sub-oases. The main settlements are Mut (more fully Mut el-Kharab and anciently called Mothis), El-Masara, Al-Qasr, together with several smaller villages.
Climate
Dakhla Oasis has a hot desert climate
The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk''), is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...
(Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...
''BWh''), typical of much of Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...
.
Dakhleh Oasis Project
The Dakhleh Oasis Project (DOP) is a long-term study project of the Dakhleh Oasis and the surrounding palaeoasis, initiated in 1978 when the Royal Ontario Museum
The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is a museum of art, world culture and natural history in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is one of the largest museums in North America and the largest in Canada. It attracts more than one million visitors every year ...
and the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities were awarded a joint concession for part of the Oasis. In 1979, the Centre for Archaeology and Ancient History at Monash University
Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university has ...
began to cooperate in the project.
The DOP studies the interaction between environmental changes and human activity in the Dakhleh Oasis. The excavations at Ismant el-Kharab (ancient Kellis), Mut el-Kharab (ancient Mothis), Deir Abu Metta and Muzawwaqa were undertaken with the cooperation of Monash University. The DOP has also excavated at 'Ain el-Gazzareen, El Qasr el-Dakhil, Deir el Hagar and Ain Birbiyeh.
In 1985, the Petroglyph Unit of the Dakhleh Oasis Project was created by Lech Krzyżaniak, then director of the Archaeological Museum in Poznań, under the auspices of the . At first, the studies of the petroglyphs focused on the eastern part of the oasis, where rock carvings had been documented by archaeologists already before World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
(Herbert Winlock
Herbert Eustis Winlock (February 1, 1884 – January 27, 1950)Note: ''Who Was Who'' notes death on January 27, Spring 1998 ''KMT magazine'' article states January 25. was an American Egyptologist and archaeologist, employed by the Metropolitan M ...
and Hans Alexander Winkler). The expedition created systematic documentation of both the depictions mentioned earlier in the literature and the newly discovered ones. Aerial photographs proved helpful in this work. Then, under the direction of Michał Kobusiewicz from the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences
The Polish Academy of Sciences ( pl, Polska Akademia Nauk, PAN) is a Polish state-sponsored institution of higher learning. Headquartered in Warsaw, it is responsible for spearheading the development of science across the country by a society o ...
, attention was turned to the area of the Central Oasis where 270 new petroglyph sites were recorded. The current director of The Petroglyph Unit, Paweł Polkowski from the Archaeological Museum in Poznań, extended the area of prospection and created a map showing the distribution of more than 1,300 panels with rock art. The depictions date from the Prehistory to the Islamic period and include images of animals and people (often pregnant women), hieroglyphs, and Beduin markings.
In addition, excavations were undertaken at Amheida and Balat under the auspices of the IFAO. In 2018, the fossilized remains of a large dinosaur were discovered here. In 2019, two ancient tombs were discovered at Ber El-Shaghala archaeological site, that date back to Roman Egypt
, conventional_long_name = Roman Egypt
, common_name = Egypt
, subdivision = Province
, nation = the Roman Empire
, era = Late antiquity
, capital = Alexandria
, title_leader = Praefectus Augustalis
, image_map = Roman E ...
.
Dakhleh Trust
The Dakhleh Trust was formed in 1999 and is a registered charity
A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good).
The legal definition of a ch ...
in Britain. Its declared aim is to advance understanding of the history of the environment
Environment most often refers to:
__NOTOC__
* Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally
* Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...
and cultural evolution
Cultural evolution is an evolutionary theory of social change. It follows from the definition of culture as "information capable of affecting individuals' behavior that they acquire from other members of their species through teaching, imitation ...
throughout the Quaternary period in the eastern Sahara
, photo = Sahara real color.jpg
, photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972
, map =
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, location =
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, and particularly in the Dakhla Oasis. To this end, the present trustees have committed themselves to supporting the DOP.The Dakhleh Trust
Retrieved May 1, 2020.
References
Further reading
Published works
* Boozer, A. "Archaeology on Egypt's Edge: Archaeological Research in the Dakhleh Oasis, 1819-1977" in Ancient West & East: 12: 117–156. 2013.
* Fakhry, A. The Oases of Egypt, I : Siwa Oasis, Le Caire, Amer. Univ. in Cairo Press.
* Fakhry, A. The Oases of Egypt, II: Bahriyah and Farafra Oases, Le Caire, Univ. in Cairo Press, c. 2003.
* Giddy, L. Egyptian Oases: Bahariya, Dakhla, Farafra and Kharga during Pharaonic Times, Warminster, Aris & Philips, 1987.
* Jackson, R. At Empire's Edge: Exploring Rome's Egyptian Frontier, New Haven et Londres, Yale University Press, 2002.
* Thurston, H. Island of the Blessed : the Secrets of Egypt's Everlasting Oasis, Toronto, Doubleday, 2003.
* Vivian, C. ''The Western Desert of Egypt: an explorer's handbook'', AUC Press, le Caire, 2000.
* Wagner, G. ''Les oasis d'Égypte à l'époque grecque, romaine et byzantine, d'après les documents grecs'', Le Caire, Recherches de papyrologie et d'épigraphie grecques, 1987.
External links
IFAO Page for Balat Site Excavations
Dākhla on Wikivoyage
{{Authority control
Populated places in New Valley Governorate
Oases of Egypt
Western Desert (Egypt)