Mount Uwaynat or Gabal El Uweinat ( ar, جبل العوينات ', Arabic for 'Mountain of the springs') is a mountain range in the area of the

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

ian-

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

n- Sudanese

tripoint A tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints as of 2020. Nearly half are situated in rivers, l ...

. Because of thousands of prehistoric rock art sites, it is considered an important witness to the development of early

pastoralism Pastoralism is a form of animal husbandry where domesticated animals (known as " livestock") are released onto large vegetated outdoor lands (pastures) for grazing, historically by nomadic people who moved around with their herds. The a ...

in the Sahara.

Cultural significance

The area is notable for its prehistoric rock carvings, first reported by the Egyptian explorer Ahmed Pasha Hassanein—the discoverer of Uweinat, who in 1923 traversed the first 40 km of the mountain towards east, without reaching the end. Engraved in

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

, thousands of

petroglyphs A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

are visible, representing lions, giraffes,

ostrich Ostriches are large flightless birds of the genus ''Struthio'' in the order Struthioniformes, part of the infra-class Palaeognathae, a diverse group of flightless birds also known as ratites that includes the emus, rheas, and kiwis. There ...

es,

gazelle A gazelle is one of many antelope species in the genus ''Gazella'' . This article also deals with the seven species included in two further genera, '' Eudorcas'' and '' Nanger'', which were formerly considered subgenera of ''Gazella''. A third ...

cow Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...

s and little human figures. According to a technical report of

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

, "Thousands of rock art sites of different styles and themes are distributed all over the area, witnessing to the development of early pastoralism in Africa and exchanges among different ethnic groups across the Sahara."

Geography

Mount Uwaynat lies about 40 km S-SE of Jabal Arkanu.Bertarelli (1929), p. 515. The main spring called Ain Dua lies at the foot of the mountain, on the Libyan side. The western foot (located at according to Hassanein) is 618 m high, and overcast with giant boulders fallen because of erosion. In general, the western slope constitutes an oasis, with wells, bushes and grass. The western part of the massif consists of intrusive

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

, arranged in a ring shape of some 25 km

diameter In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the center of the circle and whose endpoints lie on the circle. It can also be defined as the longest chord of the circle. Both definitions are also valid fo ...

, ending in three valleys (

wadi Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water ...

s) towards the West, named Karkur Hamid, Karkur Idriss and Karkur Ibrahim. Its eastern part consists of sandstone, ending in Karkur Talh. In Karkur Murr, there is a permanent oasis ('' Guelta''), called Ain El Brins (Bir Murr). In the sandstone part, four

plateaus In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ha ...

emerge from the level of the surrounding desert: the Hassanein plateau, connected to an unnamed plateau through a narrow neck, the Italia plateau and another unnamed plateau. The highest point of Uweinat is on top of the Italia plateau. There are two cairns on the top, the first was erected by R.A. Bagnold and the second by Captain Marchesi, both in the 1930s.Bertarelli (1929), p. 516. Uweinat en

Exploration

* Ahmed Pasha Hassanein—The discoverer who first published its existence on his 1923 map. * Prince Kamal al-Dine Hussein (son of Hussein Kamel, Sultan of Egypt) *

Ralph Alger Bagnold Brigadier Ralph Alger Bagnold, OBE, FRS, (3 April 1896 – 28 May 1990) was an English 20th-century desert explorer, geologist and soldier. In 1932, he staged the first recorded East-to-West crossing of the Libyan Desert. His work in the ...

—Founder of the

Long Range Desert Group The Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) was a reconnaissance and raiding unit of the British Army during the Second World War. Originally called the Long Range Patrol (LRP), the unit was founded in Egypt in June 1940 by Major Ralph Alger Bagnold, acti ...

(LRDG) and desert explorer *

Pat Clayton Patrick Andrew Clayton DSO MBE (16 April 1896 – 17 March 1962) was a British surveyor and soldier. He was the basis for the character of Peter Madox in ''The English Patient''. Career Clayton was born in Croydon, London, in April 1896 and, af ...

—LRDG and Egyptian Government Survey *

László Almásy László Ede Almásy de Zsadány et Törökszentmiklós ( hu, Almásy László Ede; ; 22 August/3 November 1895 – 22 March 1951) was a Hungarian aristocrat, motorist, desert explorer, aviator, Scout-leader and sportsman who served as the ...

—Hungarian desert researcher * Hubert W. G. J. Penderel *

Leo Frobenius Leo Viktor Frobenius (29 June 1873 – 9 August 1938) was a German self-taught ethnologist and archaeologist and a major figure in German ethnography. Life He was born in Berlin as the son of a Prussian officer and died in Biganzolo, Lago ...

*Hans Rhotert *Prinz Ferdinand von Lichtenstein *Mahmoud Marai (who co-discovered the Yam Inscriptions near the southern end of the mountain in 2007)

Sources

References

External links

Story of the discovery of Oeunat as written by the discoverer in National Geographic Magazine 1924UNESCO World Heritage, ''Jebel Ouenat Technical Report'', 2004
*http://www.fjexpeditions.com/frameset/uweinat.htm *http://www.gilf-kebir.de/set2/2_01.htm *http://www.archaeoafrica.de/G_Auenat.html
The Libyan desert
- website with general information {{Authority control Uweinat Uweinat Uweinat Sahara Saharan rock art New Valley Governorate Northern (state) Cyrenaica