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Siwah
The Siwa Oasis ( ) is an urban oasis in Egypt. It is situated between the Qattara Depression and the Great Sand Sea in the Western Desert, east of the Egypt–Libya border and from the Egyptian capital city of Cairo. It is famed from its role in ancient Egypt as the home to an oracle of Amun, the ruins of which are a popular tourist attraction, giving it the ancient name Oasis of Amun-Ra, after the major Egyptian deity. Geography The oasis is in a deep depression that reaches below sea level. To the west, the al Jaghbub Oasis rests in a similar depression and to the east, the large Qattara Depression is also below sea level. The depression is fertile due to both natural flowing artesian wells and irrigation. It is the site of about 200 natural springs. Siwa is directly adjacent to the Libyan Desert plateau. The geology is characterised by horizontal layers of porous limestones alternated with marls and clays dating back to the Miocene. The limestone plateau and inselber ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Qattara Depression
The Qattara Depression () is a depression (geology), depression in northwestern Egypt, specifically in the Matruh Governorate. The depression is part of the Western Desert (Egypt), Western Desert of Egypt. The Qattara Depression lies below sea level, and its bottom is covered with salt pan (geology), salt pans, sand dunes, and Inland salt marsh, salt marshes. The depression extends between the latitudes of 28°35' and 30°25' north and the longitudes of 26°20' and 29°02' east.El Bassyony, Abdou. 1995. ''"Introduction to the geology of the Qattara Depression,"'' International Conference on the Studies and Achievements of Geosciences in Egypt, 69 (85-eoa) The Qattara Depression was created by the interplay of salt weathering and wind erosion. Some west of the depression lie the oases of Siwa Oasis, Siwa in Egypt and Jaghbub, Libya, Jaghbub in Libya in smaller but similar depressions. The Qattara Depression contains the second lowest point in Africa at an elevation of below s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Libyan Desert
The Libyan Desert (not to be confused with the Libyan Sahara) is a geographical region filling the northeastern Sahara Desert, from eastern Libya to the Western Desert (Egypt), Western Desert of Egypt and far northwestern Sudan. On medieval maps, its use predates today's Sahara, and parts of the Libyan Desert include the Sahara's most arid and least populated regions; this is chiefly what sets the Libyan Desert apart from the greater Sahara. The consequent absence of grazing, and near absence of waterholes or wells needed to sustain camel caravans, prevented Trans-Saharan trade between Kharga (the Darb al Arbein) close to the Nile, and Murzuk in the Libyan Fezzan. This obscurity saw the region overlooked by early European explorers, and it was not until the early 20th century and the advent of the motor car before the Libyan Desert started to be fully explored. Nomenclature The term ''Libyan Desert'' began to appear widely on European maps in the last decades of the 19th centu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amun-Ra
Amun was a major ancient Egyptian deity who appears as a member of the Hermopolitan Ogdoad. Amun was attested from the Old Kingdom together with his wife Amunet. His oracle in Siwa Oasis, located in Western Egypt near the Libyan Desert, remained the only oracle of Amun throughout. With the 11th Dynasty ( BC), Amun rose to the position of patron deity of Thebes by replacing Montu. Initially possibly one of eight deities in the Hermapolite creation myth, his worship expanded. After the rebellion of Thebes against the Hyksos and with the rule of Ahmose I (16th century BC), Amun acquired national importance, expressed in his fusion with the Sun god, Ra, as Amun-Ra (alternatively spelled Amon-Ra or Amun-Re). On his own, he was also thought to be the king of the gods. Amun-Ra retained chief importance in the Egyptian pantheon throughout the New Kingdom (with the exception of the " Atenist heresy" under Akhenaten). Amun-Ra in this period (16th–11th centuries BC) he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shilha Language
( ; from its name in Moroccan Arabic, ), now more commonly known as Tashelhiyt or Tachelhit ( ; from the endonym , ), is a Berber language spoken in southwestern Morocco. When referring to the language, anthropologists and historians prefer the name ''Shilha'', which is in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). Linguists writing in English prefer ''Tashelhit'' (or a variant spelling). In French sources the language is called , or . Shilha is spoken in an area covering around 100,000 square kilometres. The area comprises the western part of the High Atlas mountains and the regions to the south up to the Draa River, including the Anti-Atlas and the alluvial basin of the Sous River. The largest urban centres in the area are the coastal city of Agadir (population over 400,000) and the towns of Guelmim, Taroudant, Oulad Teima, Tiznit and Ouarzazate.Adnor, Abdellah (2004). An Electronic Tashlhit-English Dictionary (Prototype) (PhD thesis). Mohammed V University, Rabat, Morocco. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coptic Language
Coptic () is a dormant language, dormant Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language. It is a group of closely related Egyptian dialects, representing the most recent developments of the Ancient Egyptian language, Egyptian language, and historically spoken by the Copts, starting from the third century AD in Roman Egypt. Coptic was supplanted by Arabic as the primary Vernacular, spoken language of Egypt following the Arab conquest of Egypt and was slowly replaced over the centuries. Coptic has no native speakers today apart from a number of priests, although it remains in daily use as the Sacred language, liturgical language of the Coptic Orthodox Church and of the Coptic Catholic Church. It is written with the Coptic alphabet, a modified form of the Greek alphabet with seven additional letters borrowed from the Demotic (Egyptian), Demotic Egyptian script. The major Coptic dialects are Sahidic, Bohairic, Akhmimic, Fayyumic, Lycopolitan (Asyutic), and Oxyrhynchite. Sahidic Coptic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Berber Languages
The Berber languages, also known as the Amazigh languages or Tamazight, are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They comprise a group of closely related but mostly mutually unintelligible languages spoken by Berbers, Berber communities, who are indigenous to North Africa.Hayward, Richard J., chapter ''Afroasiatic'' in Heine, Bernd & Nurse, Derek, editors, ''African Languages: An Introduction'' Cambridge 2000. . The languages are primarily spoken and not typically written. Historically, they have been written with the ancient Libyco-Berber script, which now exists in the form of Tifinagh. Today, they may also be written in the Berber Latin alphabet or the Arabic script, with Latin being the most pervasive. The Berber languages have a similar level of variety to the Romance languages, although they are sometimes referred to as a single collective language, often as "Berber", "Tamazight", or "Amazigh". The languages, with a few exceptions, form a dialect continuum. There is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower Egypt were amalgamated by Menes, who is believed by the majority of List of Egyptologists, Egyptologists to have been the same person as Narmer. The history of ancient Egypt unfolded as a series of stable kingdoms interspersed by the "Periodization of ancient Egypt, Intermediate Periods" of relative instability. These stable kingdoms existed in one of three periods: the Old Kingdom of Egypt, Old Kingdom of the Early Bronze Age; the Middle Kingdom of Egypt, Middle Kingdom of the Middle Bronze Age; or the New Kingdom of Egypt, New Kingdom of the Late Bronze Age. The pinnacle of ancient Egyptian power was achieved during the New Kingdom, which extended its rule to much of Nubia and a considerable portion of the Levant. After this period, Egypt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Temperate Desert
A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the land surface of the Earth is arid or Semi-arid climate, semi-arid. This includes much of the Polar regions of Earth, polar regions, where little precipitation occurs, and which are sometimes called polar deserts or "cold deserts". Deserts can be classified by the amount of precipitation that falls, by the temperature that prevails, by the causes of desertification or by their geographical location. Deserts are formed by weathering processes as large variations in temperature between day and night strain the Rock (geology), rocks, which consequently break in pieces. Although rain seldom occurs in deserts, there are occasional downpours that can result in flash floods. Rain falling on hot rocks can cause them to shatter, and the resulting frag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Olive
The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of Subtropics, subtropical evergreen tree in the Family (biology), family Oleaceae. Originating in Anatolia, Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean Basin, with wild subspecies in Africa and western Asia; modern Cultivar, cultivars are traced primarily to the Near East, Aegean Sea, and Strait of Gibraltar. The olive is the type species for its genus, ''Olea'', and lends its name to the Oleaceae plant family, which includes species such as Syringa vulgaris, lilac, jasmine, forsythia, and Fraxinus, ash. The olive fruit is classed botanically as a drupe, similar to the cherry or peach. The term oil—now used to describe any Viscosity, viscous Hydrophobe, water-insoluble liquid—was virtually synonymous with olive oil, the Vegetable oil, liquid fat made from olives. The olive has deep historical, economic, and cultural significance in the Mediterranean; Georges Duhamel (author), George ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Date Palm
''Phoenix dactylifera'', commonly known as the date palm, is a flowering-plant species in the palm family Arecaceae, cultivated for its edible sweet #Fruits, fruit called dates. The species is widely cultivated across North Africa, northern Africa, the Middle East, the Horn of Africa, Australia, South Asia, and the desert regions of Southern California in the United States. It is Naturalisation (biology), naturalized in many Tropics, tropical and Subtropics, subtropical regions worldwide. ''P. dactylifera'' is the type species of genus ''Phoenix (plant), Phoenix'', which contains 12–19 species of wild date palms. Date palms reach up to 60–110 feet in height, growing singly or forming a Clumping (biology), clump with several stems from a single root system. Slow-growing, they can reach over 100years of age when maintained properly. Date fruits (dates) are oval-cylindrical, long, and about in diameter, with colour ranging from dark brown to bright red or yellow, depen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tamizight
The Berber languages, also known as the Amazigh languages or Tamazight, are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They comprise a group of closely related but mostly mutually unintelligible languages spoken by Berber communities, who are indigenous to North Africa.Hayward, Richard J., chapter ''Afroasiatic'' in Heine, Bernd & Nurse, Derek, editors, ''African Languages: An Introduction'' Cambridge 2000. . The languages are primarily spoken and not typically written. Historically, they have been written with the ancient Libyco-Berber script, which now exists in the form of Tifinagh. Today, they may also be written in the Berber Latin alphabet or the Arabic script, with Latin being the most pervasive. The Berber languages have a similar level of variety to the Romance languages, although they are sometimes referred to as a single collective language, often as "Berber", "Tamazight", or "Amazigh". The languages, with a few exceptions, form a dialect continuum. There is a debate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
