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Siwa Oasis
Siwa is one of the top
Egypt’s Great Sand Sea
lies 18 meters below sea level and is the most secluded of all
Egypt’s oases. Siwa with 15,000 inhabitants, in the interior
of the country, near the border to Libya. The oasis is 82 km
long and has a width varying between 2 and 20 km. The economic
base of the oasis is agriculture of which dates and olives are
the principal produce. Alexander the Great came here and was
declared a god after he consulted the oracle of Amun in Siwa
in 331 BC.
The people are Berbers, and have their own language. To Siwa,
there are 3 larger salt lakes, Birket Maraqi, Birket Siwa, and
Birket Zaytun.
This historical oasis has many natural springs
with water surfacing bubbling hot from 15 to 20 meters depth.
Cleopatra is said to have bathed here. Many of the springs are
spacious enough for bathing and the locals won’t mind you
doing that, either. The people of Swia have their own culture
and traditions and speak instead of Arabic a Berber language
called Siwi. In the center of the town a beautiful traditional
local Siwa house serves as a museum.
Siwa offers a wide range of beautiful
traditional handicrafts: baskets made of palm and decorated
with colored threads, embroidered fabrics and dresses, and the
famous and highly prized Siwan Silver Jewels, including
elaborate necklaces with pendants in various shapes, large
bracelets and rings, and heavy earrings with chains and bells
– being too heavy to be worn as earrings, they are left
hanging on both sides of the head suspended from a leather
strip.
One of the most famous places in the area of
Siwa is Aghurmi with the remains of the ancient Temple of the
Oracle of Amun. The Temple was built during the XXVI Dynasty
of the Egyptian kings. The Oracle became one of the most
important places to the ancient Greek.
Kharga Oasis
The name is from Arabic, meaning "Outer" or "Departure". Kharga used to be the last stop on the Forty
Days Road, the infamous slave-trade route between North Africa
and the tropical south. Kharga is about 180 km from the town
of Nag Hammadi at the Nile, but there is also a new and direct
road to
Luxor, but this is closed
from most forms of transport. The town of Kharga is a modern
Egyptian town, with wide boulevards and many parks. The old
town centre has narrower roads and houses of simpler styles.
To the north lies a Coptic cemetery and the Temple of Hibis.
Today, it is the biggest New Valley
Oasis and houses 60.000 people including 1.000 Nubians who
moved here after the creation of Lake Nasser. Outside the main
center stands the temple of Hibis, one of the few Persian
monuments in Egypt, built at the site of 18th Dynasty
settlements of Saites, Persians and Ptolemies. The temple is
well-preserved and shows on its outer walls huge reliefs of
the Persian king Darius greeting Egyptian gods.
The Necropolis of Al-Bagawat is to be found
about 10 kilometers away and contains 263 mud-brick chapels
with Coptic murals including the chapel of peace with images
of Adam and Eve, the chapel of the biblical Exodus with
frescos of pharaonic troops pursuing the Jews led by Moses out
of Egypt. Pharaonic monuments include the Al-Huwaytah Temple
which dates back to 522 BC and the Temple of Amenebis.
Places of Interest
 Cemetery of Al-Bagawat
The Necropolis contains 263 tombs in the
pattern of domed chambers as well as 120 Nestorian chapels
where the dead could be worshipped.
Some of the tombs contain paintings of biblical
scenes.
In the center nestles one of the oldest
Egyptian churches dating back to the 11th century AD.
 Ain Umm Dabadib
An ancient Roman settlement in the Kharga Oasis
in the Western Desert. The site is an amazing collection of
buildings, tombs and aquaeducts. A mud brick fortress looms
high above all the other ruins distinctive with its squared
towers instead of round ones. There is also a slant sided
temple, a Coptic church, many tombs and four underground
aquaeducts.
El Deir
A mud-brick Roman fort ruin in the Kharga
Oasis. There is ample evidence that the Romans used this road,
water stations have been discovered along the route. El-Deir
means “the Monastery” which indicates its use in early
Christian times.
Qasr Sumaria
Center of an ancient community with several
other buildings surrounding it. It was a small fortress close
to Qasr El Labeka and to several other sites whose remains
without proper excavation are difficult to find.
The Temple of Dush
 Dush was a religious,
military and private housing complex that primarily developed
due to slave trade. A resting point for caravans heading to
Assiut and
Esna. The temple of Dush in
the Kharga Oasis, dedicated to Isis and Serapis, was entirely
surrounded by a mud-brick fortress. It was built during the
reigns of Domitian and Trajan in the 1st Century and decorated
during the rule of Hadrian, although the site apparently was
inhabited since the Ptolemaic era. Entering the temple through
one of its gates leads to the sanctuary which is made of two
connecting rooms and has a vaulted ceiling. On either side of
the sanctuary are chapels.
Temple of Al-Ghuwaytah
One of the few temples in the area strictly
Ptolemaic. The temple dates back to the 27th Dynasty and was
dedicated to the God-Triad Amun, Mut and Khonsu.
The Temple of Hibis Built by Darius I in
honour of Amun, the god of fertility, the Temple of Hibis is
the largest of the Persian temples built in Egypt. Constructed
in the 6th Century BC, the temple of Hibis sits atop the site
of an 18th Dynasty settlement of Saites.
Dakhla Northwest of Kharga and about 310
km southeast of Farafra lies the Oasis of Dakhla. This Oasis
consists of 14 settlements and has a population of about
70.000 people. Research studies show that the oasis has been
inhabited since prehistoric times and that once a huge lake
existed here. There are Neolithic rock paintings indicating
that the lake was frequented by elephants, buffaloes and
ostriches. As the lake dried out, the inhabitants of the area
migrated to the Nile Valley and were probably its first
settlers. Places of Interest The Town of Mut Mut is probably
the most “tourist friendly” village in the Dakhla Oasis with
accommodations and amenities including a number of hot Sulphur
springs. Winding narrow streets lead around old mud-brick
houses and to the remains of an old citadel which once was of
the old town. There is also a medieval cemetery on the
outskirts of the village.
 Al-Qasr Village
Al-Qasr at the foot of limestone cliffs and at
the edge of the lush oasis, has changed little since medieval
times. The town was built on Roman ruins, has narrow streets
and contains nowadays a population of about 700. There are 54
lintels adorning the old houses, some dating from the Ottoman
and Mamluk era, one dates back to 492 AD. The mosque is from
the Ayyubid period. It has a 21 meters high mud-brick minaret
and wooden lintels at the entrances decorated with
inscriptions from the Koran. The local madrassa (school) and
an old house have been renovated and are open to visitors.
Baharia Oasis the Oasis of Baharia lies
300 kilometers southwest of
Cairo . Little is left from the pharaonic era. The
Greco-Roman period on the other hand is represented by one of
the most important archaeological discoveries of this century,
a huge cemetery (about 6 square kilometers) in the area of El-Bawiti,
the capital of Baharia. More than one hundred mummies,
beautifully decorated - some covered with a layer of gold,
some wearing painted masks, some buried in pottery coffins and
some wrapped in linen - have been discovered until today.
Archaeologists expect to excavate over 10,000 mummies in the
near future.
The Oasis Heritage Museum in Bawiti
Located at Bawiti in the Baharia Oasis, the Oasis Heritage
Museum provides an allround history of the life in this desert
oasis. On display are clothing and jewelry along with clay
figures engaged in typical oasis activities.
 Valley of The Mummies The Valley of the
Mummies is a very recent find and the largest mummy necropolis
in Egypt until today. The complex was discovered when a donkey
nearly fell into one of the tombs. More than hundred mummies
have already been excavated. Archaeologists believe to find
perhaps 10,000 in all, including kings and nobles. The
cemetery dates to the Greco-Roman era and is located near
Bawiti at the Baharia Oasis.
 Farafra
Farafra, known as Ta-iht or the Land of the Cow
in pharaonic times, is a single village. The most isolated of
the New Valley Oases, it is known for its strict traditions
and piety. The oldest part of the village on a hillside is
next to peaceful palm groves; a short ride away hot sulphur
springs at Bir Setta and swimming in the El Mufid Lake provide
a relaxing brake. Very little is known about Farafra before
the Roman period of which a few remains have been found.
 In terms of antiquities there is little to see,
but the surrounding desert offers more than one spectacular
view. The area north-east of Qasr Farafra is called White
Desert and is definitely worth a visit (better by 4X4). Here
snow white chalk monoliths have slowly eroded into huge
strange and suggestive shapes that extend for kilometers
creating a magnificent view. Qasr Al-Farafra The only real
village in the Farafra Oasis, Qasr Al-Farafra, is a quiet and
relaxing place with only a few tourist accommodations in the
area. Most of the description of Farafra Oasis applies to the
town itself.
To know more about the fascinating world
of ancient Egypt, come and visit the land of pharaohs
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