Baharia Oasis

Chapter I. — Introduction 7

„ II. — SURVEYING METHODS AND GENERAL RESULTS 11

„ III. — THE ROADS CONNECTING THE OASIS OF BAHARIA WITH THE NILE VALLEY AND WITH OTHER OASES 17

„ IV. — TOPOGRAPHY, WITH NOTES ON THE WATER-SUPPLY, INHABITANTS, ETC. 37

„ V. — GEOLOGY 47

„ VI. — ANTIQUITIES 73

PLATES.

PLATE I. — Map of the Oasis geologically coloured at end

„ II. — Sketch Map showing Position of the Oasis „

„ III. — Villages and Principal Sources of Water „

„ IV. — Section through Western Escarpment, 11 kilometres north of south end of Depression „

„ V. — Diagrammatic Section from hill 15 kilometres north-east of Ain el Haiss to the Eocene-Cretaceous junction on desert to west „

„ VI. — Section from Mandisha through Jebel Mayesra and Conical Hill to Western Plateau „

„ VII. — Map of the Synclinal fold from Jebel Hefhuf to its termination in the Western Plateau, 13 kilometres north-west of Ain el Haiss „

„ VIII. — Sketch sections of Eastern Scarp „

ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT.

FIG. 1. — Section across Syncline, 12½ kilometres north-west of Ain el Haiss 66

„ 2. — Sketch shewing probable relations of Eocene and Cretaceous in Anticline on Western Desert Plateau, 11½ kilometres north-west of El Qasr 69

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PREFACE * * * * *

The geological examination of the Oases of the Libyan Desert was commenced in 1897, when two parties were sent out to Baharia Oasis, one under the charge of Dr. Ball, who, with Mr. G. Vuta as topographer, started from Minia and explored the eastern half of the area, while Mr. Beadnell with Mr. L. Gorringe as his topographer started from Maghagha and examined the western side of the oasis. The expeditions commenced work in October, and mapping on the scale of ¹⁄₅₀₀₀₀ the whole area was surveyed before the end of the year. The return traverses were made to Minia by the first party via Farafra to Assiut by the second. The following chapters and maps set forth the results of this joint exploration, certain gaps being filled from the data of Ascherson.

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BAHARIA OASIS * * * * *

CHAPTER I.. * * * * *

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INTRODUCTION.

The Oasis of Baharia (or Northern Oasis), also known as the Little Oasis, lies between the parallels 27° 48′ and 28° 30′ of north latitude, and between the meridians 28° 35′ and 29° 10′ east of Greenwich, being thus situated in the Libyan Desert about 180 kilometres, or four to five days’ march by camel, west of the Nile Valley (Sketchmap, Plate II). Like the other oases of the Western Desert (Farafra, Dakhla and Kharga) to the south, Baharia is a large natural excavation in the great Libyan plateau; it differs, however, from those oases, which are open on one or more sides, in being entirely surrounded by escarpments, and the vast number of isolated hills within the depression form an unique topographical feature. In Baharia, as, with the exception of Dakhla, in the oases generally, the cultivated area bears only a very small proportion to the total oasis-area, the remainder of the floor of the natural excavation being barren desert. The oasis contains four principal villages, all situated in its northern portion, and it is in the neighbourhood of these that water, and consequently vegetation, is most abundant.

The early history of Baharia is shrouded in an obscurity greater even than that surrounding the history of Kharga. That it was inhabited at a very early date is shown however by a stela of the reign of Thothmes II (about B.C. 1600-1500) found there by Ascherson, by a tomb of the 19th dynasty (B.C. 1300) and fragments of two temples, one dating from the reign of King Apries (B.C. 588-570) and the other from the reign of Amasis (B.C. 569-526), discovered by Steindorff in 1900, and by the references to it in the Ptolemaic inscriptions of the temple of Edfu. The oasis of Baharia is referred to in the hieroglyphic inscriptions of its newly-discovered temples as “the northern oasis of Amenhotep,” and as “the oasis Huye”; by Strabo it is called δεύτερα “the second” and by Ptolemy ὄασις μικρὰ “the small oasis.” The Romans have left traces of their occupation of Baharia in an arch near the village of El Qasr and other ruins, as well as in numerous wells and underground aqueducts, which latter are still used by the present inhabitants. Fragmentary ruins of churches and a Coptic village attest the fact of the occupation of the place during Christian times. At present Baharia, along with the neighbouring oasis of Farafra to the south, is administered as part of the Mudiria of Minia, and is fairly prosperous, though lacking in enterprise to an even greater extent than is shown by the two southern oases of Dakhla and Kharga.

The first European traveller to reach the oasis of Baharia appears to have been Belzoni, who reached it from Beni Suef on May 26th, 1819, and after spending some eleven days there returned by the same route. Though his observations appear to have been correctly made, the description of his travels is largely coloured by imagination, and his map appears only to have been a rough sketch. He erroneously confused Baharia with the oasis of Jupiter Ammon, whose temple he imagined he had found in the remains of the Roman arch near El Qasr, the chief village of the oasis. It is hardly necessary to remark that the oasis of Jupiter Ammon is really that now known as Siwa, situated some 340 kilometres west-north-west of Baharia.

The earliest connected modern account of the oasis of any value is that of Cailliaud, who with Letorzec visited the place in 1820 on his way from Siwa to Farafra, and during a stay of about six weeks examined and mapped some of its principal features. He drew attention to its antiquities and gave a careful description of the hot springs and ancient aqueducts, besides taking a number of observations of latitude and noting some of the topographical and geological features, such as the occurrence of volcanic rocks in the oasis. Cailliaud records his meeting in Baharia with Hyde, an English traveller, who, however, does not appear to have published any account of his wanderings.

In the winter of 1823-1824 Baharia was visited by Pacho in company with F. Muller. In an account of Pacho’s travels published after his unhappy death, there is no reference to his observations in this oasis beyond an indication of his route on the map.

Wilkinson visited the oasis of Baharia in 1825.

The Rohlfs’ expedition of 1874, with the distinguished scientists K. von Zittel and W. Jordan as geologist and topographer respectively, added very considerably to our knowledge of Baharia, more especially in the way of fixing precisely the geographical positions and levels of its principal points. Zittel, however, did not visit this oasis, and in consequence its geological structure was not studied, the few references to it made in the publications of the Rohlfs’ expedition being based on an examination of specimens collected by Ascherson.

Probably the most accurate map hitherto existing of Baharia Oasis is that of Ascherson, who spent nearly three months there in 1876. Ascherson, who entered the oasis by the road from the Fayum and returned to Samalut, chiefly directed his attention to botanical observations, but his memoir contains some valuable topographical and geological information which supplements that of previous and later observers in important measure; he has also the distinction of finding the stela of the reign of Thothmes III already referred to, and the remains of an Egyptian temple; the latter is probably identical with one of those discovered by Steindorff in 1900.

The short memoir by Capt. H. G. Lyons, R.E., published in 1894, brought together a number of observations on the geology of the Libyan Desert generally, and his discovery of fossils, referred to Exogyra Overwegi, for the first time established the Upper Cretaceous age of the clays and sandstones forming the floor and lower part of the scarp in the northern end of the depression.

In 1897 the Geological Survey carried out its examination, the results of which are set forth in the following chapters.

Since the survey expedition, Baharia has been visited by Steindorff, who during his five days’ stay in the oasis made important additions to our knowledge of its antiquities. These will be further referred to in the chapter on the topography of the oasis.

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CHAPTER II.. * * * * *

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SURVEYING METHODS AND GENERAL RESULTS.

Crossing the Libyan Desert from Maghagha and Minia respectively, the two parties of the Geological Survey met at a joint camp close to Zubbo, one of the chief villages of the oasis. It was desirable to fix this meeting-point as a primary station for the subsequent plotting of the maps. Cailliaud gave the latitude of Zubbo as 28° 21′ 47″, and its longitude as 26° 43′ 46″ E. of Paris, (equivalent to 29° 3′ 55″ E. of Greenwich). Jordan gave for Bawitti the position N. lat. 28° 21′ 12″, long. E. of Greenwich 28° 56′ 45″. Taking the difference of latitude and longitude between Bawitti and Zubbo as found by the Survey, viz., lat. + 55″, long. + 4′ 16″, we have as the equivalent of Jordan’s latitude for Zubbo 28° 22′ 7″, and for his longitude 29° 1′ 1″ E. of Greenwich. Thus, while there is a fair agreement between the two authors as regards latitude, there is a difference of 2′ 54″ in the values of the longitude.

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