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Title: An Egyptian oasis : An account of the oasis of Kharga in the Libyan desert, with special reference to its history, physical geography, and water-supply
Author: Beadnell, H. J. Llewellyn
Language: English
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*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "An Egyptian oasis : An account of the oasis of Kharga in the Libyan desert, with special reference to its history, physical geography, and water-supply" ***
[Illustration: AIN ESTAKHERAB, GENNAH]
AN EGYPTIAN OASIS
AN ACCOUNT OF THE OASIS OF KHARGA
IN THE LIBYAN DESERT, WITH SPECIAL
REFERENCE TO ITS HISTORY, PHYSICAL
GEOGRAPHY, AND WATER-SUPPLY
BY H. J. LLEWELLYN BEADNELL
F.G.S., F.R.G.S., Assoc.Inst.M.M.
FORMERLY OF THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF EGYPT
WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS
LONDON
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W.
1909
TO THE
MEMORY OF A FRIEND AND FELLOW-GEOLOGIST,
THOMAS BARRON,
WHO LOST HIS LIFE IN THE SUDAN
IN FEBRUARY, 1906
PREFACE
The inhabited depressions of the Libyan Desert, called by Herodotus
the ‘Islands of the Blest,’ are interesting alike to the
archæologist, to the geographer and geologist, and to the tourist
who wishes to wander from the well-beaten tracks, and perhaps
none more so than the Oasis of Kharga, lying 130 miles west of
Luxor—the site of ancient Thebes—and recently connected by
railway with the Nile Valley.
Descended from the ancient Libyans, the inhabitants of the Egyptian
oases (numbering over 30,000 souls) are quite distinct from the
Fellahin and Bedawin of the Nile Valley. Isolated by arid and
desolate wastes, these communities occupy quaint walled-in towns
and villages, tucked away among groves of palms, interspersed
with smiling gardens and fields of corn. Rain is almost unknown,
and rivers are non-existent, the trees and crops being irrigated
by bubbling wells, deriving their waters from deep-seated sources.
Kharga—the subject of the present memoir—formed part of the Great
Oasis of ancient days, and was governed in turn by the Pharaohs, the
Persian Monarchs, and the Roman Emperors. Through it the ill-fated
army of Cambyses is recorded to have marched, and in it is to be
seen the most important Persian monument in Egypt, the temple of
Hibis. But most interesting of all is the wonderfully preserved Early
Christian necropolis, dating from the time of Bishop Nestorius, who
was banished to Kharga in A.D. 434. Juvenal, Athanasius, and other
celebrities likewise appear to have made unwilling acquaintance
with this portion of the Roman Empire.
The character of the people at the present day—a curious mixture
of stupidity, apathy, and shrewdness—seems to reflect in great
measure their past history, as well as the peculiar conditions
under which they still live. A history of the inhabitants since
the withdrawal of the Roman garrisons would resolve itself into
an account of an endless combat with Nature, which, with sand and
wind as its chief agents, has never abated its efforts to recover
those tracts which the Ancients, by the exercise of much skill and
industry, wrested from the desert.
As a member of the Geological Survey of Egypt from 1896 to 1905,
I spent nearly nine years in survey and exploration work in the
Egyptian deserts, and for the past three years I have been in
charge of extensive boring and land-reclamation operations in the
particular oasis with which this book deals, so that I have had
exceptional opportunities of studying at first hand a region of
peculiar interest. Among other questions dealt with are the vast
systems of subterranean aqueducts constructed by the Romans; the
extensive lakes which occupied the floor of the oasis-depression
well into historic times; the rate and mode of movement of desert
sand-dunes; the formation and gradual elevation of the cultivated
terraces by the constant accumulation of wind-borne material; and
the deep-seated water-supplies, a subject which, in view of recent
discussions as to the origin of the artesian waters of arid regions,
is of more than local interest.
Some portions of the book, more especially those dealing with
geology and water-supply, have already been published in somewhat
different form in the Geological Magazine, and I am indebted to
Dr. Henry Woodward, F.R.S., for permission to reproduce them, as
well as the plate showing Bore No. 39 and the geological section
across the oasis.
The illustrations are reproduced from photographs taken by
me at different times during the last few years. The maps,
showing the relative positions of the oasis and the Nile Valley,
the caravan roads, and the geology, have been compiled from all
available published material, chiefly the work of Dr. John Ball and
myself. Some portions of these, as well as the plan showing the
subterranean aqueducts of Um El Dabâdib, are now published for
the first time. The caravan routes, while shown with sufficient
accuracy for all practical purposes, have not been surveyed with
the same degree of exactness as the other details shown on the maps.
H. J. LLEWELLYN BEADNELL.
LONDON,
_March_, 1909.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. THE LIBYAN DESERT AND ITS OASES 1
II. EARLY RECORDS 12
III. THE ROADS LEADING TO THE OASIS 25
IV. TOPOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY 45
V. THE NORTHERN VILLAGES 61
VI. THE SOUTHERN VILLAGES 75
VII. THE OASIS UNDER PERSIAN AND ROMAN RULE 86
VIII. THE EXTINCT LAKES OF THE OASIS 110
IX. THE UNDERGROUND WATER-SUPPLY 123
X. FLOWING WELLS: SOME EXPERIMENTS AND OBSERVATIONS 139
XI. THE ORIGIN OF THE ARTESIAN WATERS 154
XII. THE ANCIENT SUBTERRANEAN AQUEDUCTS 167
XIII. BORING METHODS: ANCIENT AND MODERN 186
XIV. THE CONTEST BETWEEN MAN AND WIND- BORNE SAND 198
XV. SOME ECONOMICAL ASPECTS OF THE OASIS 212
XVI. SOME NOTES ON SPORT AND NATURAL HISTORY 224
APPENDIX: LITERATURE ON THE OASIS OF KHARGA 234
INDEX 237
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
1. AIN ESTAKHERAB, GENNAH _Frontispiece_
FACING
PAGE
2. A PASS INTO THE OASIS 16
3. THE RAILWAY DESCENDING INTO THE OASIS THROUGH THE 38
CHALK FORMATION
4. THE CHRISTIAN NECROPOLIS AND JEBEL TER 46
{A STREET IN KHARGA }
5.{ }66
{KHARGA VILLAGE }
6. ENCROACHMENT OF SAND-DUNES AT MEHERIQ 70
{A PTOLEMAIC TEMPLE (QASR EL GHUATA) }
7.{ }73
{DOUM-PALMS NEAR QASR EL GHUATA }
8. AIN DAKHAKHIN 78
9. DUSH VILLAGE 84
10. THE TEMPLE OF HIBIS, FROM THE SOUTH-EAST 92
11. THE TEMPLE OF HIBIS (INTERIOR) 96
12. THE CHRISTIAN NECROPOLIS 103
13. BIBLICAL SCENES IN A TOMB OF THE NECROPOLIS 104
14. LACUSTRINE DEPOSITS AT EL GALA, NEAR BULAQ 110
{COFFIN MASKS FROM BELLAIDA }
15.{ }116
{ANCIENT POTTERY FROM THE LACUSTRINE DEPOSITS }
16. FLINT IMPLEMENTS 120
17. AN ARTESIAN WELL (BORE NO. 39) 124
{BORE NO. 5 }
18.{ }142
{BORE NO. 14 }
19. LANDS UNDER RECLAMATION AT BORE NO. 39 156
20. AIN AMUR, ON THE UPPER DAKHLA ROAD 165
21. QASR LEBEKHA AND THE NORTHERN ESCARPMENT OF THE OASIS 169
22. RUINS AT UM EL DABADIB 172
{A STEAM BORING RIG }
23.{ }196
{A HAND BORING RIG }
24. A BELT OF DUNES NEAR QASR LEBEKHA 200
25. SAND EROSION ON SUMMIT OF JEBEL TARIF 206
26. THE CORPORATION’S HOMESTEAD (HEADQUARTERS) 208
27. DOUM-PALMS AT AIN GIRM MESHIM 218
{A WADI IN JEBEL TARIF }
28.{ }222
{A RIVER OF SAND NEAR UM EL DABADIB }
MAPS AND SECTIONS
I. THE CARAVAN ROUTES TO THE OASIS OF KHARGA 26
II. SKETCH-MAP SHOWING THE GEOLOGY AND THE ANCIENT LAKES 50
OF THE OASIS OF KHARGA
III. GEOLOGICAL SECTION ACROSS THE OASIS, FROM JEBEL 56
TARIF TO THE EASTERN ESCARPMENT
IV. THE SUBTERRANEAN AQUEDUCTS OF UM EL DABADIB 176
AN EGYPTIAN OASIS
CHAPTER I
THE LIBYAN DESERT AND ITS OASES
Contrast of Libyan Desert and Nile Valley — Area and Geographical
Position — Barrenness — Dunes and Sand-submerged Areas —
Underlying Water-charged Sandstones — Early History of Oases —
Condition in Prehistoric Times — Cultivated Lands and Wells.
No more striking contrast can be imagined than that between the
intensely cultivated Valley of the Nile and the barren deserts on
either side. There are arid wastes in many parts of the world—in
Australia, in the Western States of America, in Asia—but in
point of desolateness, in the absence of animal and vegetable life,
there is probably nothing to rival the greater portion of the Libyan
Desert, on the west side of the Nile. Its barrenness is aggressive;
it is not necessary to travel far to make its acquaintance; so sharp
is the junction that, in a single step, one may pass from the richly
cultivated alluvial soil of the Nile to the bare sandy plains which
skirt the more rocky interior of the desert. Along the borders of the
Egyptian wastes one generally looks in vain for the Persian poet’s
“Strip of herbage strown,
That just divides the desert from the sown.”
Geographically the Libyan Desert is the eastern and most inhospitable
portion of the Sahara, or Great Desert of Africa. On the north and
east its boundaries are clearly defined by the Mediterranean Sea and
the Valley of the Nile; on the south it is bounded by the Darfur
and Kordofan regions of the Egyptian Sudan; to the south-west its
limits may be regarded as coterminous with the elevated districts
of Tibesti; while on the west it stretches to the outlying oases
of Fezzan and Tripoli. Its area is about 850,000 square miles,
or approximately seven times that of the British Isles.
With the exception of a narrow belt fringing the Mediterranean, the
region is, to all intents and purposes, rainless, the occasional
thunderstorms being extremely local, and seldom breaking over
the same district in two consecutive years. In the more elevated
deserts on the eastern side of the Nile rains appear to be of
sufficiently frequent occurrence to maintain a water-supply in the
isolated water-holes and valley-springs, and to allow of the growth
of a fairly permanent though scanty herbage in the more favoured
areas. The Eastern desert does, therefore, to some extent, support
a migratory Arab population. On the other hand, the greater portion
of the Libyan Desert is quite devoid of vegetation and water-holes,
and is, in consequence, uninhabited even by nomad tribes. At the
same time, the extreme barrenness of the region as a whole is in
great measure counterbalanced by a number of isolated fertile oases,
in which there is a permanent resident population, deriving its
water-supplies entirely from underground sources.
The term ‘oasis,’ an ancient Egyptian word signifying a
resting-place, in its strict sense means a fertile spot in a desert,
but in Egypt has usually been applied to a depression as a whole,
each individual cultivated area being known by the name of the
well from which its water is derived. The chief groups of oases in
the Libyan Desert are the Siwan on the north, that of Kufra on the
west, and the Egyptian, including the four large oases of Baharia,
Farafra, Dakhla, and Kharga, on the east. The present volume deals
more especially with the last of these.
The Libyan Desert is primarily divisible into two entirely
different parts, distinguished by the presence or absence of
surface accumulations of blown sand. Extensive dunes are confined
to the western portion, where areas of hundreds of square miles
are literally buried under deep seas of sand, blown into more
or less parallel dunes of great height, lying N.N.W. and S.S.E.,
in the direction of the prevailing winds. In this country it is
almost impossible to travel in a latitudinal direction, so that the
sand-covered area forms an effective barrier between the Egyptian
oases and Kufra, one of the strongholds and, at any rate until
recently, the headquarters of the powerful Senussi sect. It is
probable that, within the last century, the area of this sand has
extended considerably to the south, as an old caravan road trending
westwards, and believed to have originally connected the oases of
Dakhla and Kufra, is now lost in the dunes. As long ago as 1874
some of the members of the Rohlfs expedition made an attempt to
penetrate westwards from Dakhla, but on reaching the edge of the
great sand-region, about 170 kilometres W.S.W. of Qasr Dakhl, were
compelled to turn northwards and travel in a direction parallel
to the lines of dunes, from which they emerged, after a long and
wearisome journey of 400 kilometres, in the neighbourhood of the
oasis of Siwa. Outlying portions of this sand invade the Egyptian
oases; for instance, the depression of El Daila, lying to the west
of Farafra, is to a great extent filled with blown sand, while an
extensive area in the south of Farafra itself is buried under dunes.
On the eastern portion the sand is for the most part confined to
isolated lines of dunes, the most remarkable being that known as
the Abu Mohariq. This commences in latitude 29° 45′ north, at
Arûs el Buqar, some 50 kilometres south-west of the Mogara swamp,
in the low country to the south of the great east and west Miocene
escarpment. From Arûs el Buqar the Abu Mohariq sand-belt runs in
an almost straight and unbroken line across the Libyan plateau to
the oasis of Kharga, through which it continues into the desert
to the south. The average breadth of this line of dunes is only
some 6 or 7 kilometres, whereas its length cannot be less than
650. Less extensive accumulations of blown sand are found in the
oases themselves, in the depressions of Gharaq and Muailla to the
south of the Fayûm, and encroaching on the cultivated lands of
the Nile Valley between Bahnessa and Mellawi.
The eastern part of the Libyan Desert, in which are situated
the Egyptian oases, is itself divisible into three areas having
essentially different characters, the northern being an undulating
rolling country of sandstones, grits, and gravels; the central
consisting of bare elevated limestone plateaux; the southern a
lower-lying expanse of rugged sandstone, broken only occasionally
by ridges and bosses of granite and other crystalline rocks.
The Egyptian oases are deep and broad hollows or depressions in the
Libyan Desert plateau. In position they appear to coincide with areas
where rocks of comparative softness became exposed at the surface
during the gradual lowering of the country by denudation. At such
points the general rate of weathering must have become greatly
accelerated, with the result that those vast depressions, which
form such conspicuous features in the configuration of the country
at the present day, were eventually cut out.
Underlying the greater part of the Libyan Desert are porous
sandstones, and these, when pierced by deep borings put down from the
lower-lying parts of the floors of the depressions, yield abundant
supplies of water of remarkable purity. As these sandstones, as
well as the shales with which they are associated, have a general
dip or inclination from south to north, we are led to infer that
they outcrop or come to the surface to the south, so that in all
probability the water with which they are so highly charged has
its origin in that direction. Whether the water obtains access to
the sandstones by direct infiltration of the rains of Abyssinia or
the Sudan, from the swamps of the sudd region of the Upper Nile,
or from the Nile itself in the Nubian reaches, has not yet been
decided with certainty. Recent observations, however, show that far
more water is lost in some reaches of the Nile than can be accounted
for by irrigation and evaporation, and it seems probable, therefore,
that the excess disappears by infiltration into these sandstones.
Little is known of the early history of the oases, though the
remains of ancient towns and cemeteries are abundant, and only await
systematic excavation by Egyptologists to bring our knowledge of
this part of Egypt into line with that of the Nile Valley. That
the oases were inhabited in prehistoric times is evident from the
occurrence of flint implements of Palæolithic types, both on the
margins of the surrounding plateaux and within the depressions,
though there is not at present sufficient evidence to enable us to
affirm that the makers and users of these flints were contemporaneous
with Palæolithic man in Europe. Implements of Neolithic type,
often of finished workmanship, are, moreover, common in places on
the floors of the depressions, but it is probable that these were
in use well into the historic period.
In historic times the oases, according to Sayce, were governed by
Egyptian Kings in the eighteenth dynasty (1545-1350 B.C.), and the
oldest monuments as yet found in the oases-depressions date from this
period. The most important of the earlier remains belong, however,
to the Persian epoch, notably the temple of Hibis near the modern
village of Kharga, which was built by Darius. Ptolemaic remains
are also known in Kharga, but the greater number of the historical
monuments date from the time of Roman occupation, when the oases
appear to have attained a considerable degree of prosperity, which
continued to Coptic times. Since the Mohammedan conquest of Egypt
they have fallen into a state of neglect, and with the consequent
diminution of the water-supply the population has decreased, and
large areas of formerly fertile country have been absorbed by the
surrounding desert.
It is interesting to speculate on the conditions which obtained
in Kharga before the first borings were made, as at the present
day we cannot point, so far as I am aware, to a single natural
efflux of water on the floor of the depression. Surface-water,
of quite a different character from the deep-seated water, is
met with at comparatively shallow depths in various localities,
and may either represent drainage water from the flowing wells
and cultivated tracts, or be water which has escaped from the
underground sandstones and found its way to the surface through
fissures. Probably it is derived from both sources. In prehistoric
times natural springs fed through fissures may have existed here
and there within the depressions; and in any case it is probable
that prehistoric man obtained sufficient supplies by sinking wells
into the upper sandstones, which in some parts of the oasis occur at
or near the surface, and contain large quantities of sub-surface or
sub-artesian water. Nothing is known as to when flowing wells were
first obtained, or by whom the original deep borings were made,
and no traces of the implements used have been discovered. Many of
these ancient wells, frequently over 120 metres in depth, continue
to flow at the present day, although in most cases with a greatly
diminished output; a few, however, are still running day and night
at the rate of several hundred gallons a minute.
In some parts of the oases water-bearing sandstones occur at
or near the surface, and from these beds the Romans obtained
additional supplies by the excavation of underground collecting
tunnels. Subterranean works of this description are found in all the
oases, the most remarkable being in Baharia and at Um el Dabâdib
and Jebel Lebekha in Kharga. They are frequently of great length,
cut throughout in solid rock, and connected with the surface above
by numerous vertical air-shafts. Many of the latter measure from 30
to 50 metres in depth, so that the construction of these and the
horizontal carrying channels must have involved an immense amount
of labour.
In Roman times water-stations appear to have been maintained
at frequent intervals on the desert roads between the oases and
the Nile Valley, and a great development of the water-supply took
place. After the Arab invasion, however, no attention seems to have
been given to irrigation works, the wells, owing to silting, becoming
gradually choked up. As the result of this neglect the water-supply
diminished to such an extent that a large portion of the population
was compelled to emigrate to the Nile Valley, and even the remaining
inhabitants were scarce able to raise sufficient supplies for their
maintenance. Within the last fifty years a considerable number of
new wells have been made by means of simple hand-boring appliances
sent out by the Egyptian Government; most of the new bores have
been very successful, but latterly, through want of effective
supervision, a great deal of harm has been done by promiscuous
boring. Moreover, a very large amount of water is wasted owing to
the wells not being fitted with regulating and closing appliances;
the water, when not required for irrigation, continues to run,
finding its way to the low-lying lands, and forming swamps which
furnish ideal breeding-grounds for fever-carrying mosquitoes.
Within the last year or two this part of Egypt has received renewed
attention; extensive boring operations and land reclamation works
have been commenced, and the oasis of Kharga has been brought into
railway communication with the rest of Egypt.
The floor-level of the oases varies considerably, but in general the
cultivated lands lie between 30 and 120 metres above sea-level. The
exact area under cultivation is only known very approximately,
but it is certain that with an increased water-supply it could
be very much augmented. The existing water-supply is totally
insufficient to irrigate the available lands, and such portions of
the latter as are tilled are generally left fallow in alternate
years, and in many cases are only under crops once every four or
five years. Now that an attempt is being made to restore the oases
to their former prosperity, the question of ownership of land has
become of the greatest importance, and it is one bristling with
difficulties. As a general rule the wells are owned collectively,
the different proprietors having the right to utilize the flow
for periods corresponding to the extent of their holdings in
the well. Individual shares may amount to as much as one-third
or one-half of the well, or be only the merest fraction; in the
latter case the small holders combine so as to obtain control of
the flow for an appreciable period. Frequently the whole of the
land irrigated by a well is cultivated collectively, the crop on
reaping being divided among the owners in portions corresponding to
their shares of the water. The question of ownerships is further
complicated by there being persons who own water but no land,
and by others who claim land but own no water.
CHAPTER II
EARLY RECORDS
Travellers’ Names inscribed on the Monuments — Poncet passes
through Kharga _en route_ for Ethiopia — Browne — Cailliaud’s
Extensive Researches — Drovetti — Sir Archibald Edmonstone,
Bart., discovers Dakhla Oasis — Hoskins — Exaggerated Opinions of
Ancients regarding the Oases — Names of Explorers on the Walls of
Hibis — Rohlfs’ Expedition — Zittel’s Geological Work —
The words ‘Oasis,’ ‘Wah,’ ‘Otu,’ and ‘Set-ament’
— A Theban Myth — Dr. Schweinfurth — Brugsch Bey — Captain
H. G. Lyons — Government Survey of the Oases — Dr. John Ball.
Inscribed on the walls of the ancient monuments in the oasis one
frequently comes across the names of travellers who visited the
same scenes fifty, a hundred, or even two hundred years ago. Many
of these explorers wrote descriptions of their travels and
experiences, and such early records are naturally of the greatest
interest and importance; unfortunately they are now out of print
and somewhat difficult to procure, so that I make no apology for
briefly referring to those which I have been able to examine. Most
of these early records are extremely quaint, and although they are
chiefly descriptive of the personal experiences and impressions of
the writers, in some cases numerous observations are recorded in
a sufficiently exact manner to be of permanent scientific value.
A French physician, Monsieur Poncet, who passed through Kharga
in 1698, _en route_ for Abyssinia, appears to have been the
only traveller who left any written records of the Great Oasis
between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries. A translation
of the account of his travels was published in English in 1709
(‘A Voyage to Æthiopia’). Accompanied by one Hagi Ali, an
officer of the Abyssinian Emperor, and by a Jesuit missionary,
Father Charles Francis Xaverius de Brevedent, Poncet set out from
the town of Manfalut in the Nile Valley, and travelled along the
Derb el Arbaîn, the well-known caravan route to the south. His
description of this portion of the journey is as follows:
“We set forward on the 2d of October early in the Morning, and
from that very Day we enter’d a frightful Desart. These Desarts
are extremely dangerous, because the Sands being moving are rais’d
by the least Wind which darken the Air, and falling afterwards in
Clouds, Passingers are often buried in them, or at least lose the
Route, which they ought to keep.”
Poncet refers to the oasis as ‘Helaoue,’ but although his caravan
rested there four days, before proceeding to Dongola, via Shebb
and Selîma, he makes no reference to the antiquities; in fact, his
remarks on this region are extremely meagre. To quote his own words:
“We Arriv’d on the 6th of October at Helaoue; ’Tis a pretty
large Borough, and the last that is under the Grand Signior’
Jurisdiction. There is a Garrison in it of 500 Janisaries and 300
Spahi’s under the Command of an Officer whom in that Country they
call Kachif. Helaoue is very pleasant, and answers fully its Name,
which signifies a Country of Sweetness. Here are to be seen a great
Number of Gardens water’d with Brooks, and a World of Palm-trees,
which preserve a continual Verdure, Coloquintida is to be found
there, and all the Fields are fill’d with Senna, which grows upon
a Shrub, about three Foot High. This Drug which is so esteem’d
in Europe, is of no use in the Country hereabouts. The Inhabitants
of Helaoue in their Illnesses, make only Use of the Root of Ezula,
which for a whole Night they infuse in Milk, and take the day after,
having first Strain’d it thro’ a Sieve. This Medicine is very
Violent, but ’tis what they like and commend very much. The Ezula
is a thick Tree, the Blossom of which is blue; it grows into a sort
of Ball, of an Oval Figure, full of Cotton, of which the People of
that Country make pretty fine Cloth.”
Referring to the deserts which surround the oases, Poncet remarks:
“Those vast Wildernesses, where there is neither to be found Bird,
nor wild Beast, nor Herbs, no nor so much as a little Fly, and where
nothing is to be seen but Mountains of Sand, and the Carcasses,
and Bones of Camels, Imprint a certain horrour in the Mind, which
makes this Voyage very tedious and disagreeable. It wou’d be a
hard matter, to Cross those frightful Desarts without the Assistance
of Camels. These Animals will continue six or seven Days, without
either eating or drinking, which I cou’d never have believ’d,
if I had not observ’d it very particularly.” Poncet further
relates that he was assured by a venerable old gentleman of his
caravan that camels had been known to cover a desert journey of
forty days and nights without either food or water. Although it is
to be feared that the ‘ship of the desert’ at the present day is
scarcely so abstemious as formerly, we must admit that Poncet’s
description of the sterility of the Libyan Desert is little, if at
all, exaggerated. One may, indeed, travel for hours without seeing
bird, beast, or herb; and even ‘the little fly,’ which seldom
fails to make known its presence for some time after leaving the
inhabited districts, generally forsakes one before the caravan has
proceeded far into the depths of the desert.
W. G. Browne traversed the same route nearly a hundred years later,
passing through the oasis in June, 1793. He relates how he entered
the depression at the northern extremity, at the pass known as El
Ramlia, and camped at Ain Dizé (probably in the neighbourhood of
the modern Ain el Qasr), eight hours’ march from Kharga. Browne
passed through the depression from north to south, visiting Kharga,
Bulaq, Beris, and Maks, whence he followed the usual route to
Shebb and Selîma. Like his predecessor, he makes no mention of
the antiquities.
Cailliaud, a young French mineralogist, explored Kharga in 1818,
and to him we owe the earliest published detailed descriptions
and illustrations of the chief antiquities of the oasis. As the
existence of important monuments in the oasis was at that time quite
unsuspected, Cailliaud’s work attracted considerable attention,
and his drawings and descriptions were purchased and published
by the French Government and dedicated to the King. Cailliaud set
out from Esna in the Nile Valley and crossed the Libyan plateau to
the village of Jaja. After visiting the most southerly villages of
Dush and Beris, he journeyed northwards to Kharga, then, as now,
the chief village, whence, on the completion of his researches, he
returned to Farshut on the Nile, via Dêr el Ghennîma and the Wadi
Samhûd. Cailliaud’s observations are almost entirely confined
to the archæology of the oasis, and his writings yield little
information regarding the villages, wells, and cultivated lands.
The Chevalier Drovetti, French Consul-General in Egypt, visited
Kharga the same year as Monsieur Cailliaud. He started from Beniâdi,
following the Derb el Arbaîn caravan route southwards, and entered
the depression at the northern extremity. Drovetti traversed the
oasis from north to south, and proceeded thence to Dongola. Later,
on his return journey, he crossed the depression in the opposite
direction, eventually returning to the Nile Valley by way of the
oasis of Dakhla and the Derb el Tawîl.
[Illustration: A PASS INTO THE OASIS.]
In 1820 Cailliaud again passed through Kharga. He had explored
the oasis of Siwa the previous year, whence he travelled, via
Baharia and Farafra, to Dakhla, and thence past Ain Amûr to Kharga
village. On this occasion no further researches were undertaken in
the depression.
Sir Archibald Edmonstone, Bart., accompanied by two friends, visited
Dakhla and Kharga in 1819, and constructed a rough but fairly
accurate map, showing the relative position of the two oases,
with their bounding escarpments and principal villages. Their
situation in the Libyan Desert, with regard to the Nile Valley,
is, however, greatly in error, being shown fully a degree too far
west and nearly half a degree too far north. Edmonstone followed
the Derb el Tawîl route from Beniâdi in the Nile Valley to the
village of Belat in Dakhla, returning by the Ain Amûr road to
Kharga, and thence to Farshut. The major portion of the account
of his travels refers to Dakhla, of which oasis he must, indeed,
be regarded as the modern discoverer.
Hoskins explored Kharga in 1835, and published a most valuable
and engaging account of his travels a couple of years later. This
work, entitled ‘Visit to the Great Oasis of the Libyan Desert,’
contains a number of illustrations depicting the scenery, the chief
monuments and their hieroglyphics, etc., made from original drawings
and paper casts. Many of the inscriptions are given in full, both
in the original and translated into English, and the work of all
previous writers and explorers is carefully summarized. In some cases
I have verified the accuracy of Hoskins’ drawings by comparing
them with photographs taken from the same points, and have been
much struck with the insignificant amount of decay which some of
the buildings have undergone during the course of over seventy years.
Rizagat, near Thebes, was Hoskins’ starting-point, and he entered
the depression by the Bulaq pass, crossing the oasis-floor to the
eminence known as El Gorn el Gennâh. Surveying the oasis from
this point of vantage, Hoskins remarks that the attractions of the
cultivated portions of the depression, those
“Tufted isles that verdant rise amid the Libyan waste,”
are apt to be exaggerated, owing to their great contrast to the
surrounding deserts. “The fair appearance then of this oasis is
in a great measure fictitious; and has chiefly its origin in the
relief afforded to the mind, wearied by the monotony and dreariness
of the surrounding wastes. It seems to me therefore, that the only
rational way of accounting for the exaggerated epithets which the
ancient writers and some modern travellers have applied to this
district, is to attribute them to their surprise, at finding in
such a fearful region any verdure, any habitable spot, and to the
exhilarating effect on the spirits of this agreeable contrast to
the dreary deserts which they have just crossed. But comfortless as
was my journey through the wilderness, and beautiful as the woods of
palm-trees, doums, and acacias in the Oasis certainly are, still the
vivid recollection of the superior loveliness of the banks of the
Nile, prevents my consenting to call these regions ‘the Gardens
of the Hesperides’; and sadly must the oasis have diminished in
beauty, if it ever merited the praise which Herodotus bestowed upon
the place, in calling it ‘the Island of the Blessed.’”
Hoskins, who was accompanied by two other Englishmen, made splendid
use of the fortnight spent in the oasis, although unfortunately, just
before the termination of his visit, he sustained a violent attack
of fever. Their departure is thus described: “After ascending
the mountain which bounds the Oasis, we lingered some time at the
summit, to take, I may certainly say, our last view of the place;
for having, as the Arabs say, got all its antiquities on paper,
and having providentially once escaped its pestilential atmosphere,
we shall never, I think, by any possibility, have the slightest
inclination to revisit such a baneful region.”
Most of these early explorers found time to cut their names on
the walls of the temple of Hibis, and Cailliaud must have spent
hours in this occupation, as he has left a long and neatly executed
inscription recording himself as the original and genuine discoverer
of that noble edifice. The names of these explorers, who in some
cases suffered considerable hardships in visiting the oases, are,
however, quite overshadowed by the numberless scrawls made in
recent years by a host of otherwise unknown petty officials of the
Government, who have had to take their turn of duty and banishment
in the greatly dreaded desert. The dated names cut in the walls of
the temple are of some value, as an examination of them frequently
yields reliable evidence of the rate of weathering of the stone
since the time at which they were inscribed.
It was not until after the winter of 1873-74, when the great German
expedition, under the leadership of Rohlfs, with Zittel, Jordan,
and Ascherson as geologist, topographer, and botanist respectively,
visited all the chief oases of the eastern portion of the Libyan
Desert, that any connected scientific observations of importance,
other than those dealing with archæology, were published. The Rohlfs
expedition astronomically determined the positions of selected
points in each oasis, and produced a map on which the principal
villages and the approximate limits of the depressions were correctly
shown. Zittel at the same time worked out the general relations of
the different geological formations found in the country, described
their main divisions, and indicated approximately the areas occupied
by them. So thoroughly, indeed, did this expedition accomplish its
mission that its results have formed a sound basis for all later
scientific work in this part of Egypt.
As the voluminous memoirs recording the observations of the members
of the Rohlfs expedition are easily obtainable at the present day,
it is unnecessary here to do more than briefly refer to a few of
their more general remarks on the oasis of Kharga. In his ‘Three
Months in the Libyan Desert,’ Gerhard Rohlfs states that he and
his companions travelled from Dakhla Oasis by the Ain Amûr road,
and were greeted at Kharga village by Schweinfurth, who was for the
time being residing in a disused alum factory. Rohlfs spent only
two or three days in the neighbourhood of Kharga, and remarks that
the expedition did not undertake detailed work on the antiquities,
as the latter had already been so competently described by Hoskins
and other previous explorers; a few corrections and amendments of
published accounts of the temple were, however, made. The splendid
preservation of the Christian necropolis, with its mausolea of
unburnt brick, is remarked upon, and Rohlfs adds that, in beauty
and ingenious arrangement, this burial-ground can only be excelled
by the necropolis of Cyrene.
Rohlfs describes Kharga village as being pretty from a distance, but
remarks that the narrow dirty alleys are the pictures of laziness
and poverty; the streets are covered in for protection against the
rays of the sun, a common practice throughout the Sahara.
The word ‘oasis’ is old Egyptian, as also is the Arabic
‘wah,’ the latter word being also found in Coptic, and signifying
an inhabited place; nevertheless, the word ‘wah’ was never used
by the ancient Egyptians to designate the oases. These they called
‘otu,’ which means a place where bodies are embalmed. ‘Otu’
has its origin in the Theban myth, according to which Seth, the
murderer of Osiris, was pursued by Horus to Koptos, where he was
captured and thrown into a dungeon. His corpse was afterwards
found by his friends, and taken to the oases for burial.[1] The
inscriptions on the temple of Hibis in Kharga refer to the oases
under the comprehensive name ‘Set-ament,’ the ‘Western
Lands.’
About the same time Dr. Schweinfurth, whose services to Egypt in
so many branches of science stand pre-eminent, published important
contributions on some of the archæological remains. Two or three
years later Brugsch Bey brought out an account of the antiquities
of the oasis, with translations of a number of the inscriptions on
the temples of Nadûra and Hibis. The antiquities will be briefly
referred to in my account of the history of the oasis under the
Persians and the Romans, and for fuller details the reader is
referred to the publications of Cailliaud, Hoskins, Schweinfurth,
Brugsch, and some still later writers.
In 1893-94 Captain H. G. Lyons, R.E., in the course of a military
patrol, undertaken in order to ascertain the measures necessary
to protect the inhabitants of the oasis from possible Dervish
raids, made valuable geological observations on the Eocene and
Cretaceous systems, especially in relation to the connection of
folding and water-supply. These he discussed in a paper read before
the Geological Society of London in 1894, and it was mainly due to
the interest it aroused, and to his initiative in pointing out to
the Egyptian authorities the importance of having a comprehensive
examination of the country carried out, that the Geological Survey
of Egypt was established in 1896.
The detailed survey of the Libyan Desert was taken up in October,
1897, and completed in June of the following year, the four
oases being mapped on the scale of 1 to 50,000 by plane-table
triangulation, checked and adjusted by numerous astronomical
observations. Direct measurements by measuring-wheel were also
employed to a considerable extent. Baharia Oasis was the first to be
taken in hand, Mr. Leonard Gorringe and I taking the western side,
and my colleagues, Messrs. Ball and Vuta, the eastern. This plan of
splitting up an oasis-depression between two surveying parties was
not, however, found satisfactory, and on the completion of Baharia
it was decided that Ball should take up the oasis of Kharga, while
Farafra and Dakhla fell to my lot. The results of this survey are
published in the Memoirs of the Geological Survey of Egypt.
During the last three years I have been fortunate in having had
opportunities of studying in some detail the topography, geology, and
water-supply of the oasis of Kharga. This detailed examination has
enabled me to revise and amplify pioneer work, and has, in certain
instances, forced me to differ from the opinions expressed by my
predecessors in the same field, views which, in the light of the
evidence available at the time, were doubtless well justified. In
the same way may future research necessitate the modification or
alteration of the conclusions herein expressed, and for many years
to come the region of the oases will offer a vast field for further
scientific work.
Before concluding this brief account of the literature on the oasis
of Kharga, I should like to take the opportunity of expressing my
high appreciation of the energy and purpose of my former colleague,
Dr. John Ball, who, in spite of the many hardships and difficulties
inseparable from scientific work in the Libyan Desert, in such a
short time accomplished so much.
CHAPTER III
THE ROADS LEADING TO THE OASIS
Lines of Communication between the Nile Valley, Kharga, and Dakhla
Oasis — Principal Passes out of the Oasis — Ascent to Plateau
with Caravans — Main Roads to Assiut, Sohag, Karnak, Esna, and
Edfu — Nature of intervening Plateau — Ghubbâri Road to Dakhla
— The Upper or Ain Amûr Road — The Railway between the Nile
Valley and the Oasis — Nature of Desert Roads — The Bedawin
Arabs — Cross-Country Traverses as the Crow flies — Traverse
from Farafra to Assiut — Rate of Travelling with Camels.
The oasis of Kharga is in communication with Dakhla to the west,
and with the Nile Valley to the east, by a number of caravan
routes, the most frequented of which connect directly with the two
villages Kharga and Beris, in the north and south of the depression
respectively. Formerly, everyone bound for the oasis was compelled
to undertake a four or five days’ journey along one or other of
these routes, and although nowadays most persons will elect to
cross the plateau by train, a description of the oasis would be
incomplete without some reference to the desert roads.[2]
The depression is for the most part bounded by steep and lofty
escarpments, quite inaccessible to camels, except at a few points
where the gradients are less severe, and the loose blocks of rock
and other cliff débris have been removed. The principal passes
up the eastern scarp of the oasis are seven in number, the most
northerly, known as El Ramlia, being in the extreme north-east
corner of the depression. Thirteen kilometres south of this is El
Yabsa pass. The next is the Refûf, at the head of the gully 45
kilometres north-east of Kharga village. A little farther south,
east of the old Roman fort near the foot of Jebel Ghennîma, one of
the two prominent outliers of the eastern plateau, is the pass of
Abu Sighawâl, and 35 kilometres to the south is the Nagab Bulaq,
N.N.E. of the village of Bulaq. In the south end of the oasis there
are passes to the north-east of Jaja, and N.N.E. of Dush. These
seven passes are the main exits from the depression on the east
side, though there are several other little-used routes, up which
lightly laden camels can be taken, for instance, near Jebel Um el
Ghennaim. The illustration showing the descent to the depression was,
in fact, taken at one of the latter.
Although the roads ascend the escarpments at the best available
points, in some cases taking advantage of the easier gradients of
the extensive cake-like masses of calcareous tufa, which in places
have been deposited over the face of the original cliffs, their
ascent with heavily laden camels may at times become somewhat of an
undertaking. The paths are frequently rough, and the difference in
height between the foot of the scarp and the plateau is usually
between 200 and 300 metres. The pack-saddles should always be
carefully adjusted and secured by ropes passing round the base of
the neck or below the butt of the tail, according to whether the
caravan is making the ascent or descent; otherwise the loads are
likely to slip off, and the restricted limits of a steep path,
in the middle of a train of camels, is not an ideal place for
their readjustment. In hot weather the ascent to the plateau,
though perhaps occupying only one or one and a half hours, will
take as much out of the pack-animals as a whole day’s march. I
experienced no little trouble on one occasion when returning to
the valley after some months’ survey work in Dakhla Oasis. After
halting one day at Kharga village, we proceeded on our way to Esna
by the Bulaq pass. It was hot weather, towards the end of May, and
the ascent of the pass tired our camels, naturally not in the pink of
condition, to such an extent that Gorringe and I had some difficulty
in getting them across the plateau to the valley. In summer-time it
is always advisable to negotiate this part of the journey in the
early morning or late in the evening, unless the heavier portion
of the baggage can be sent in advance to the top of the scarp,
and the animals taken back and watered at the nearest well.
[Illustration: THE CARAVAN ROUTES
TO THE
OASIS OF KHARGA]
The main roads from the oasis run to Assiut, Kawâmil near Sohag,
Waled Hallaf near Girga, Karnak near Farshut, and to Rizagat, Esna,
and Edfu, and their disposition may be seen on the accompanying plan.
The Assiut road, after leaving Kharga village, passes the hamlet of
Meheriq and follows the line of wells to Ain el Ghazâl, which is
the last place at which water-skins and tanks can be filled. From
Ain el Ghazâl the most direct route ascends to the plateau by
the Ramlia pass in the extreme corner of the depression, but the
Yabsa exit is recommended as easier and very little longer. After
crossing a tract of country with an abominably rough surface,
the two tracks unite a few kilometres north of the depression,
and about a day’s march farther on the Zarâbi road takes off on
the right. The main road proceeds direct to Assiut, descending the
scarp about 8 kilometres before the town is reached, a by-path to
the little village of Dronka having branched off beforehand.
From the summit of El Yabsa a separate road proceeds direct to El
Ghennaim, a village on the edge of the desert to the north-west
of Tahta. By these roads the distances from Kharga village to
Assiut, Zarâbi, and El Ghennaim, are 210, 200, and 180 kilometres
respectively.
El Refûf, the pass by which the Sohag (Kawâmil) road leaves the
depression, is situated at the head of a gully, and offers an easy
ascent to the plateau. A few kilometres beyond, the road passes to
the north of El Shugera, a prominent detached block perched on end
at the foot of the southern slope of a small limestone range. The
road runs in a fairly steady direction 40 degrees north of east,
striking the Nile Valley scarp 15 kilometres before Kawâmil, on
the edge of the cultivated lands, is reached. About 33 kilometres
before reaching the scarp a branch takes off and runs nearly due
north to Guhêna, south of Tahta; this branch is, in fact, usually
referred to as the Tahta road.
If the traveller, after leaving the Refûf pass, keeps to the south
of El Shugera, he will find a branch road leading to El Tundaba,
a deep shaft in the centre of the plateau, at kilometre No. 92
on the railway; a little farther east this track strikes the
main road from the Abu Sighawâl pass. The shaft is sunk through
a thick deposit of silt, which has filled a local depression in
the plateau to some depth. The silt must be regarded as rain-wash
from the surrounding country, possibly deposited in the time of
prehistoric man. Flint implements are to be found scattered about,
and from the presence of pottery and graves it would seem that the
place had been inhabited in comparatively modern times. The pit was
evidently sunk for water, although at the present time it is quite
dry; given, however, a heavy thunderstorm within the catchment-basin,
drainage-water would in all probability find its way to the bottom
of the deposit, where it would be held up by the limestone, and
might form a supply lasting possibly for many years.
The road leaving the depression by the Abu Sighawâl pass, and
leading to villages in the neighbourhood of Girga and Farshut,
is reckoned the best and shortest route between Kharga and the
Nile Valley, and, by making a very short détour, caravans have
the advantage of being able to water at the old Roman fort at
the base of Jebel Ghennîma, 27 kilometres after leaving the
village. The ascent of the pass was formerly very rough going,
but a good road with an easy gradient has recently been cut for
the transport of heavy boring machinery into the oasis. From the
top of the Abu Sighawâl pass a well-marked track crosses to El
Refûf and connects with the Sohag road, and care has to be taken
by travellers for Waled Hallaf, El Elwania and Karnak not to make
the initial mistake of getting on to this track.
For the first few kilometres the main road from Abu Sighawâl runs
very straight over a level plain, on which fossil sea-urchins are
so abundant as to attract the attention of the most casual observer;
it then ascends a low escarpment, the Nagab el Jellab. The somewhat
rough limestone country beyond is known as the Mishâbit, and then El
Botîkh, with its countless millions of spherical chert concretions,
is crossed. Beyond El Botîkh the road passes an isolated limestone
hill called El Mograbi, where tradition has it that a Mograbi
Arab from the west and his stolen oasis bride were overtaken and
decapitated by the Kharga people. A little farther to the east there
is a bifurcation, but the branches soon rejoin, and after passing El
Masaâd the plain is fairly level, though covered with very angular
blocks of crystalline limestone and cherty concretions. Farther on
are the rocks of El Buraig, where large quantities of broken pottery
indicate the site of one of the many water-stations maintained
by the Romans along this road. Garat el Melh is so called from
the occurrence of salt in the limestones of this locality. A few
kilometres to the east of Garat el Melh the road passes El Suâga,
an artificial heap of stones to which every self-respecting Bedawi
is careful to contribute; and a couple of hours beyond, a fairly
conspicuous limestone hill, called Garat Radwan, is reached.
Shortly after passing Garat Radwan the most prominent landmarks
met with on this road, in the form of two solitary crescent-shape
sand-dunes, loom into sight; these are called El Ghart by the Arabs
and are distant 55 kilometres from Abu Sighawâl. They form part
of a belt of single isolated dunes which crosses this part of the
desert in a N.N.W. and S.S.E. direction. The same line of dunes
is passed by the railway at kilometre No. 100, and I have observed
its continuation still farther north on the Sohag road, at a point
45 kilometres from the Refûf pass. These dunes mark the entrance
to an area of very rough hummocky crystalline limestone known as
El Zizagat, through which the track is not easily followed. On
emerging from El Zizagat the road bears slightly to the north, and
is here only a few kilometres south of El Tundaba. At this point it
bifurcates, the northern branch proceeding direct to Waled Hallaf
near Girga, the southern continuing over the easy level plains of El
Ishab to the rocks of El Baglûli, and thence past those of Dilail
el Kelb to the twin hillocks of Dubîya. Beyond El Dubîya the road
crosses the shallow drainage-line of Rod el Ghanam, near the head
of the Wadi Samhûd, down which it passes, and thence over the Nile
Valley plains past El Hamera and Hagar Hawara to Karnak and Farshut.
It should be mentioned that at Rod el Ghanam, shortly before
reaching the head of the Wadi Samhûd, a branch road takes off on
the left-hand side and descends by a separate pass to El Elwania;
and here again care has to be exercised to avoid taking the wrong
branch, as the tracks cover a broad area, and the actual junction
may be easily missed.
The Kharga-Waled Hallaf road, via the Abu Sighawâl pass, is the
shortest route from the oasis to the Nile Valley, the distance
being only 160 kilometres; that to Karnak, by the Wadi Samhûd,
is somewhat longer, being approximately 174 kilometres.
The next pass of importance to the south lies east of the village of
Bulaq, whence it takes its name. From the summit a road runs nearly
due east, meeting a second, starting from Beris and gaining the
plateau by the Jaja pass, after one and a half days’ march. From
the cross-roads, ‘El Mafâriq,’ routes run direct to Farshut and
Rizagat. From Beris to Farshut, by the Jaja pass, the distance is
approximately 224 kilometres; from Kharga, by the Bulaq pass, the
roads to Farshut and Rizagat measure about 203 and 198 kilometres
respectively. Another road from Beris leaves the depression by a
pass to the east of the village of Dush; this bifurcates about two
days’ march from the latter, the left-hand track leading to Esna,
the right to Edfu. Other roads lead from the south end of the oasis,
via Nakhail, to Kurkur and Dungun, while the Derb el Arbaîn runs
southwards to Selîma and thence on to the Sudan.
The road between the oasis and Assiut is best known as being the last
and worst portion of the Derb el Arbaîn, or forty days’ road,
which, starting from Darfur, was originally one of the main lines
of communication between Egypt and the Sudan. It was along this
desert route that great numbers of slaves and large quantities of
merchandise, such as ivory, gum, and other products of the Sudan,
were imported into Egypt from the south. After passing the last
spring in the oasis, caravans had still a little over 200 kilometres
to cover before reaching the Nile Valley, with a steep ascent to
the plateau at the outset, and thence for a considerable distance
over the very worst surface imaginable—loose sand full of sharp
angular blocks and fragments of flint and cherty limestone. Little
wonder that, overladen and fatigued by the long distance already
covered, the camels died in great numbers on this last stretch of
road. Along most desert routes the dried bones of camels are of
fairly frequent occurrence, but on the Derb el Arbaîn, between
Kharga and Assiut, the skeletons of these poor beasts are met
with in groups of tens and twenties, and must number hundreds and
thousands. In many instances the skeleton still lies undisturbed,
in the position assumed by the luckless animal in its death agony,
the long neck curved back by muscular contraction so that the skull
lies in contact with the spine. When one sees these remains, half
buried in the sand, the bones bleached snow-white by a pitiless
sun, with still adhering fragments of skin and muscle dried hard
as adamant, one cannot but feel pity for those patient ‘ships of
the desert,’ wrecked almost within sight of port.
Cailliaud, in 1817, observed the arrival at Assiut of a large
caravan from Darfur, consisting of 16,000 individuals. It included
6,000 slaves—men, women, and children. He remarks: “They had
been two months travelling in the deserts, in the most intense heat
of the year; meagre, exhausted, and the aspect of death on their
countenances, the spectacle strongly excited compassion.”
The actual width of the plateau varies from 120 kilometres between
Abu Sighawâl and the scarp above Waled Hallaf, to 200 kilometres
between Beris and Esna. The maximum elevation above sea-level
is about 550 metres on the latitude of Esna, and on the whole
the plateau has a fairly general slope to the north. As already
mentioned, several distinct types of country, depending on the nature
of the rocks constituting the surface strata, are met with. Smooth,
hard, level plains, formed of a superficial layer of weathered
limestone covered by a brown veneer of insoluble flint and cherty
fragments, alternate with bare rugged rock desert of hummocky
limestone. The sombre level or gently undulating flint-covered
plains, frequently spoken of as ‘serir’ by the Arabs, have
ideal surfaces for travelling; the light-coloured hummocky country,
often called ‘kharafish,’ is in its most developed form made
up of innumerable elongated hillocks, every portion of the exposed
rock-surfaces being deeply scored; the furrows are separated by
upstanding edges, often so sharp and knife-like as to be capable
of injuring the feet of man and beast. The hillocks are separated
by deep troughs half buried in drift-sand, all lying parallel,
in the direction of the prevailing winds, so that progress in a
latitudinal direction through this type of desert is a slow and
tedious undertaking. Both types of country are equally desolate and
barren, scrub of any description being of the rarest occurrence,
except after local thunderstorms. Another type of country, to which
we have already briefly alluded, is the curious desert-surface called
El Botîkh (the water-melons), which results from the weathering
of certain bands of the Lower Eocene formation containing numbers
of large globular concretions; these, it may be mentioned, often
lie so thickly strewn on the surface as to actually obstruct the
passing caravan.
Kharga is connected with the oasis of Dakhla to the west by two
roads, the lower and more southerly, known as the Derb el Ghubbâri,
being the one most frequently used. This road, by taking a wide
sweep to the south, avoids the intervening plateau altogether,
so that the fatiguing ascent and descent are avoided. After
leaving Kharga village the route leads past a group of wells,
known as Ain Khenâfish, distant some 6 kilometres; thence it lies
over wide-stretching plains of sandstone, leading up to the more
broken country formed by the foot-hills of the towering plateau,
which is always plainly visible on the north side of the road. The
distance to Tenîda, the most easterly of the Dakhla villages,
is 143 kilometres by the Derb el Ghubbâri.
The alternative route by way of Ain Amûr is appreciably shorter,
though, owing to the extra time involved in negotiating the steep
passes to and from the plateau, there is little saving in time when
travelling with a heavily-laden caravan. Compared with the lower
road, however, this route is much more interesting and picturesque,
and the presence of water at Ain Amûr, about half-way between the
two oases, is a distinct advantage. The road from Kharga village
lies over a broad plain, whose only features are occasional conical
hills of dark ferruginous sandstone. It follows a W.N.W. direction,
heading for the great indentation to the west of the Jebel Tarif
range. After getting well into the recess, but when still some 15
kilometres from its head, the road turns abruptly to the south,
and winds its way up an escarpment littered with huge blocks of
tufaceous limestone. Perched near the summit of the cliffs stands
the solitary palm which marks the site of the water-hole, in the
immediate neighbourhood of which grows a fair amount of prickly
scrub. The remains of mud-brick buildings and a stone temple show
that this place was formerly inhabited, and of some importance.
The ascent to the plateau from Ain Amûr needs care with laden
camels. The road proceeds up a narrow defile, the actual track being
very rough, and so confined that in places the packs are liable to
be dragged off by the rocks on either side. Once on the plateau the
going becomes first rate, the freedom of the surface from blown sand
being very noticeable. This is due to the isolation of this portion
of the plateau-massif, which is cut off from the main mass to the
north by the deep recess, and is bounded by a low-lying plain to
the south. After a distance of 33 kilometres has been traversed the
road descends into a narrow valley opening on to the low country
to the south, and proceeds in a westerly direction to Tenîda. The
distance from Kharga to Tenîda by this route is 128 kilometres.
It is possible on leaving Ain Amûr to cross to the top of the
indentation, and thence to proceed across the plateau almost due
west, striking the road from Assiut, known as the Derb el Tawîl, at
the top of the pass 25 kilometres from the village of Belat. There
is, however, no track, and the surface is covered with parallel
north and south ridges of rock, the crossing of which is extremely
wearisome. Both near the head of the Ain Amûr recess and in the
extreme north-west corner of the oasis very old tracks trending in
westerly and northwesterly directions are observable, and although
unused at the present day, these may mark the positions of formerly
frequented routes leading to the oasis of Farafra. At the present
time that oasis is not in direct communication with Kharga, the
routes used being from Manfalut in the Nile Valley, from Qasr Dakhl
in the oasis of Dakhla, and from Ain el Hais in Baharia.
Before leaving the subject of roads we must briefly refer to
the route taken by the railway. The line, which has a gauge of 75
centimetres, was built by the Corporation of Western Egypt, Limited,
to develop their concessions in the oasis. It commences at Mouaslet
el Kharga, a new station on the Egyptian State Railway near Farshut,
and crosses to the border of the desert, a few kilometres distant, by
way of one of the embankments separating two of the great irrigation
basins of Upper Egypt. At the edge of the desert is the station
of El Qara, the point of departure for the oasis. After skirting
the margin of the Nile Valley cultivation for a short distance it
heads straight for the Wadi Samhûd, by means of which the plateau
is gained without encountering any very heavy gradients. From the top
of the Wadi Samhûd the line follows the Abu Sighawâl road for about
40 kilometres, after which it diverges a few degrees and proceeds to
El Tundaba, the shaft already described, 92 kilometres from Mouaslet
el Kharga. From El Tundaba the railway follows more or less closely
the cross-track, sometimes called the Derb el Refûf, which joins
the Sohag road at El Shugera, and, entering the depression by the
Refûf pass, follows down the gully, and thence across the plain to
the station of Meheriq. From Meheriq it proceeds nearly due south
to the Corporation’s headquarters, and thence on to its present
terminus a few kilometres from Kharga village.
[Illustration: THE RAILWAY DESCENDING INTO THE OASIS.]
My friend Ball lays great stress on the tortuous nature of the roads
between the oasis and the valley, and recommends the scientific
traveller to steer an independent course. But after traversing
the majority of the main caravan roads, and with a fairly intimate
knowledge of the characters of the intervening areas, I must say
that, in my opinion, it would be difficult to better them. These
roads were not laid out yesterday, but result from the accumulated
experience of centuries. The original tracks may have been tortuous
enough, but they have become straightened out by the cutting off of
corners here and there, until at the present day the roads fulfil
the three most important objects in view—the ascent and descent to
and from the plateau at the points offering the easiest gradients,
and the crossing of the plateau itself as directly as possible over
the smoothest and most level ground available. The roads give a wide
berth to the outcrops of rough limestone, and anyone who has done
much cross-country travelling in the Libyan Desert will appreciate
their doing so.
Nor can I concur with the same author in his opinion that the Bedawin
of this side of the Nile have a poor knowledge of their beloved
desert. It is certainly true that the Arab does, for very good
reasons, prefer to travel on the beaten tracks rather than undertake
exploratory missions as the crow flies, his main object being to get
to his destination as rapidly and easily as possible. If by chance,
however, rain should fall on any portion of the desert, the Arab
will very shortly be found there, taking full advantage of what
Allah has provided in the way of free grazing for his herds. My own
experience has been that the Arabs have among them a fair proportion
of men with an extensive knowledge of the western desert, and I have
frequently been struck by their wonderful knowledge of the roads and
the facility with which many of them can follow the tracks on the
blackest of nights, as even in broad daylight the landmarks which
a European could recognize on second acquaintance are few and far
between. The average Bedawi cannot be said to have exceptionally
long sight, but he is frequently possessed of a wonderful sense
of direction.
Travellers in the Egyptian deserts are apt to underrate
the intelligence of the Bedawin, owing to the fact that they
unconsciously form their impressions from the miserable specimens
of humanity so frequently sent out by the actual owners of the
camels to act as drivers and attendants to a hired caravan. In such
caravans there is seldom more than one man who knows the particular
roads to be followed; the rest are wretched underfed creatures,
generally half-breeds, who for a mere pittance tramp day after day,
uncomplainingly and shoeless, alongside the caravan. They are much
to be pitied, and it would be as unreasonable to expect them to
have any special knowledge of the desert as it would be to look
for information regarding, say, the mountains of Wales among the
poorer classes of a Welsh town.
I do not wish to minimize the value of cross-country traverses
carried out with special scientific objects; they are, indeed,
often necessary for topographical and geological purposes. I
would, however, warn the enthusiastic tyro that, in the Libyan
Desert, travelling as the crow flies is not always so simple and
glorious an affair as it may seem when planning expeditions from
a comfortable arm-chair; and if his object is to get a short
cut he will probably have reason to bitterly regret the moment
he left the beaten track. I have in mind more than one instance
where mistakes of this kind have been made, mistakes which might
easily have led to disastrous consequences. In long cross-country
traverses an error in steering of only two or three degrees will in
a few marches throw a caravan many kilometres out of its course,
and guiding camels over rough country by compass is by no means
an easy undertaking. Moreover, easily distinguishable landmarks
are rare, and the desert plains over wide areas maintain remarkably
persistent characteristics. Quite recently I recollect an Englishman,
whose Arab attendant had become suddenly incapacitated by an attack
of fever or sunstroke, getting hopelessly astray between the edge
of the plateau overlooking the oasis and rail-head, which was then
only 20 or 30 kilometres distant, in consequence of his missing
the bifurcation of the road at El Shugera, and proceeding, owing
to this mistake, along the route leading to Sohag.
Along the caravan roads the sharp fragments of rock have been stamped
underground or kicked to one side, but elsewhere they usually litter
the surface, and are very trying to camels, whose pads, though
soft and yielding, are easily worn by much travelling over rough
country. This has more than once been painfully impressed upon me by
the antics of my own riding camel, whose mode of progression at such
times resembled more the dance of a fanatic on red-hot coals than the
ordinary gait of a well-bred ‘hegîn.’ Over some areas, however,
one can travel in a straight line without let or hindrance, and in
such cases it is only necessary to lay out the course correctly in
the first instance, and to have the courage of one’s opinion to
stick to that course until the destination is reached. One must
not heed the remonstrances of the less sporting members of the
expedition, who will lose no opportunity of predicting disaster,
and in this respect the new chum fresh out from home is generally
the greatest offender.
One of the longest cross-country traverses I myself have undertaken
in the Libyan Desert was from Farafra Oasis to Assiut. The only
road between that oasis and the Nile Valley strikes the latter
near El Qusîya, midway between the towns Manfalut and Derut, so
that travellers who wish to make Assiut have an additional day’s
march southwards alongside the margin of the cultivated lands. On
gaining the summit of the pass above Bir Murr, on the east side
of the Farafra depression, I abandoned the road and set a course
direct for Assiut, steering and plotting my route by compass and
plane-table, the distance being reckoned by measuring-wheel. The
most satisfactory method of procedure on desert traverses is to lay
out a line, representing the correct bearing of the destination,
along the centre of the longer axis of the plane-table, and then
to steer to any well-marked object lying on either side, but within
reasonable distance, of the proper course. At every station the exact
position reached is plotted, and steps are taken, when selecting
the next point on which to march, to converge towards the correct
course marked down the centre of the table.
On this particular traverse I was unaccompanied by Europeans or
Bedawin, my camel drivers being fellahin from the Nile Valley. The
surface proved excellent going, and the Abu Mohariq belt of dunes,
190 kilometres from Qasr Farafra, was crossed without trouble. Eight
days after leaving Farafra village we struck the escarpment of
the Nile Valley, having covered nearly 300 kilometres, and found
we were marching on a point only very little to one side of the
town of Assiut. From this traverse it was possible to calculate
the longitude of Farafra with fair accuracy.
The normal rate of travelling of camels carrying ordinary loads
weighing from three to four hundred-weight is 4 kilometres, or
about 2½ miles, an hour, ten hours being the usual day’s march
of caravans when accompanied by Europeans. The native caravans,
carrying dates and other heavy merchandise, usually traverse
the plateau in three days and nights, doing stages of 60 to 70
kilometres at a stretch. By travelling very light with trotting
camels I have, on more than one occasion, crossed from the oasis
to the valley in between thirty and thirty-five hours, doing from
180 to 190 kilometres in two stages of about twelve hours each,
with one stop only of nine or ten hours.
CHAPTER IV
TOPOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY
Dimensions of the Oasis-Depression — Jebel Têr, Jebel Tarif,
and other Hills within the Depression — Aspect of the Oasis from
the surrounding Escarpments — Geological Sequence — Nature and
Thickness of the Strata — Geological History of the Oasis —
Formation of the Depression — Difference of Level of Strata on
either side of the Depression — The Great Longitudinal Flexure
— Height of the Floor compared with Sea-Level — Altitudes.
Kharga, the eastern of the two southern oases, is a depression lying
with its longer axis north and south, mostly bounded by steep and
lofty escarpments, but open to the south and south-west, on which
sides the country rises gradually from the floor of the oasis. The
extreme length of the depression, from the northern wall to Jebel
Abu Bayan, which for convenience may be regarded as the southern
limit of the oasis proper, is 185 kilometres, or 115 miles. The
general trend of the eastern escarpment is nearly due north and
south, but that on the west is very irregular, while to the south
and south-west there is no definite boundary. The breadth of the
depression may therefore be said to vary from 20 to 80 kilometres.
The ranges of Jebel Têr and Jebel Tarif form isolated hill-massifs
in the centre of the northern part of the depression, while Jebel
Ghennîma and Jebel Um el Ghennaim are conspicuous outliers of the
plateau on the east side. With the exception of these, the floor is
destitute of anything beyond comparatively insignificant eminences,
unless we include the small range of hills known as the Gorn el
Gennâh, to the south-east of the village of Gennâh, which is
noticeable more on account of its sharply-defined peaks than of its
general elevation above the surrounding country. Referring to the two
conspicuous peaks, Ghennîma and Um el Ghennaim—Jimmy and Jemima,
as I have heard them dubbed—reminds me that on the Survey and on
some of the older maps the names are reversed. I have questioned
a number of natives regarding the names of these hills, and have
invariably been informed that Ghennîma is the more northerly of
the two.
The villages, wells, and cultivated lands lie within a north and
south band, occupying the lowest portion of the floor, and following
the general trend of the depression. They are, however, broken up
by a broad area of barren desert into two distinct north and south
groups, of which Kharga and Beris villages are the chief centres
respectively. A description of these is reserved for a later chapter.
When a traveller, after crossing the broad monotonous plateau,
at length reaches the scarp or wall of the oasis, and sees spread
out before him a vast depression, stretching in some directions
as far as the eye can reach, in others to the opposite bounding
walls dimly discernible on the far horizon, he can hardly refrain
from speculating as to the causes which have given rise to such
huge hollows in the plateau. When he descends to the cultivated
portions of the floor of the depression, and sees those numerous
bubbling springs, which alone make life possible in the midst
of this otherwise deadly wilderness, his second inquiry is as
to whence comes such abundance of water in one of the most arid
regions in the world. These questions are worth asking, and, so
far as the present state of our knowledge permits, it will be my
endeavour to answer them. I propose, therefore, to briefly place
on record such information and data as I have been able to gain,
but as both topography and water-supply are intimately connected
with the geology of the district, it will be necessary at the outset
to devote a few pages to a consideration of the latter.
[Illustration: THE CHRISTIAN NECROPOLIS AND JEBEL TER.]
The geological deposits found in the oasis of Kharga are tabulated on
the following page, commencing with those most recently formed. The
succession, as shown in the table, is that which obtains in
the northern part of the depression, but as far as is known the
same stages occur throughout the oasis, and do not vary either in
thickness or in lithological characters to any great extent. Over
large areas the lower-lying parts of the oasis-floor are formed of
those beds which we have designated the Surface-water Sandstone,
though in
+------------------------+----------------------------+---------+
| | |Thickness|
| Geological System. | Stage. | in |
| | | Metres. |
+------------------------+----------------------------+---------+
| | | |
| |{Sand-Dunes }| |
|RECENT AND } |{Spring Deposits (modern) }| Very |
|PLEISTOCENE} |{Lacustrine Sands and Clays}| variable|
| |{Calcareous Tufa }| |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
|LOWER } Lower Libyan| Plateau Limestone | 115 |
|EOCENE} | | |
| Passage Beds| Esna Shales and Marls | 55 |
| | | |
| |{White Chalk }| 70 |
| {Danian |{Ash-grey Shales }| |
| { |{Exogyra Beds | 30 |
|UPPER { | | |
|CRETACEOUS { |{Phosphate Beds | 70 |
| {Campanian |{Purple Shales | 50 |
| {(Nubian |{Surface-water Sandstone | 45 |
| { Series) |{Impermeable Grey Shales | 75 |
| |{Artesian-water Sandstone | 120 |
| +---------+
| Total | 630 |
+-----------------------------------------------------+---------+
places the still older underlying grey shales are exposed. The
purple or red shales generally form the rising ground towards the
escarpments, at the base of which are usually found the phosphatic
beds, with hard, pronounced bands made up of fish-remains and
phosphatic nodules. Above come the Exogyra Beds, with thick bands of
limestone almost entirely composed of large oyster-shells. Rising
up above these is the generally well-marked cliff of grey shales,
capped by a snow-white chalk of much the same age geologically as
the well-known chalk of the South of England. The summit of the
chalk frequently forms a separate plateau, subsidiary to the high
desert tableland, and separated from it by the cliffs formed of
the massive Eocene limestones.
The total thickness of the exposed strata is about 435 metres, a
figure obtained by actual measurement. Numerous borings show the
thickness of the unexposed underlying Impermeable Grey Shales to
be 75 metres, and the deepest borings yet made have pierced the
still lower Artesian-water Sandstone to a depth of 120 metres,
making a grand total of known deposits of 630 metres, or 2,067
feet. The depth to which the water-bearing sandstone extends is at
present a matter of speculation; the point is of great importance
in connection with the water-supply, though up to the present
no borings of sufficient depth have been made to determine its
thickness, nature, and relation to the underlying igneous rocks.
With the exception of a few isolated bosses of eruptive rock in
the desert to the south of the oasis—indications of the granitic
foundation which probably underlies the entire area—the geological
deposits of the oasis-depression, and of the surrounding escarpments
and plateaux, are entirely of sedimentary origin, that is to say,
they were laid down on the shores and beds of pre-existing seas and
inland lakes. The sand-dunes are, of course, an exception, having
been deposited by the wind on the surface of the land. Although,
geologically speaking, the oldest group of sediments with which we
have to deal belongs to the later chapters of the earth’s history,
many hundreds of thousands of years have elapsed since the sandstones
and shales, now forming and underlying the floor of the oasis,
were accumulated on the bed of a vast inland lake. This sheet of
comparatively fresh water was then invaded by the sea, which held
sway in the region while the whole of the series of sediments,
now exposed in the cliffs of the oasis and some 350 metres in
thickness, were being laid down. In Middle Eocene times the sea
commenced to retreat to the north, and the area under description
became dry land with a continually receding shore-line. Since that
time the forces of denudation have constantly been at work lowering
the general surface of the plateau and excavating those depressions
in which alone at the present day man is able to exist.
The Egyptian oases are deep and extensive depressions or hollows
cut down nearly to sea-level through the generally horizontal rocks
forming the Libyan Desert plateaux, and appear to owe their origin in
great measure to the differential effects of subaërial denudation
acting on rock-masses of varying hardness and composition. The
surface-features or configuration of almost any land which has long
been exposed to the powerful forces of erosion are more or less
intimately dependent on the structure and lithological characters of
the underlying rocks. On relative hardness, more than on anything
else perhaps, depend the ultimate positions of mountains, hills,
and plateaux on the one hand, of valleys, plains, and depressions
on the other. Variation in the original conditions of deposition, at
the time when the rocks now forming the Libyan Desert were laid down
on the floor of the sea, has resulted in a preponderant development
in some areas of soft clayey or sandy rocks (as compared with the
hard limestones), and subsequent earth-movements have raised these
beds more in some districts than in others. The result has been
that wherever, during the gradual denudation to which the country
since its elevation has been subjected, these soft deposits have
become exposed on the surface, weathering has proceeded at a greatly
increased rate, and eventually produced deep and broad depressions
separated by high limestone tablelands.
[Illustration: SKETCH MAP
SHOWING THE GEOLOGY
AND THE ANCIENT LAKES OF THE
OASIS OF KHARGA]
But for the presence of comparatively soft formations such as the
Esna Shales, the Exogyra Beds, and the Nubian Sandstone, coupled with
the facts that they have an unequal development in different areas,
and occur at a greater elevation in some localities than in others,
the great depressions of the Libyan Desert would not have come into
existence, or at any rate would have been of comparatively little
importance in the configuration of the country.
The oases are true depressions, completely or partially surrounded by
high escarpments. The oasis of Baharia, for instance, is on all sides
hemmed in by cliffs; on the other hand, Dakhla and Kharga are open to
the south, but as the ground in that direction rises considerably,
they, too, cannot be regarded as other than true depressions. We
have no definite grounds for considering that the erosion of these
depressions can have been the work of previously existing rivers,
and there is no evidence to warrant us in assuming them to have
been formed by local subsidence of portions of the earth’s crust.
What, then, were the agents of denudation and transportation
which operated in the formation of these great depressions? Under
the existing arid conditions the surface rocks, unprotected by
vegetation, are rapidly disintegrated or weathered as the result
of the great diurnal variations of temperature to which they are
subjected (insolation). The weathered material, however, does not
accumulate and form a protective soil-cap, but is carried away by
the wind (deflation), the heavier siliceous grains effecting an
immense amount of abrasion of the exposed rock-surfaces over which
they are swept. Changes of temperature, sand, and wind are, indeed,
the chief agents of erosion and transportation at the present day,
and, given a sufficiency of time and a continuance of favourable
conditions, we can confidently admit the combination to be capable
of effecting a vast amount of earth-sculpture. But the formation,
in this way, of huge hollows 300 to 400 metres deep, and the
removal of material amounting to hundreds of cubic kilometres,
would necessitate the assumption that the present rigorous desert
conditions have obtained for a very considerable period.
Taking all the available evidence of which we are cognizant into
consideration, we do not feel justified in assuming this to have
been the case, especially when we recollect the frequent presence
on the escarpments of thick deposits of calcareous tufa, which
it is evident must have been laid down after the depression had
been carved out to a considerable depth. These tufas are almost
certainly of Pleistocene age, though whether they date from the
early or late part of that period has not been determined. In some
localities they occur as thick, horizontally-stratified beds, and
were evidently deposited on the bottoms of lakes; in other places
they appear as fan-like cakes spread over the face of the cliff,
and may have been formed by springs situated near the summits of
the escarpments. The tufas frequently contain large numbers of
fresh-water shells and an abundance of fossil vegetation, and,
from the presence of casts of the leaves of such trees as the oak,
one is led to refer the deposit to the more humid period which
preceded the incoming of the modern desert conditions.
Although the evidence met with in the field is altogether against
the idea that portions of the plateau have been bodily let down
by subsidence, there are good reasons for believing that tectonic
movements have played an important part in deciding the general
shape of the oases-depressions. For instance, there is considerable
parallelism between the general trend of the Baharia depression
and the folds which pass through that region. As a result of those
folds, it is not improbable that the hard limestone beds were to
some extent broken up, and the soft underlying clays and sandstones
raised as compared with their position on either side of the folded
belt. In Kharga, similarly, the main axis of the depression is, as
we shall show, distinctly parallel to the great north and south line
of flexure, and there is little doubt that a close connection exists
between the two. On the other hand, I know of no folding in the case
of Farafra, which appears to owe its existence solely to the fact
that there was in that region an unusual development of shales at
the base of the Eocene nummulitic limestones. Of the four Egyptian
oases, perhaps Dakhla is the one most easily accounted for, as this
depression may be regarded as simply due to the general northerly
dip of the sedimentary formations, and the gradual weathering back
(northwards) of the great argillaceous series (Exogyra Beds) capped
by the White Chalk. The original limits of the latter may, indeed,
never have been very far to the south.[3]
While all sedimentary strata—such as the limestones, sandstones,
clays, and shales with which we are now dealing—were originally
deposited either quite horizontally or inclined at only a very low
angle, it by no means follows that this horizontality is maintained
when the strata are elevated into dry land. Over the Libyan Desert
as a whole the successive sedimentary formations dip steadily
northwards, but at a very small inclination. This results in every
stage having a wide outcrop, so much so that, if it were not for
the cliff-sections of the Nile Valley and the oases-depressions,
we should have to travel immense distances to obtain any idea of
the true succession of rocks. This general horizontality of strata
appears at first sight to be well maintained in the oasis of Kharga,
as whether we stand on the summit of the eastern escarpment, on top
of the great central hill-massif of Jebel Tarif, or on the plateau
above Ain Amûr, we see everywhere horizontally-disposed beds of
limestone forming the plateaux and upper portions of the cliffs,
with parallel bands of sandstone, shale, and chalk outcropping on
the slopes below.
A closer examination, however, will show that there is in reality
a difference in level of more than 200 metres between the same beds
on either side of the oasis; for the beds capping Jebel Tarif belong
to the White Chalk of the Cretaceous system, and are therefore very
much older than those of Eocene age forming the eastern plateau
(see map and section). This great difference in vertical position
is due partly to a steady dip from west to east, partly to a
remarkable longitudinal flexure running north and south through
the centre of the depression, and partly to a gentle fold near the
base of the eastern escarpment. Along the actual line of flexure,
which passes through Jebel Têr, Jebel Tarwan, Nadûra, Gorn el
Gennâh, and Gertuma (S.S.E. of Bulaq), the different rock-stages
are folded and fractured to a remarkable degree. Throughout the
greater part of its course the flexure approximates to the type of
disturbance known as a simple monocline, but in places, as in Jebel
Têr, it passes into a syncline bounded by nearly vertical faults;
while in others the beds are bent into almost symmetrical basins or
centroclinal folds, typical examples of these structures being met
with at points 6 kilometres south of Kharga village and 2 kilometres
south-west of Qasr Zaiyan.
The importance of this line of folding and faulting must not be lost
sight of, as although the dislocations produced are only actually
visible in the case of the exposed upper beds of the oasis sequence,
the earth-movements to which it owes its origin have had similar
disturbing effects on the underlying and hidden water-bearing
strata. Ball reported that the most striking evidence of faulting
was between Jebel Têr and Jebel Tarif, and showed the fault as
running for a short distance in a N.N.E. and S.S.W. direction, but,
as already mentioned, the line of disturbance is coincident with
the longer axis of the former range, so that the majority of the
wells are on the west or upthrow side of the fault. The effects of
this faulting and folding on the underground water-supply will be
further alluded to in a later chapter.
In the early summer of this year (1908) I followed the line of
flexure southwards in order to determine whether it continued
throughout the oasis. As far as the small eminence of Gala, about
10 kilometres south of Bulaq, it ran in an almost straight line,
but south of that point its course took a distinct bend to the
west, so that the fold was very soon lost in the great belt of
sand-dunes. Beyond this point its continuation could, however, be
inferred by occasional exposures of steeply inclined sandstones,
the most southerly point to which it was actually traced being
in latitude 24° 55′ N., about 15 kilometres S.S.W. of Ain Girm
Meshîm.
[Illustration: GEOLOGICAL SECTION ACROSS THE OASIS FROM JEBEL TARIF
TO THE EASTERN ESCARPMENT.]
Before concluding our remarks on the geology of the oasis we must not
omit to call attention to the beautiful and varied fossil remains
which are almost everywhere to be met with in the calcareous beds
of the hills and escarpments. It is, of course, by the study and
comparison of these organic remains that geologists are enabled to
determine the relative ages of the beds in which they occur, and
thus to correlate them with the rocks of other countries. The lower
argillaceous and arenaceous deposits of the oasis are comparatively
unfossiliferous.
From any of the points of vantage, such as are afforded by the
higher hills within the depression, the general level of the
floor of the oasis does not appear to vary to any great extent,
but actual levelling shows that this is not in reality the case;
and it is this variation of absolute level which is the primary
cause of the very varying volumes of water yielded by the artesian
wells in the different districts.
The average height of the centre of the depression in the
neighbourhood of the village of Kharga is approximately the same
as that of the Nile Valley plain in the latitude of Farshut.
Ball, by comparison of a series of aneroid barometer readings with
the barometric records for the same period at the Cairo observatory,
deduced the value of a point near Kharga village as 86 metres above
sea-level, and used this as his datum in calculating the levels of
other parts of the oasis. Previous aneroid determinations of the
same point had been made by Cailliaud (104 and 118 metres) and by
Jordan (68 metres). But even when the greatest possible precautions
are exercised, aneroid determinations, especially when made with
a single instrument, are necessarily unreliable, and still more
so when used for calculating the levels of different points on a
plain having only comparatively slight irregularities of surface.
Utilizing the figure obtained by the railway surveyors for a point
near the termination of the line, we get values of 58 and 60 metres
above sea-level for Kharga village and Bore No. 1 at headquarters
respectively, and a bench-mark at the latter place, having a value
of 60·1, is used as the datum from which all the heights given
in this book are calculated. Unfortunately it is not possible,
owing to the lack of sufficient check-levels, to state the limit
of probable error, and it must therefore be understood that the
value of our datum, which in the meantime may be accepted as the
best obtainable, is subject to future revision.
From this central point (Bore No. 1) lines of levels have recently
been carried in every direction by Mr. F. E. Apted and myself,
with the result that it has been shown that the general level of
the floor of the oasis rises steadily to the north and falls to
the south. These levels have in all cases been checked, and may,
using the datum mentioned, be accepted as fairly reliable, the
closing errors on the different loops being generally within a very
few centimetres. The altitudes of a few reference points in each
district are given here.
+-----------------------+-------------------------+-----------+
| District. | Point. | Altitude. |
+-----------------------+-------------------------+-----------+
| Headquarters | Bore No. 1 | 60·1 |
| ” | Bore No. 44 | 53·1 |
| Kharga | Bir Ain el Gôs | 70·2 |
| ” | Ain el Sabbagh | 56·9 |
| ” | Ain Zaaf | 87·7 |
| ” | Temple of Hibis (floor) | 75·0 |
| Meheriq | Bir Qattara | 56·6 |
| ” | Ain Mahmud | 64·8 |
| ” | Ain el Burg | 69·6 |
| ” | Ain el Qasr | 76·0 |
| ” | Ain el Ghazâl | 84·6 |
| South of headquarters | Ain Harrân | 43·5 |
| ” ” ” | Ain Ali Morad | 33·0 |
| ” ” ” | Ain Bellal | 28·4 |
| ” ” ” | Ain el Tawîl | 19·7 |
| Gennâh | Ain Estakherab | 71·3 |
| ” | Ain Magarin | 74·6 |
| ” | Ain el Ghuâta (north) | 48·2 |
| ” | Ain Zaiyan | 41·6 |
| ” | Qasr Zaiyan | 20·7 |
| El Dêr | Bore No. 22 | 92·3 |
+-----------------------+-------------------------+-----------+
The Government Survey maps show a portion of the oasis floor as
lying below sea-level, the difference of height between the Kharga
village datum and a point just south of Qasr Zaiyan being given as
104 metres. Detailed surveying shows that this estimate is excessive,
the true difference being about 37 metres only. Although no actual
reading has yet been obtained below sea-level—the lowest being
+2·6 metres at a point 3½ kilometres north-east of the northern
end of the Gorn el Gennâh, or nearly midway between that hill and
Ain el Tawîl—it is evident that in this district the floor is
only very slightly higher than the sea, and it may be that at one
or two points its level is actually lower.
South of Qasr Zaiyan no revision of previous levels has as yet
been made. According to Ball’s figures, the village of Beris is
approximately 10 metres lower than Kharga.
While discussing the subject of levels it may be useful to note the
relative heights of the escarpments and hills within the oasis. The
edge of the eastern plateau varies from 350 to 400 metres above
sea-level, while the plateau to the north of Um el Dabâdib has a
general level of about 400 metres. Jebel Tarif appears to be very
slightly higher, while the highest peak on Jebel Têr is not much
more than 300 metres. The altitudes of these points with reference
to the village were mostly determined by Ball by trigonometric
observations with an eight-inch theodolite, and can therefore be
relied on as being accurate.
CHAPTER V
THE NORTHERN VILLAGES
Population — Relation of Population to Water-Supply — Trade
in Dates — Imports — Taxation on Date-Palms and Wells —
Measurement of Wells — Revenue derived from the Oasis — Origin of
Inhabitants — Kharga Village — Industries — Ancient and Modern
Wells — Meheriq Village — Troubles with Sand — Migration of
Villagers — Ain el Tawîl and other Hamlets — Gennâh Village
— Famous Wells — Ain Estakherab — Ochreous Waters of certain
Wells — Ain el Ghuâta — Bulaq Village — Doum-Palms — Tomb
of Sheikh Khalid Ibn el Walîd.
In point of population Kharga ranks second of the four great oases
of the Libyan Desert. In 1897 the inhabitants numbered 7,856, and
ten years later had increased to 8,348. The 1907 census showed the
male to be slightly in excess of the female population, a result
entirely owing to the preponderance of men in the northern part of
the oasis. The present distribution of the inhabitants, according
to the last census, is shown in the table on the following page.
In the oases of the Libyan Desert there is a very close connection
between population and water-supply. No water is intentionally
allowed to run to waste, every drop being utilized to raise
+-----------------+-------+---------+--------+
| | Male. | Female. | Total. |
+-----------------+-------+---------+--------+
| Kharga District | 2,819 | 2,503 | 5,322 |
| Gennâh District | 207 | 237 | 444 |
| Bulaq District | 487 | 529 | 1,016 |
| Beris District | 767 | 799 | 1,566 |
| +-------+---------+--------+
| Total | 4,280 | 4,068 | 8,348 |
+-----------------+-------+---------+--------+
the crops of rice, dates, barley, and wheat, which form the staple
food-supplies of the inhabitants. Cut off by a waterless desert,
these people have little intercourse with the outside world, except
for a few weeks in the early winter months, when they dispose of
their surplus date-crop to the Bedawin traders who cross the desert
with droves of camels from the Nile Valley. The dates are usually
paid for in cash, ready-money being required in order to meet the
annual taxes levied by the Egyptian Government. Practically the only
food-stuffs imported consist of such commodities as tea, coffee,
and sugar, which are used sparingly, and regarded as luxuries even
by the better classes.
It is evident, therefore, that the inhabitants rely almost entirely
for subsistence on the products they are able to raise by their own
toil and industry. Owing to there being no rainfall, the acreage
of land which can be put under crops depends absolutely on the
amount of water available for irrigation by wells. The total yield
of the latter has, we know, fluctuated to a considerable extent
at different times, and one may surmise that, could figures be
obtained giving the number of inhabitants and the volume of the
water-supply for different periods during the last 5,000 years,
a remarkably constant ratio would be observable between the two.
Taxes are levied by the Egyptian Government on both date-trees
and wells. Over 60,000 adult palms exist in the oasis, each one
being subject to a yearly tax of 1½ piastres (about 3½d.). The
output or yield of a well is, for purposes of taxation, determined
in a somewhat rough-and-ready manner by a method which appears to
have been in use for a number of generations. Whenever a new bore
is completed, or an old well requires remeasurement, all the most
influential personages in the oasis, headed by the Omda or chief
of Kharga village, armed with a number of primitive appliances,
solemnly proceed to the spot.
After first ascertaining that the well has not been temporarily
blocked by interested persons—even here in the remote interior
of the desert there is an inherent objection to the paying of
taxes—the bed and sides of the water-channel are made as smooth
as possible for a distance of five or ten paces below the mouth
of the well, so that the water flows away with an even ripple. A
small pointed stick is now inserted in the centre of the bed of the
stream, in such a way that the top of the peg is exactly flush with
the surface of the water. Then the Omda, hitching up his flowing
robes, steps into the stream, and, selecting a gauge of suitable
dimensions, fixes it firmly in the bed of the channel, in such a
position that the whole of the flow passes freely through, without
raising or lowering the surface of the stream above, as indicated
by the peg. The interior of the gauge, a roughly-made wooden frame,
is intended to be a definite number of centimetres in length, but
in many of those used there is a small error. As soon as the stream
flows evenly over the gauge or weir, without its surface-level being
altered, the depth of water is measured on a scale. The latter is
wetted and plunged into a heap of dry sand before being used, the
depth of water being indicated by that portion of the scale from
which the sand has been removed by the immersion. Observations are
made at both ends of the weir to insure any error due to want of
horizontality of the frame being detected.
The actual discharge is reckoned in ‘qirats’ and eighths
of a qirat (tumns), a qirat being a water-section of 64 square
centimetres. For example, if the depth of water passing over a
gauge having an internal length of 40 centimetres was found to be 8
centimetres, the water-section would amount to 40 × 8 = 320 square
centimetres, which would be reckoned as a discharge of 5 qirats.
The Omda and his attendants carry out the operations with the
utmost care and solemnity, and have the most touching faith in
the accuracy of their results. Apart, however, from errors in the
gauges and scales used, and from the want of provision of a free
fall on the downstream side of the weir, the fact that the velocity
of the stream is entirely left out of account is sufficient to
give the qirat a very variable value, low for small and high for
large streams, the result being that the small wells are being
taxed at about 50 per cent. higher rates than the large ones. In
order to ascertain the average value of the qirat for streams of
different size, I arranged with Mr. Patterson, who at the time
was the Government Representative in Kharga, to send the Omda to
headquarters and instruct him to measure a number of new bores
belonging to the Corporation of Western Egypt, as these bores,
being cased and provided with proper outlet valves, lend themselves
to exact measurement better than the majority of the native-owned
wells. The Omda employed the ordinary local native method just
described, while I, using a tank of known capacity and a reliable
stop-watch, made direct measurements immediately afterwards. The
results obtained show that below 2 the qirat has a value of 22
gallons a minute; from 2 to 4 of 26 gallons a minute; and from 5
to 6 of 38 gallons a minute.
The annual tax levied on the water amounts to 50 piastres (about
10s. 3d.) per qirat. If the average value of the qirat be taken at 25
gallons per minute, the tax works out at approximately 1s. for every
6,000 cubic metres of water. Looked at from another point of view,
it may be considered that the tax amounts to about 1s. 6d. an acre,
as with every qirat of water the native cultivator in the oasis will
annually raise about two acres of rice and five of wheat or barley.
The total revenue derived by the Government from the oasis, by taxes
on date-palms and water, amounts to a little over £1,000 per annum.
My old friend Sheikh Mustapha, who for more than twelve years has
been Omda of Kharga village, was very anxious to know the results of
the comparative measurements made on the bores. He professed himself
as surprised at the difference in the results, but emphatically
refused to entertain the possibility of there being any error in his
measurements, made by so old-established a method. Although he was
far too polite to so express himself in words, I felt that the old
gentleman had the utmost contempt for my method of well measurement.
With the exception of the Dakhla peasants, the inhabitants of the
oases differ entirely from the fellahin of the Nile Valley. According
to Brugsch, the original inhabitants were Libyan (Berber) tribes,
but after annexation to Egypt, there was considerable immigration
from Nubia and other parts of the Nile Valley. Nevertheless, in
the oasis of Kharga the physiognomic type of the Berber race is
still predominant.
El Kharga, the chief village of the oasis, containing about 4,500
inhabitants, is situated in a broad belt of cultivated lands and
palm-groves running centrally down the depression from the southern
extremity of Jebel Têr. The village consists of a picturesque
compact conglomeration of houses, built of sun-dried bricks, and
of every shape and size. The streets meander in a very remarkable
manner, and are to a large extent in partial or total darkness,
owing to their being for the most part roofed over and covered by
upper storeys. Without the aid of a guide it is almost impossible
to find one’s way through the intricacies of the underground
passages, though no fears need be entertained on the score of
being in any way molested, the inhabitants being most peaceably
inclined. In some parts of the village the streets are actually cut
through the solid rock. They are generally clean and cool even on
the hottest and dustiest of days, and as a rule the few wayfarers
one meets scuttle like startled rabbits into the dark recesses on
either side, from the depths of which, and through chinks in the
wooden doors and windows, they can gape in safety at the unwonted
spectacle of European visitors.
[Illustration: A STREET IN KHARGA.]
[Illustration: KHARGA VILLAGE.]
Viewed from the outside, say from the ridge of sand which hems
in the village on the east side, one sees a vast array of walls,
surmounted by screens of dried palm-branches, bound together to
form compact hedges affording protection and privacy to those
portions of the houses open to the sky. Two minarets rise above
the general level, while all around are palm-groves and gardens,
with the open desert rising to the western horizon.
Almost the whole of the population is engaged in agriculture, and as
in some cases the wells are situated far from the village, many of
the peasants daily ride considerable distances to and fro on their
sturdy but diminutive donkeys. There are two or three small shops
in the village, but nothing in the nature of bazaars, the chief
business transacted being the retailing of Nile Valley goods, such
as drapery and groceries. The native women are adepts at basket- and
mat-making, and mention must not be omitted of the very attractive
spherical baskets made of palm-leaves and fibre, ornamented with
coloured wools, and manufactured in every conceivable size and
design. Pretty circular trays are made from the same substances;
in fact, the number of uses to which the waste materials from the
date- and doum-palms can be put is little short of marvellous.
Everything connected with the village is of the most primitive
description, and until a very short time ago few of the inhabitants
had been beyond the limits of their own fields. The advent of
the railway caused no little commotion and stir in the oasis,
and awakened trading instincts which had lain dormant since Roman
times. Many of the villagers now travel to and fro between Kharga
and the Nile Valley, and the Omda took an early opportunity of
obtaining leave of absence from his onerous duties, and proceeded
to Alexandria for a course of sea-baths!
Outside the village, with the exception of the antiquities, to which
we shall call attention in a separate chapter, there is little of
general interest beyond the wells and gardens, among which there
are many picturesque spots. At Bir Ain el Gôs, a few kilometres
to the north, a primitive form of corn-mill may be seen working,
the grinding-stones being driven by the water of the well by means
of an undershot wheel.
It may be mentioned here that with very few, if any, exceptions
the different streams which collectively make up the water-supply
of the oasis find their way to the surface through artificially
constructed passages. The great majority of these are bores of
ancient construction, though a few have been sunk with modern plant
during the last fifty years. The ancient wells are known as Aiyûn
(sing. Ain), the modern as Abiyâr (sing. Bir); for example,
Ain el Ghazâl, Bir Mansûra. In cases where a modern bore has
been specially sunk to replace an ancient well, the two words are
used in conjunction; for instance, Bir Ain el Gôs. The position of
each well is nearly always conspicuously marked by a thick clump of
acacias, from which (more especially in the isolated settlements in
the northern part of the depression) the main irrigating channel
generally runs in a southerly direction, the cultivated lands
being of triangular form, with the apex at or near the source of
the water, and raised little, if at all, above the general level
of the surrounding plain. By this disposition the fields present
the least possible front to the north, from which side comes the
bulk of the sand which is such a curse to these outlying settlements.
Kharga village, being snugly situated among palm-groves, and
directly to the south of Jebel Têr, is well protected from the
fierce, sand-laden winds which so frequently scour the depression
from north to south. The poor little hamlet of Meheriq, on the
other hand, set on the open plain some 20 kilometres to the north,
is exposed to every wind that blows, with the result that the sand
has accumulated to such an extent that most of the palms have been
buried, and many of the houses have been overwhelmed. The advancing
dunes are, in fact, steadily pushing the hamlet southwards. At
frequent intervals the occupants of the most northerly houses move
their goods and chattels, and betake themselves to new quarters
erected at the southern extremity. This periodical migration has,
indeed, become so ingrained a habit that it is now regarded as of
little moment; it is only when their wells and trees are threatened
and destroyed that the wretched people call on Allah to stay His
hand, and protect them from destruction.
Still farther to the north lie a number of isolated wells with small
areas of cultivation, and at some of these there are settlements
consisting of one or two families. Ain el Tawîl, 8 kilometres
south-east of Kharga, is another little hamlet, rendered more
conspicuous than most of these outlying settlements by the presence
of a Sheikh’s tomb surmounted by a rather pointed dome. A third
important dependency of Kharga is known as Um el Dabâdib, and is
situated a day’s journey to the north. This place is of exceptional
interest, in that its water-supply is not derived from wells, but
from extensive tunnels driven into the hills. Some most interesting
ruins exist in the neighbourhood, but a description of these and
of the subterranean aqueducts must be postponed to a later chapter.
[Illustrations: ENCROACHMENT OF SAND-DUNES AT MEHERIQ.]
Twelve kilometres to the south of Kharga lies the village of
Gennâh. The intermediate country is largely covered by sand, which
in the neighbourhood of the village has accumulated into large dunes,
threatening it and its magnificent wells, Ain Estakherab and Ain
Magarin, with ultimate destruction. Ain Estakherab is undoubtedly the
finest well in the Libyan Desert, and has been running for hundreds,
if not for thousands, of years; but unless special measures are taken
to cope with the advance of the dunes immediately to the north and
north-west, this splendid flow of water is doomed to destruction
within the next ten or twenty years. Owing to the encroachment
of the sand there is very little land available for cultivation
near the village, the bulk of the water from the two wells being
conducted in an open channel to the low-lying plain south-east of
the hill-range known as the Gorn el Gennâh. This channel traverses 7
or 8 kilometres of porous desert before it reaches the first of the
cultivated fields in the neighbourhood of the Gorn, and there is in
consequence very great loss of water through seepage and evaporation.
The famous wells of Gennâh differ from most of those in the
northern part of the oasis in that their mouths are large and deep
pools of limpid water, from the depths of which great bubbles of
gas constantly ascend to the surface. Little or nothing is known as
to the age and depth of either of these wells; they have never been
cleaned out in modern times, and are closed in at a depth of a few
metres from the surface in such a way as to prevent soundings being
made. With the object of determining if the large discharges are due
to the wells being situated on exceptionally low ground, I recently
had a line of levels run from headquarters to Gennâh. Contrary
to expectation, it was found that Ain Estakherab and Ain Magarin
discharged at levels considerably above the average elevation of the
wells of the Kharga district; possibly, therefore, the exceptional
flows in this district are due to its comparative isolation, and
to the immunity thus obtained from the interference of other wells.
Between the villages of Kharga and Gennâh, along a north and south
belt lying somewhat to the east and on the downthrow side of the
fault, are a number of wells whose waters are almost invariably
more or less charged with ochre and alkaline salts. In some cases
the proportion of dissolved salts is sufficiently great to render
the water unfit for either drinking or irrigation, and even where
it can be used for the latter purpose, ochre is deposited to such an
extent as to bind the soil into a hard cake. The occurrence appears
to be due to the geological position of the wells in this tract,
where, owing to the beds being let down by the fault, the purple
shales form the floor of the depression; it is perhaps from these
beds that the waters derive their abnormally high contents of ferric
oxide and other salts.
[Illustration: A PTOLEMAIC TEMPLE, QASR EL GHUATA.]
[Illustration: DOUM-PALMS NEAR QASR EL GHUATA.]
The wells near Qasr el Ghuâta are of similar nature, and thick banks
of ochre have been deposited along their channels. I recollect on
one occasion using the water of Ain el Ghuâta for making tea, and
being considerably surprised at the inky blackness of the resulting
liquid, although, in spite of the colour and a markedly ferruginous
taste, the brew was not undrinkable.
Near the ruins of Qasr Zaiyan, and southward as far as the village
of Bulaq, the country takes on quite a different aspect, owing to
the numerous scrub-covered areas, dotted everywhere with semi-wild
doum-palms. Doums thrive in very poor soil, and appear to be
self-sown; they are to my mind far more graceful and picturesque than
the ordinary date-palms, from which they differ in many important
respects. The trunk of a well-grown doum-palm is forked, not once,
but many times, the different stems preserving a considerable amount
of symmetry; the branches, which are covered with the most atrocious
hooks, terminate in sharp-pointed, serrated fan-shaped leaves. The
fruit consists of bunches of hard nuts, and can be eaten either in
its raw condition or after being ground into meal and cooked; most
persons, however, except perhaps confirmed nut-eating vegetarians,
would decline it in either state. Although the country throughout
which the doum-palms abound appears to be more or less deserted,
every tree has its owner among the inhabitants of the nearest
village.
Bulaq, distant 25 kilometres from Kharga, has a population of 1,016,
and is the centre of the mat and ‘zambile’ trade. The zambile
is an open wide-mouthed basket which is used in every part of Egypt,
and practically replaces the wheelbarrow of western lands. Formerly
only small quantities were made for export, but the natives have not
been slow to take advantage of the railway, and truck-loads of these
baskets may now be frequently seen on the trains. The Bulaq varieties
of mats and baskets are mostly made from the leaf of the doum-palm.
The village, bounded on three sides by sand and open desert, with
the palm-groves and cultivated lands to the east, cannot be said to
be particularly attractive. A few kilometres to the south is the
tomb of Sheikh Khalid Ibn el Walîd, a large, square, whitewashed
building surmounted by a dome.
CHAPTER VI
THE SOUTHERN VILLAGES
Ain Girm Meshîm — Agûl el Douma — The Southern Villages —
Jaja and Dakhakhin — Intermittent Flow and Geyser-like Action of
Wells — Ain Dakhakhin — Fruit Gardens — Raised Cultivated
Terraces formed of Wind-blown Materials — Gradual Elevation of
Wells — Ancient Village of Dakhakhin — Ain Bergis — Beris
Village — Ain el Hushi — Block-Houses and Dervishes — Maks
Bahari — Method Employed in Cleaning out Wells — Ain Bella —
Encroachment of Dunes — Dush — The most Southern Wells of the
Oasis — Nakhail.
After leaving the wells belonging to Bulaq the traveller has
to cross a stretch of desert about 40 kilometres in width before
reaching the first well and cultivated land of the southern group of
villages. On this expanse water is only found in one locality—at
Ain Girm Meshîm, a pool with a very small flow. There is little
doubt that this was at one time a very good well, as traces of
irrigating channels extend outwards to a considerable distance;
moreover, a large salt-pan is still visible to the west, and this
could only have been formed at a time when there was far more water
running to waste than at present. The immediate neighbourhood is
picturesquely dotted with doum-palms, some of those near the well
being magnificent trees.
Agûl el Douma, lying 17 kilometres south-west of Ain Girm Meshîm,
on the opposite (west) side of the belt of dunes, is a place which,
previous to my inspection, had probably never been visited by
Europeans, although known to a few of the Bedawin. Surface-water
can be obtained by digging to a depth of a few feet near one of the
doums. The place, marked by a small area of scrub and a doum-palm or
two, was formerly used to some extent by Arabs carrying contraband
from the south, as by watering here they were able to pass through
the oasis unobserved.
The most northerly of the southern villages are Jaja and Dakhakhin,
but 6 kilometres to the north lies an isolated group of doum-palms,
known as Ain el Douma. At the present time the place is uninhabited,
the old well being completely sanded-up, though water may be
obtained by digging out the centre. Both north and south of Ain el
Douma occur smooth plains of alluvial clay, in the latter direction
extending to the villages of Dakhakhin and Jaja.
Jaja is visible from a distance of many kilometres on account
of a thick clump of dark green acacias, growing on the summit of
an eminence. Dakhakhin, on the other hand, is hidden, being on the
south side of a sandy hill covered with short scrub only. A low-lying
portion of the alluvial-covered plain separates the two villages,
which are situated close together on an east and west line.
At Jaja there are scattered doums and a number of acacias, as well
as a small dense grove of date-palms, altogether a goodly number
of trees. The well is a broad and deep pool surrounded by vertical
walls of brown clay, representing the material from time to time
thrown out during the process of cleaning. Large bubbles of gas are
generally to be seen rising intermittently to the surface, while at
times the pool becomes perfectly still, except for the occasional
small bubbles which continue to rise at different points. Then
follows a strong flow from the actual bore (situated near the south
side of the pool), the water boiling up and breaking the surface
with considerable force and noise, which may continue for several
minutes before everything becomes quiet again. In all probability
the markedly intermittent flow is due to the temporary blocking
of the bore-hole by the sediment forming the bottom of the pool,
the mud being from time to time forced back by the accumulating
pressure of the water and gas below. The temperature of the water
was found to be 86° F., and the yield was stated to amount to 1½
qirats, or about 35 to 40 gallons a minute.
Dakhakhin is charmingly situated on the southern slope of an
eminence, alongside a dingle, prettily wooded with tamarisk and
doum-palms. The well is on the north side, and higher up than the
village. One of the irrigating channels, cut out near the bottom of
the western slope, follows the winding of the dingle to a thick clump
of date-palms near the mouth. Higher up, alongside the village, the
water in another channel races down the hill in a series of little
runs and falls, the stream threading its way through fruit-gardens
containing date-palms and vines, fig, mulberry, and apricot trees,
as well as pomegranates and bananas.
Ain Dakhakhin is a huge pool when full, though at times, when the
retaining bank on the south side is cut, a large part of its sandy
bed is exposed. The flow, taxed, I believe, as 3½ qirats (110 to
120 gallons per minute), varies at different times of the year,
and depends to a considerable extent on the amount of sediment in
the pool. Cleaning is periodically undertaken, in order to remove
the sand which drifts in from the north side in large quantities.
Neither in Ain Jaja nor Ain Dakhakhin is there any trace of wooden
casing similar to that with which the ancient wells of Northern
Kharga are so commonly lined. This bears out the conclusion to
which I was led on other grounds—that the original outlets were
many metres lower than at present, on the level of the surrounding
plain, in fact. The eminences of Jaja and Dakhakhin appear to have
been formed almost entirely by the gradual accumulation of blown
sand and clay-dust, compacted and held together by vegetation. The
material is swept by the prevalent winds from the clay plains and
sandy deserts lying to the north, and deposited on the cultivated
lands, owing to the presence thereon of water and vegetation. Its
deposition is encouraged by the peasants, as the admixture of sand
and clay forms a loam of suitable texture for agricultural purposes,
and is regarded as having considerable fertilizing value.
[Illustration: AIN DAKHAKHIN.]
There is little doubt that originally nearly all the wells
in Southern Kharga had their outlets on the same level as the
plain. Owing to the periodical deposition of wind-borne materials,
the cultivated lands have gradually risen, until at the present day
they form, in the majority of cases, terraces standing well above the
general level. This continual raising of the land has necessitated
a corresponding elevation of the wells, with the result that the
wooden linings originally put into the bores have been completely
lost sight of. Instead of issuing from a clean, unobstructed hole,
the water has now to force its way upwards through a great mass of
sandy mud, and before it can be utilized it has to rise to a much
higher level than formerly. Little wonder, then, that the flows
of the majority of these wells have very much decreased, with
the consequence that the cultivated tracts are much smaller than
of old. In more than one case the outlet of a well had, in modern
times, risen to such a height that the discharge had become reduced
to a mere trickle. Twenty or twenty-five years ago, for instance,
Ain Dakhakhin was on the summit of an eminence which, by the slow
accumulation of sand and clay, had reached a height of 30 metres
above the surrounding plain. Remedial measures were then taken by
the inhabitants, and its level reduced by between 8 and 9 metres,
the present level of the well and highest fields being 23 metres
above the plain.
The height of a cultivated terrace above the general level of the
plain on which the well was originally sunk affords some measure
of its antiquity. It is difficult, however, in the absence of
observations extending over a number of years, to estimate what the
general rate of accumulation may have been. It would, moreover,
vary greatly with local conditions, but if an average rate of a
centimetre a year be assumed, the age of Ain Dakhakhin is indicated
as being something over 3,000 years.
The ancient Dakhakhin lies a kilometre to the S.S.E., and,
when inhabited, must have been as ugly as the modern village is
pleasing. When the diminution of the flow of Ain Dakhakhin became
serious, the people migrated to their present location, so as to be
near the well and under the shelter of the hill. The ruins are only
slightly above the level of the plain, but cover an area many times
greater than that occupied by the modern village. This circumstance
alone shows how insignificant is the present flow compared with
what it must once have been.
The most northerly of the group of wells in the neighbourhood of
Beris is Ain Bergis, situated on the south side of a broad platform
of sandy lacustrine beds. In this case there is a containing bank
across the valley below the well, but at the time of my visit it
was cut, so that the bottom of the pool was exposed. The latter
consisted of a circular basin of soft sediment, through which muddy
water was oozing and bursting in small shoots, suggesting an action
in many respects analogous to that of geysers and mud-volcanoes. The
natives informed me that the basin takes two days and nights to
fill after the bank has been closed.
Between Ain Bergis and Dakhakhin stretches a continuous plain of
alluvial clay, amounting to several thousands of acres. In its
present state this heavy clay land is not regarded as of much value
for cultivation, but in the event of new wells being sunk it could
be lightened and improved by allowing and encouraging the deposition
of blown sand and dust—by following, in fact, the practice which
from time immemorial has been in vogue in this district.
The best wells in the neighbourhood of Beris are Johar, Foq el
Doum, and El Hushi, the last named yielding 6 qirats, the others 9
each. The remaining wells in the district give from 2 to 4 qirats. In
situation and appearance the Beris wells do not differ essentially
from those already described, so that we may pass on to a brief
notice of the village.
Nothing of particular interest is to be met with in Beris, the chief
village of the southern part of the oasis. It is rather exposed,
and many of the streets are consequently dusty; in fact some of
those on the north side are deep in blown sand. Thick groves of
date-palms enclose the village on the east and south sides, but
not on the north. The cultivated lands lie partly to the north
and partly to the south-east, but are ineffectual in protecting
the village from the dust-laden northerly winds, except to a small
extent when the fields are under full crops. The village well is
Ain el Hushi, a large bubbling pool some 15 metres in diameter,
situated in the palm-groves immediately south of the village.
Solidly-built rectangular mud-brick buildings are found alongside
most of the larger wells in the Beris district, and a modern
visitor would have some difficulty in guessing to what use they
could ever have been put. They were, as a matter of fact, erected
by the Egyptian Government during the time of the Dervish raids,
to serve as block-houses for the garrisons maintained in the oasis
for the purpose of protecting the wells and villages. During this
period several notables and petty officials in this and the oasis of
Dakhla were carried off by the Dervishes into captivity in the Sudan.
Maks Bahari, the next place to the south, is a tiny little hamlet
on the southern slope of a sandy eminence, with extensive clay lands
studded with numerous doum-palms, but without water to irrigate more
than a small portion of these. The village well is on the south
side, and yields about 80 gallons per minute. As usual, it forms
a pool contained by a bank, the latter being cut periodically to
allow of the well being cleared of sediment.
After the winter crops are harvested in the spring, it appears
to be the general practice for the cultivators to pay special
attention to their water-supply. The retaining banks are cut and
the water allowed to drain off at the lowest level possible, the
wells being sometimes left in this condition for several months,
so that they gradually clean themselves with a minimum of trouble
to their owners. The mud, exposed on the sides of the basin,
continually slides downwards into the central pool, and is carried
away in suspension by the outflowing water.
Drift sand has been very destructive in the neighbourhood of Maks
Bahari. At Ain Bella, 2½ kilometres to the N.N.W., there are at
present only a few acres under cultivation, but the tract anciently
tilled is seen in the eroded remnants of an alluvial platform to
the north and north-east; this is now a deeply-grooved and ridged
hummocky area of loam, full of dead palm-stubs, with rootlets
ramifying in every direction. The original terrace appears to
have extended far to the north, the portion now remaining being
composed of alternating layers of sand and clay, dipping steeply
to the south. At the present day many of the cultivated terraces
are not only being gradually raised by the continual deposition
of wind-borne materials, but are being extended horizontally,
owing to the constant additions of layers of sand and clay-dust
to the steeply-inclined southern or lee faces. In many respects
the growth of these terraces is analogous to that of sand-dunes,
though, unlike the latter, the northern portions of the terraces
are practically stationary.
At one time or another many wells existed to the west, but are
now buried in the dunes, their former presence being testified
by isolated exposures of arable land and by occasional trees and
bushes. The dunes, following their natural S.S.E. course in the
direction of the prevailing winds, seem to be still encroaching on
the belt of country occupied by the existing wells and cultivated
lands, and it is probably only a matter of time, perhaps a few
hundred years, before they blot out the whole of the south part of
the oasis. The sand speedily envelops any settlements which are
abandoned, as nothing encourages the formation of dunes to such
an extent as vegetation, and this nearly always abounds in the
neighbourhood of the wells.
There is little to commend itself to notice at Maks Qibli, the
southern of the two hamlets of the same name; there are scattered
doums, several groves of date-palms, and small patches of cultivation
irrigated by isolated wells, all on high ground. Here, as elsewhere
in this part of the country, much land has gone out of cultivation,
though it must be mentioned that the villagers are rather progressive
in planting trees and maintaining small vegetable gardens.
Dush lies out of the main line of villages, being 10 kilometres east
of Maks Qibli, not far from the eastern wall of the oasis. It is
a pretty little place, with small clumps of palms, and two white
Sheikhs’ tombs on the north side. Ain el Burrda, the big well
immediately alongside the village, ceased flowing about three years
ago, to the great grief of the inhabitants, who now have to carry
their water from Ain el Karm, itself barely running. Fortunately,
the great Ain Johar, situated to the south but irrigating land
to the north, continues to discharge with unabated vigour. More
conspicuous than the village is the ancient Qasr Dush, occupying
the summit of a small hill to the east. This will be noticed later.
[Illustration: DUSH VILLAGE.]
The wells attached to the hamlets of Dush and Maks mark the limits
of the oasis to the south. The most southerly running well of any
importance is Ain el Qasr, though Ain Zaha el Din, still farther
to the south, just trickles, and irrigates a tiny area of not more
than a few square metres. Ain Mabrûka, a kilometre south of the
last-mentioned well, is overgrown with green weed, and surrounded
by a patch of tamarisk, short prickly scrub, and two or three wild
palms. This is the most southerly point at which exposed water
is to be seen, though in the midst of a large area of scrub still
farther to the south a sanded-up well of the name of Ain el Terfai
is reported to exist.
The scrub-covered area of Ain el Terfai is about 25 kilometres
south of Beris. To the south the surface gradually rises, and is
absolutely devoid of vegetation, the oasis-depression having given
way to the true desert. The next available water is at a place called
Nakhail, 60 kilometres to the S.S.E.; the water there is good, but
only exists in small quantities, obtainable in one or two spots by
digging to a depth of a couple of metres.
CHAPTER VII
THE OASIS UNDER PERSIAN AND ROMAN RULE
Previous Descriptions of Archæological Remains — Mr. Lythgoe’s
Excavations — Dr. Ball’s Report — Article by Professor
Sayce — Prehistoric Period — Earliest Historical Records —
Persian Domination — The Army of Cambyses — Temple of Hibis —
Græco-Roman Period — Qasr el Ghuâta — The Roman Emperors —
Proclamations on the Temple of Hibis — Qasr Dush — Nadûra —
Ruins at Ain Amûr — Qasr Zaiyan and the Town of Tchonemyris —
Roman Fortresses — Dêr el Ghennîma — Qasr Lebekha and Um el
Dabâdib — Monasteries — Watch-Tower in Bellaida — Introduction
of Christianity — The Christian Necropolis — Representations
of Biblical Scenes and Personages — Embalming — Celebrities
banished to the Oasis — The Columbaria — Olympiodorus describes
the Fertility of the Oases under the Romans.
The archæological remains of the oases have been referred to,
and in some cases described in more or less detail, by most of
the travellers who have left any records of their journeys in
the Libyan Desert. Among the latter may be mentioned Cailliaud,
Hoskins, Schweinfurth, and Brugsch. At the same time, compared with
the antiquities of the Nile Valley, those of the oases have received
scant attention; indeed, it is only within the last year or two that
any systematic excavations have been undertaken. At the present
time Mr. Lythgoe, assisted by Mr. Winlock, is excavating in the
neighbourhood of the Christian Necropolis, for Mr. Pierpont Morgan,
on behalf of one of the American museums, and the results promise
to be of the greatest interest and importance. It is to be hoped,
therefore, that, in a few years, we shall be in possession of a
detailed and authoritative account of the history of the oasis
during the last few thousand years, as it must be admitted that
the only information available at the present day is woefully
scrappy and in many respects unreliable. Ball, in his report on
Kharga published in 1900, gave an excellent summary of all that
was at that time known concerning the antiquities, together with
a number of useful plans of the chief buildings. Since that date,
with the exception of a press article by Professor Sayce, little,
if anything, has been published.
Without making any pretensions to special archæological knowledge,
I shall attempt to give a brief sketch of the past history of the
oasis, at the same time drawing the reader’s attention to the
distribution and general characters of the more important remains.
Although the oasis of Kharga was doubtless inhabited in prehistoric
times, as, indeed, is shown by the existence of flint implements of
Palæolithic type on the surrounding plateaux, and also to a lesser
extent within the depression, no graves referable to the prehistoric
period of Egyptologists—_i.e._, the period immediately preceding
that known as the first dynasty, when Menes united Egypt about 3,300
B.C.[4]—have as yet been discovered. But while it is known that
the Egyptian kings claimed the allegiance of the inhabitants of
the oases as far back as the eighteenth dynasty (1545-1350 B.C.),
the earliest known monumental records in Kharga date from a much
later period—_i.e._, the twenty-seventh dynasty—when Egypt was
under Persian domination.
It was at this time that Cambyses, in an endeavour to subdue the
inhabitants of the outlying oases, lost a large portion of his
army in the Western Desert, probably somewhere to the west or
north-west of Kharga. The Persian monarch had recently defeated
the Egyptian king, Psammetikh III., at Pelusium, and made Egypt
a Persian province. On his arrival at Thebes some 50,000 men were
detached from the main army proceeding to Ethiopia, and ordered to
march against the Ammonians and burn the oracular temple of Jupiter
Ammon. This abortive expedition into the Libyan Desert is described
by Herodotus (‘Thalia,’ 26) as follows:[5]
“The men sent to attack the Ammonians started from Thebes,
having guides with them, and may be clearly traced as far as
the city Oasis, which is inhabited by Samians, said to be of the
tribe Æschrionia. The place is distant from Thebes seven days’
journey across the sand, and is called in our tongue ‘the Island
of the Blessed.’ Thus far the army is known to have made its way;
but thenceforth nothing is to be heard of them, except what the
Ammonians, and those who get their knowledge from them, report. It
is certain they neither reached the Ammonians, nor ever came back to
Egypt. Further than this, the Ammonians relate as follows: that the
Persians set forth from the Oasis across the sand, and had reached
about half-way between that place and themselves, when, as they were
at their midday meal, a wind arose from the south, strong and deadly,
bringing with it vast columns of whirling sand, which entirely
covered up the troops, and caused them wholly to disappear. Thus,
according to the Ammonians, did it fare with this army.”
In modern times considerable doubts have arisen as to which oasis
was the objective of this army, and certainly the description
of Herodotus is such as to admit of various conclusions being
drawn. Rohlfs considers that Dakhla, not Siwa, was its goal,
and remarks that, however light-headed Cambyses might have been,
he could hardly have been so foolish as to have chosen Thebes as
the starting-point of an army destined for Siwa. The same writer
points out that a temple dedicated to Ammon does exist in Dakhla,
and that the distance of the latter oasis from Thebes corresponds
with the ten days mentioned by Herodotus. Vivien de St. Martin (“Le
Nord de l’Afrique dans l’antiquité,” 1863, pp. 40-41) had,
some twelve years previously, come to somewhat similar conclusions.
Ascherson, on the other hand, regards it as highly improbable that
Dakhla, which was hardly known and certainly of little importance in
the time of Cambyses, could have been the objective of so dangerous
and difficult an undertaking, and points out, moreover, that the
temple of Ammon in that oasis dates from much later (_i.e._, Roman)
times. He further remarks that Parthey (‘Das Orakel und die Oase
des Ammon,’ Abhandl. der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Berlin,
1862, S. 131-194), in a contemporaneous work, had already met the
objections raised by Vivien de St. Martin. According to the ancient
maps the distance from Memphis to Siwa was much the same as that
from Thebes to Siwa. No reliance, moreover, can be placed on the
distances given by Herodotus. Judged with reference to Thebes,
the country of the Ammonians certainly agrees more or less with the
position of the oasis of Dakhla; but considered in relation to Augila
(a place which has retained its name unchanged up to modern times),
it corresponds with the modern Siwa, where the well-known oracular
temple of Jupiter Ammon actually existed.
It seems to me quite reasonable to suppose that Cambyses only
decided on the despatch of this expedition after reaching Thebes,
and from there the route, via Kharga, Dakhla, and Farafra, would
be fairly direct, and have the advantage of passing through oases,
well provided with water and food-supplies, separated by marches
not exceeding four days. Possibly, moreover, the ‘oasis’ through
which the army is recorded to have safely marched may not have been
Kharga at all, but Baharia, or even Farafra, either of which would
have been reached by striking into the desert along one of the roads
leaving the Nile Valley in the neighbourhood of Assiut or Mellawi;
this would have been quite a likely route for an army starting for
Siwa from Thebes, as over a third of the distance would have been
along the fertile plains bordering the Nile.
The evidence, however, seems to favour the view that the army
proceeded westwards from Thebes, and passed safely through Kharga,
possibly also through Dakhla; in those days the latter may have
been coupled with Kharga, as it was later, when the two together
were called the Great Oasis. As it is impossible to imagine a
body comprising 50,000 men being destroyed by a sandstorm, I am
inclined to agree with Hoskins that the army was purposely misled
and sacrificed by the guides, with the object of preventing the
capture of Siwa and the destruction of the far-famed temple of
Jupiter Ammon. In the deserts to the north and west of Dakhla
immense accumulations of sand cover, without a break, thousands of
square miles of country; only one or two possible tracks cross this
lonesome wilderness, and these, following narrow troughs hemmed
in by hills of sand, are invisible even from the distance of a
few hundred yards. Only a party thoroughly acquainted with desert
travelling could hope to penetrate this region, and nothing would
be easier than to encompass the loss of a large and unwieldy army
among these terrible dunes. It seems probable, moreover, that this
body of troops was as ill-equipped and badly led as the main army
which at the same time was marching southwards to Ethiopia. Led by
circuitous routes till they reached a point many marches distant from
the nearest well, worn out by the incessant clambering over endless
ridges of soft sand, their stores of water and food exhausted,
their tracks obliterated by the ever-moving sand, the fate of the
unfortunate soldiers, deserted at the last by the treacherous guides,
could not long have remained in doubt.
The Persians left a magnificent record of their rule in the temple
of Hibis, situated 4 kilometres north of Kharga village. Founded
(or possibly only rebuilt) by Darius I. between 521 and 486 B.C.,
in honour of the god Ammon-Ra, it was enlarged by Nektanebos
about 150 years later. In the hieroglyphics the King is mentioned
as having built the temple of good white stone, and as having
covered its portals, made of Libyan acacia-wood, with bronze from
Asia. There are long lists and representations of the offerings made
to Ammon-Ra the sun-god, commencing with the wine of the oasis. The
building is situated in the midst of fields and palm-groves, and
the accompanying illustrations give a good idea of its general
aspect and architecture. The main portion has its long axis east
and west, and measures 44 by 19 metres, the walls being about
6 metres high. To the east of the chief entrance there are three
isolated pylons, one of them being at the present day almost hidden
by palms. The entire building is constructed of Nubian Sandstone,
believed to have been obtained locally, though the quarry has
never been located. Hibis means ‘the town of the plough,’
and is referred to in the Ptolemaic inscriptions at Edfu as the
capital of Kenem (Kharga). It is not certain whether the town,
which probably existed into the Middle Ages, was in the immediate
vicinity of the temple, or, as suggested by Rohlfs, near Nadûra,
a smaller edifice on a marked eminence a little to the south-east.
[Illustration: THE TEMPLE OF HIBIS.]
Apart from the temple of Hibis most of the antiquities in the
oasis belong to the Græco-Roman period, and probably the most
interesting and important of these is the temple now known as
Qasr el Ghuâta, situate 6 kilometres south-east of Gennâh, on
a conspicuous eminence composed of sandstones and shales. Qasr
el Ghuâta dates from the time of the Ptolemies, and, as the
cartouche of Ptolemy III. (Euergetes I.) appears on the entrance
walls, it may be presumed that it was erected during his reign,
between 247 and 222 B.C. The actual temple is of sandstone, and
measures approximately 10 by 20 metres, the main entrance being
richly inscribed and having ornamental columns with beautifully
designed capitals. The interior consists of three courts or
rooms, the first plain, the second with four ornamental columns
and walls decorated with exceptionally well-cut hieroglyphics,
while the third is much smaller, and contains enclosed passages
and cells. The building is hemmed in by numerous crude enclosures,
with partitions of sun-dried brick, the whole of which, forming a
large rectangular block, was originally surrounded by a high brick
wall of considerable thickness. According to Schweinfurth, the outer
crude erections formed the quarters of a garrison at a later date.
It was during the sway of the Roman Emperors that the Egyptian
oases attained their maximum importance. During this period, from
30 B.C. to about the beginning of the seventh century, extensive
towns existed in Kharga, and the oasis was strongly garrisoned and
protected by forts. Temples and other edifices were erected, while
a great development of the water-supply took place. During the same
period the oases were used as places of banishment, just as they
were in earlier days under the Pharaohs, and have been, in a way,
in quite modern times. Juvenal, the Latin satirist, was banished to
Syene at the beginning of the second century, as a punishment for his
attacks on the Court, and he appears also to have been for a time
confined in Kharga; Athanasius, Nestorius, and other celebrities
likewise made unwilling acquaintance with this portion of the Empire.
Sayce remarks that the oases under the Romans were thoroughly
cultivated, a brisk trade in wine being carried on, and mentions
that on one of the temple walls there are several inscriptions which
lead one to infer that Kharga yielded a considerable revenue. One
of the best known, dated in the first year of the reign of the
Emperor Galba (A.D. 68), is a long Greek inscription on one of
the pylons of the temple of Hibis; this has been carefully copied
by more than one traveller, and translations have been published
by Young, Letronne, and Hoskins. In it the Prefect of the oasis,
Julius Demetrius, communicated the answer of the Governor of the
province, Tiberius Julius Alexander, to various complaints made
by the inhabitants, not only of the oasis, but of other districts
under the same jurisdiction. The proclamation admits the justice
of the complaints, and lays down at great length the steps to be
taken in regard to the appointment of tax-gatherers, the payment of
debts, and imprisonment for various offences; it deals with deeds
of sale, the marriage portions of women, rents, military service,
legal appeals, the punishment of libellous informers, etc.; forbids
extortion and exorbitant taxes; orders the restitution of illegally
exacted moneys; and ordains that taxes are to be based on the extent
of the Nile inundation.
A still earlier inscription, on the southern portion of the same
pylon, refers especially to the inhabitants of the oasis, and is
translated by Hoskins as follows:
“Cnœus Virgilius Capito says: I have both heard long ago some
unjust expenses and false charges to be made by certain persons
avariciously and shamefully abusing their powers: and I have just
now been informed, that in the territory of the Libyans certain
things are consumed by those seizing them under pretence, as it
were, because of their necessities, as being set apart for their
expenses and entertainments; which charges are neither true nor
admissible: and in like manner under the name of the service
of couriers. Wherefore I command those travelling through the
nomes, soldiers, and horsemen, and serjeants, and centurions,
and tribunes, and all others, to take nothing nor to exact the
privileges of couriers, except certain have my warrants; and these
passing along only indeed to be accommodated with lodging: and
that it be laid down, that no man do any thing, beyond what were
established by Maximus. But if any individual may give, or consider
any thing as given, and exact as for the public service, I will
exact ten times the amount of what he has exacted from the nome,
and give a fourfold portion to the informer out of the property of
the condemned. The royal scribes, and the village clerks, and the
clerks of the districts in each nome, shall keep a register of all,
that is expended by the nome upon any one: that, if this or any
thing else has been irregularly committed, they may be recorded,
and may repay sixty-fold. But the inhabitants of the Thebaid may
for four months come up to the tribunals of accounts: and let
them address themselves to Basilides, the freedman of Cæsar,
an officer of the tribunal of accounts, and to the comptrollers;
that, if any thing may be adjudged or done contrary to what is
just, I may in like manner put this in order.”
These are interesting side-lights on life in the oasis in those days,
and show that the people were well treated by their highly gifted
foreign rulers, who, as is well known, respected the customs and
religion of the Egyptians and, other nations over whom they ruled.
Although there exists in the neighbouring oasis of Dakhla a temple
erected during the reign of Vespasian, the earliest Roman temple
in Kharga is probably Qasr Dush, the ancient Kysis, erected by
Trajan in A.D. 117, and dedicated to Isis and Serapis. The temple,
standing in the midst of the ruins of a town, occupies the summit of
a hill a couple of kilometres north-east of Dush. The main building,
constructed of stone, has its long axis north and south, and measures
15 by 7½ metres. It is preceded by a forecourt, in front of which
are two pylons, the first bearing a Greek inscription relating the
date of its erection. Hoskins gives the following translation of
this inscription:
“For the fortune of the Lord Emperor Cæsar Nero. . . . Trajan
Optimus Augustus Germanicus Dacicus, under Marcus Ruffinus Lupus,
Governor of Egypt, to Serapis and the supreme gods, those of
[Cyrene?] having written, erected from a principle of piety this
building. The nineteenth year of the Emperor Cæsar Nero Adrian
Optimus Augustus Germanicus Dacicus.”
There appears originally to have been a colonnade between the
first and second pylons, but only fragments of the columns exist
at the present day. The front of the forecourt is covered with
hieroglyphics, while the interior is unsculptured except at the
portal leading to the main hall, the latter measuring 6 by 5½
metres, and having four columns. On the west side there is an
entrance leading to an inclined passage. The northern part of the
building consists of a central semi-divided portion flanked by two
elongated chambers, all of which have arched roofs. A parapet is
formed by the external walls of the temple, while the roof over
the three southern chambers is at a lower level than that of the
main hall.
[Illustration: THE TEMPLE OF HIBIS (INTERIOR).]
The temple proper is in the western portion of an immense rectangular
enclosure bounded by very thick walls of sun-dried brick; these
walls at the present day are in a very bad state of preservation, but
appear to have been of the type common in some similar buildings in
the north of the oasis— _i.e._, hollow at the top, so as to enclose
a passage by means of which the custodians could make the circuit
of the building without descending, and from which, unobserved
from the exterior, they had the advantage of a splendid view of
the surrounding country. The measurements and details which I have
given above are largely taken from Dr. Ball’s report, to which the
reader is referred for plans and sections of this and other temples.
One of the most conspicuous ruins in the oasis is the little temple
of Nadûra, situated on a hill 1 kilometre south-east of the temple
of Hibis. The inner building is of sandstone, and roughly measures
8 by 11 metres, while the outer portion, bounded by walls of unburnt
brick, is very much larger. According to Sayce, the temple was built
by Hadrian between A.D. 117 and A.D. 138. Brugsch, however, refers
it to a somewhat later date, considering it to have been erected
by Antoninus Pius. Several smaller ruins in the neighbourhood are
probably referable to the same period as the temple itself.
The ruins of Qasr Zaiyan, 5½ kilometres north-east of Bulaq,
enclose a small sandstone temple of somewhat doubtful age, though
a Greek inscription over the entrance records that the building
was restored by Antoninus Pius and dedicated to Amenebis (Ammon of
Hibis), god of Tchonemyris, the ruins of which town exist in the
vicinity. The inscription is translated by Hoskins as follows:
“To Amenebis, the supreme god of Tchonemyris, and to the associated
gods of the temple, for the eternal preservation of Antoninus
Cæsar our Lord, and his whole house. The cell of the temple and
the vestibule were repaired and renewed under Avidius Heliodorus,
governor of Egypt; Septimius Macro being commander-in-chief,
Plinius Capito being general of the forces, in the third year of
the Emperor Cæsar Titus Ælius Adrianus Antoninus Augustus, the
Pious. Mesore the eighteenth.”
The Emperor Antoninus Pius reigned from A.D. 138 to A.D. 161, but
antiquities unearthed from the ruins show that the town dates from
the time of the Ptolemies and flourished into the Byzantine period.
In addition to the above the dilapidated ruins of what were
doubtless once imposing buildings exist at various points within
the depression. One worthy of attention will be noted at Ain Amûr
by travellers to Dakhla along the upper road. The exact age of the
building is uncertain, though Wilkinson discovered thereon a portion
of the name of one of the Cæsars. The small stone temple stood,
like so many others in the oasis, in a courtyard enclosed by thick
walls of unburnt brick, the fragmentary remains of which are visible
in the illustration. The names of the principal deities inscribed
on the temple walls are Kneph, Ammon, and Mut. Both Edmonstone
and Wilkinson came to the conclusion that the temple is of greater
antiquity than the majority of the monuments of the oasis; but I
am inclined to believe, with Hoskins and Rohlfs, that its somewhat
crude design is explicable on other grounds than that of age.
Perhaps the most remarkable and imposing buildings in the oasis
are the great Roman fortresses, among which may be mentioned Um
el Dabâdib, Qasr Lebekha, and Dêr el Ghennîma. Possibly some
of these were fortified monasteries, though until the ruins, as
well as those of the extensive towns and cemeteries which existed
in the neighbourhood, have been subjected to critical examination,
their exact nature must remain in doubt. The so-called Dêr, near
the foot of Jebel Ghennîma, was certainly a fort guarding one of
the chief passes up the escarpment of the oasis. It is built of
immensely thick walls, strengthened intermediately and at the four
corners by enormous buttresses. The walls taper slightly upwards,
and at the top are double, concealing a passage which ran round the
entire building. In the centre of the court was a deep bore from
which the inmates obtained their water, the surplus supply flowing
through an underground conduit to the cultivated lands outside.
Qasr Lebekha, situated in a lonely part of the depression under
the northern escarpment, 12 kilometres north-west of Meheriq,
has many points in common with the fortress just described. It is,
however, much smaller, and its interior is completely filled with
domed chambers, now falling into shapeless fragments.
The impressive ruin at Um el Dabâdib, 36 kilometres N.N.W. of
Kharga, seems to me to have been a fortified monastery, the interior
being filled with vaulted cells. Its appearance is quite distinctive,
lacking as it does the round buttresses of Qasr Lebekha and Dêr
el Ghennîma, though the walls are still of great thickness,
and loopholed for defence. Outside are the remains of a town of
considerable size, and here doubtless several hundred workmen were
quartered when the extensive subterranean waterworks, which exist
in the locality, were in course of construction.
A fourth large ruin, of somewhat similar architecture, occupies
a conspicuous position on the edge of the escarpment overlooking
the Bellaida district, about 2 kilometres north of the temple of
Hibis. Ball describes this under the name of Qasr Ain Mustapha
Kashef, a name which, of course, merely refers to its position
near a well of that name. The interior consists of tiers of arched
chambers, and according to Schweinfurth there is little doubt that
the building was a monastery.
All the above-mentioned forts and monasteries are built of large
sun-dried bricks measuring, as a rule, 35 × 17 × 9 centimetres, and
it is noteworthy that the walls, where of exceptional thickness,
were built in sections, perhaps to allow of their drying more
readily. Besides those described, a great many other mud-brick
buildings are to be found scattered through the oasis, the majority
of which possess no very distinctive features. One, however,
being sure to attract the attention of visitors may be specially
referred to; this is a high rectangular tower occupying a very
conspicuous position on the open plain to the west of Jebel Têr,
measuring 5 by 6½ metres at the base, the walls tapering slightly
upwards to a height of about 15 metres. It was originally divided
into storeys and provided with a staircase, and may very probably
have been used as a watchtower. The remains of a circular brick or
pottery kiln are to be seen twenty paces to the south.
The exact age of these numerous brick buildings cannot be stated
with certainty, and we can only hope that when the pottery,
coins, and other objects which exist in the ruins of the adjoining
towns have been systematically collected and examined, it may be
possible to date them with more accuracy. At present we can only
conjecture that while the greater number were erected during the
Roman occupation, between 30 B.C. and A.D. 395, some of them may date
from the succeeding Byzantine period. Many of the cemeteries contain
mummy-cases on which the likeness of the deceased is carved in wood
on the outside, or fashioned in stucco and painted in colours. Three
of these from an ancient burial-place in the Bellaida district,
between Jebel Têr and Jebel Tarif (one of a number of cemeteries
of Roman age which await the attention of archæologists), are
shown in one of our illustrations.
[Illustration: THE CHRISTIAN NECROPOLIS.]
Christianity was introduced into Egypt in the early part of the
Roman domination, and spread rapidly through the country, although
the national Egyptian or Coptic Church was not established until
A.D. 451. Judging by the size and importance of the cemetery at
the south end of Jebel Têr, and by the numerous monasteries,
Christianity must have had a great following in the oasis of
Kharga. During this period many of the temples in Upper Egypt were
converted into churches, and it was not until A.D. 640, when the
Caliphs conquered the country, that Christianity began to wane.
The Christian Necropolis lies 1 kilometre north of the temple of
Hibis, on the southern extremity of the foot-hills of Jebel Têr. The
cemetery, known at the present day as ‘El Baguat,’ consists of a
great number of tombs built of unburnt brick, the majority showing
a considerable amount of architectural decoration. The buildings
cover a large area, and are to a certain extent laid out in streets,
which, as Ball remarks, give the place the appearance more of a
strange deserted town than of a graveyard. Some are small tombs,
noticeable for their simple beauty; others are large mausolea
and sanctuaries, richly ornamented with columns, pilasters, and
arches. Almost without exception the tombs are surmounted by domes,
though, owing to the walls being carried up beyond the base of the
dome, the latter is not always conspicuous from the outside.[6]
The interior walls are invariably plastered and whitewashed,
and covered with numerous Greek and Arabic inscriptions, the old
Egyptian ‘Tau,’ the sign of eternal life, being frequently
displayed. In addition, the walls and domes are in some cases
ornamented with crude coloured designs. The pictures have,
unfortunately, been mostly hacked to pieces or covered by Arabic
writings, so that there are now only two tombs in which the original
paintings are anything like intact. On the dome of one of these,
near the south end of the cemetery, a number of familiar Biblical
personages are represented in colours, their names being inscribed
in Greek characters immediately above. Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham,
Sara and Isaac, Christ, Paul, and others are clearly distinguishable.
The actual grave is below the centre of the floor of each tomb. The
bodies, which mostly appear to have been embalmed and wrapped in
cloth, have in many cases been plundered of ornaments and thrown
out. Even at the time of Hoskins’ visit in 1837 the majority
of the tombs had been ransacked, and at the present day there
are probably few left intact. With regard to the practice of
embalming, Hoskins writes: “It is highly satisfactory that we
have such indubitable evidence to enable us to establish the fact,
that the custom of embalming the dead was continued by the first
professors of the Gospel in Eastern Africa. The introduction of
Christianity produced great and sudden changes in the minds, habits,
and customs of believers; but a length of time was no doubt often
necessary to root out many of the prejudices of the people; and
it is very possible, that the practice of embalming may have been
continued as a necessary mark of respect to the dead, long after
the doctrine had been entirely exploded, in accordance with which
the custom had been originally established. This practice, however,
even in the most ancient times, was not confined to the worshippers
of Amun. The physicians of Egypt were forty days in embalming Jacob;
and Joseph also was embalmed in Egypt.”
[Illustration: BIBLICAL SCENES IN A TOMB OF THE NECROPOLIS.]
We cannot speak with certainty as to the exact period during which
this cemetery was in use. In the course of the reign of Constantius
(337-361), Athanasius, the champion of the doctrine of the Trinity,
was several times expelled from Alexandria and compelled to take
refuge in the Libyan Desert, where there were numerous monasteries,
which afforded safe asylums from the followers of Arianism and
Paganism. Hoskins states that the name of Athanasius occurs in
one of the Theban sepulchres, and he believes that “the ruined
monasteries in the Oasis Magna were, probably, the abode of the
great champion of the Christian religion.”
During the reign of the Emperors Arcadius and Honorius numerous
personages, including the general Timasius, were exiled to the
Great Oasis, described by a writer (Zosimus) as “a barren place
whence no one could escape when once carried thither; for the way
being sandy, desert, and uninhabited, no one can find it, the wind
covering the traces of people’s feet, nor is there any tree or
house to guide them.”
Nestorius, Bishop of Constantinople, was excommunicated and banished
to the oasis in A.D. 434 by the Patriarch Cyril of Alexandria,
and probably the necropolis contains the tombs of a large number
of his followers. The Bishop, however, did not die in Kharga, as
he was carried thence into captivity by the Blemmyes, the ancestors
of the Bisharin and Ababdeh Arabs, and died, after suffering great
persecutions, at Panopolis (Akhmîm) about the year 440. It is
interesting to note that certain Christian customs and festival
days are still observed in the oasis at the present time.
Ruins of columbaria are of frequent occurrence in many parts of
Kharga, and judging from the size and shape of the bricks used,
belong to the same period as the forts and monasteries. They are
generally of considerable size, the inner walls being built so as to
provide tiers of cubical niches to serve as nesting-places for the
pigeons. Examples may be seen at Ain el Burg and Ain Tabashîr in the
Meheriq district; in the Bellaida country, and near Ain Khenâfish;
on the slopes of the Gorn el Gennâh; and near the village of
Dush at the south end of the oasis. These ancient pigeon-houses
are called ‘Burg’ by the natives, the Arabic name for dovecot
being ‘Burg Hamâm.’
That the oases were very flourishing under the Roman Empire
is shown by Olympiodorus, who lived in the reign of Theodosius
II. (A.D. 408-450), and was born in Upper Egypt. Writing of the
Great Oasis, he calls attention to its salubriousness, to the
abundance of sand everywhere, and to the numerous wells, which,
sunk to a depth of 200, 300, or even 500 cubits,[7] pour forth
streams of fresh water at the surface, which is used in rotation by
the owners for the irrigation of their fields. Barley, he avers,
is sometimes sown twice a year, and millet almost always three
times. Writing of the irrigation, Olympiodorus remarks that in this
region the sky is always cloudless, and that the great fertility
of the land is attributable to the fact that the peasants water
their little enclosures every third day in summer, and every sixth
in winter. The same writer states that dials were made in the oasis.
The presence of marine shells in the rocks of the surrounding
deserts led Olympiodorus to conjecture that the oasis was formerly
an island, separated by the sea from the rest of Egypt, and he
recalls the fact that the place was called by Herodotus ‘the
Island of the Blessed.’
Strabo writes of the Libyan Desert thus: “This continent resembles
a panther’s skin, as being spotted with inhabited districts,
insulated in the midst of a sandy soil and arid deserts; the
Egyptians call these cantons ‘Auasis.’” He refers to the
Great Oasis as follows: “In a parallel line with Abydus, and
distant about three days’ journey across the desert, we find the
first of the three Oases of Lybia; it is a spot well inhabited,
well supplied with water, and producing wines and other commodities
in sufficient abundance.”
With the withdrawal of the Roman garrisons and the Mohammedan
conquest decay set in, and, as Sayce remarks, the aqueducts became
choked, the fields were neglected, and malarial fever invaded a
district which had at one time been regarded as a health resort.
Of the history of the oases during the succeeding seven or eight
centuries no records are available, but, judging from the writings
of Arabian geographers, between the eleventh and the fifteenth
centuries, it is evident that they gradually became depopulated, and
were regarded as of little importance. El Sherîf el Edrissi, writing
about the middle of the sixth century of the Hegîra, refers to the
oases (Al Vahat) as places formerly containing streams of water,
with lands on which trees were still found growing, and with ruined,
uninhabited towns. He adds that the goats and sheep had become quite
wild, and were trapped by hunters like other wild animals. It is
not improbable, however, that this author was referring to some of
the smaller oases-depressions, such as Kurkur, or perhaps to some
of the more outlying parts of Kharga or Dakhla. It seems extremely
unlikely, as Hoskins remarks, that the Great Oasis as a whole had
become entirely uninhabited.
Still later the emir and historian Ismail Abulfida, about the
beginning of the fourteenth century, speaks of the oases as abounding
with palms and running water, and describes them as situated like
islands, in the middle of the desert, three days’ journey from the
Said (Upper Egypt). Jacutus describes the positions of three oases,
and refers to the first of them as being well cultivated, containing
streams and hot springs, palms and cultivated lands. The inhabitants,
he adds, are in a wretched state. Several other writers allude
to the Egyptian oases, but their information is seldom, if ever,
first hand, and the descriptions are in general so vague that we
are left in doubt as to which particular oasis their remarks refer.
The more modern records, commencing with those of Poncet at the
end of the seventeenth century, have already been referred to in
a previous chapter.
CHAPTER VIII
THE EXTINCT LAKES OF THE OASIS
Character and Extension of Lacustrine Deposits — Modern Erosion
by Wind-borne Sand — The Lakes geologically of Recent Age
— Discovery of Pottery and Bones of Domesticated Animals —
Area occupied by the Lakes — Maximum Level of their Waters —
Lacustrine Strata at Gorn el Gennâh — Relation to the Ancient
Monuments — Altitudes of Archæological Sites — Age of the Lakes
and their Persistence into Historic Times — Flint Implements
— Origin of the Lakes — Their possible connection with the
Artesian Waters — Lacustrine Deposits form the Cultivated Lands
of Modern Times.
When in 1906 I commenced to make a special study of the geology
of the oasis, with a view to elucidating certain questions which
had arisen in connection with the water-supply, it came to me as a
very great surprise to find indubitable evidence that the greater
part of the floor of the depression had at one time or another been
the site of an immense lake. No mention had been made by previous
observers of the extensive accumulations of lacustrine sediments
which cover so large a proportion of the floor, and are found from
near Ain el Ghazâl in the north to beyond Beris in the south.
[Illustration: LACUSTRINE DEPOSITS AT EL GALA, NEAR BULAQ.]
These deposits consist of horizontal finely-bedded alternations
of sand and clay, or more frequently of an intimate mixture of the
two; local false-bedding is not uncommon, and included fragments of
limestone or sandstone are occasionally met with. The beds have a
prevailing brown tint, and frequently exhibit well-marked hexagonally
disposed shrinkage cracks. Although originally they must have formed
an immense compact and continuous sheet, the deposits have since
been subjected to considerable denudation, so that at the present
day they exist as large isolated patches. Perhaps the most striking
of these is that occupying the centre of the depression between
Kharga village and Jebel el Ghennîma, covering an area of between
40 and 50 square kilometres, and over the greater part cut by the
sand-blast into thousands of isolated hummocks, disposed with their
longer axes parallel and in the direction of the prevailing north
winds. Individual hummocks have perhaps an average height of 4 or
5 metres, though many exceed this considerably; in length they
may measure anything up to 40 or 50 metres. The northern end of
a hummock is in nearly all cases the larger, the gradual tapering
towards the south being a most distinctive feature. Their present
shape and appearance are, of course, entirely due to the eroding
and sculpturing action of sand-laden wind.
The finding of these extensive lacustrine deposits naturally opened
up a number of questions of the greatest interest and importance. To
what level had the waters of the lake attained; what were its limits
horizontally; and, most important of all, at what period had it
existed, and what were its relations to the ancient monuments of
the oasis? With the object of solving these problems it has been
my endeavour to collect all possible information concerning the
deposits, and, although it is perhaps too soon to draw inferences
with any great certainty, I propose to put on record such data as I
have been able to obtain, and to indicate the conclusions to which
they appear to lead.
It is, of course, obvious that the lake was, geologically speaking,
of comparatively recent date; the lacustrine deposits have nothing
in common with those of the Cretaceous and Eocene formations which
build up the plateau-massif out of which the oasis-depression is
hewn. The sands and clays are much softer and less consolidated beds,
laid down superficially and unconformably on the uneven surfaces of
the older formations; the depression had, in fact, almost attained to
its modern dimensions before the beds in question were formed. My
first impression was that the lake dated from prehistoric, if
not prehuman, times; that it existed before the prevailing desert
conditions set in, when the Nile Valley was the site of extensive
lakes and the country was partially wooded. The existence of thick
deposits of calcareous tufa on the upper portions of the cliffs
of the depression suggested a considerable outpouring of water
from springs, and it seemed not improbable that the surplus water
collected on the floor of the depression below.
For some time I was unable to discover any clue to the age of the
deposits, in the shape of organic remains or human relics. Then, in
a pit sunk for surface-water in the neighbourhood of Headquarters,[8]
some fragments of pottery were found at the base of the deposit. This
discovery was followed by the finding of other pieces of pottery
firmly embedded in some of the clay hummocks to the south-west of
Headquarters. These were without question _in situ_, and proved
that the lake was contemporaneous with man.
Further search, in which I was greatly assisted by my friend
H. H. Baker, M.B., led to the discovery of human settlements,
apparently on the margins of the lake. In these localities large
quantities of broken pottery were found associated with the bones
of domesticated animals, while the fresh-water gastropod shell,
_Melania tuberculata_, was found to be abundant in some of the
beds. Careful exploitation of one or two of these sites, about
6 kilometres south-west of Headquarters, enabled us to procure a
number of complete earthenware vessels, the chief types of which
are shown in one of our illustrations. A comparison of these with
pottery of known age must be left until we have referred to the
horizontal and vertical extension of the lake.
Judging from the still existing deposits, and utilizing (in the
northern part of the oasis) a considerable number of levels,
I believe the limits of the lake to have been as shown on the
accompanying plan. From its most northerly point in lat. 25°
45′ N., in the neighbourhood of the modern Ain el Ghazâl, its
western boundary trended S.S.W., passing about 1½ kilometres west
of Meheriq village to the south-west end of Jebel Têr; thence
its shore-line lay at the foot of Jebel Tarwan, rounding which it
projected somewhat into the Bellaida district between Jebel Têr and
Jebel Tarif. South of this it bore slightly west of south, passing
about 2½ and 3 kilometres west of Kharga and Gennâh villages
respectively. From the latter point the shore-line proceeded almost
due south to lat. 25° 2′ N., in the vicinity of Ain Girm Meshîm.
Its eastern limit appears to have been about a kilometre east of
Ain el Qasr, and some three times that distance east of Meheriq, so
that on this latitude the lake had a breadth of 4½ kilometres. In
the neighbourhood of Headquarters its margin lay 2 kilometres to the
east, whence it ran almost due south for about 12 kilometres. Here,
just to the south-west of Ain Harrân, the lake attained its greatest
width—_i.e._, 15 or 16 kilometres, gradually diminishing southwards
to Ain Girm Meshîm. The total length of this portion of the lake
was just over 80 kilometres.
Both at Ain Girm Meshîm and Ain el Doum the lacustrine deposits are
well seen; over the intermediate country they were not observed, and
as this area lies at a somewhat high elevation, it seems probable
that there was a break in the continuity of the lake of about 15
kilometres in extent.
The southern portion appears to have measured approximately 45 by
15 kilometres, its long axis lying along a line passing through Ain
el Doum, Beris, and Maks Qibli. To the south-east the lake had a
local extension in the neighbourhood of Dush. It is thus seen to
have extended, with a possible break of a few kilometres in the
district near Ain Girm Meshîm, almost throughout the length of
the depression, over a distance of 136 kilometres, or 85 miles.
It proved a matter of some difficulty to determine the maximum
height to which the lake had reached, as in most localities the
deposits have suffered considerable denudation, and their margins are
usually obscured by blown sand and superficial detrital material. The
pottery to the south-west of Headquarters was ascertained to occur
at 47 metres above sea-level, the uppermost limit of the deposits
in that area being 62 metres. At Headquarters the lake clays occur
up to between 65 and 66 metres; at Ain Terfai and Ain Mahmud, north
of Meheriq, to 65 and 67 metres respectively. Still farther north I
found there were stretches of similar clays at 76 metres near Ain el
Qasr, and at 84 to 85 metres in the neighbourhood of Ain el Ghazâl.
On the west side a very well-defined plain formed of the lake beds
occurs immediately to the east of the Necropolis, and was found to
lie at 70 metres above sea-level. But the most valuable data of all
were those obtained at the Gorn el Gennâh. There, as anticipated,
the lacustrine deposits, containing _Melania_ and _Limnæa_ in
abundance, were found to be well developed and exposed, being piled
up on the flanks of the hill on its north, east, and south sides,
the exact limits of the beds being best seen on the south-east side
near the ruins of a columbarium. Immediately behind the latter the
top of the stratified clays was determined as 66½ metres, a figure
agreeing remarkably closely with the majority of the maximum heights
farther north. Still higher up, however, are other clays, which,
while similar in general appearance, are either very irregularly
bedded or altogether unstratified. The upper limit of these clays
was found to be 82·76, or, say, 83 metres. While these highest beds
may possibly have been deposited by the waters of springs issuing
from faults and fissures (the line of disturbance mentioned in a
previous chapter passes through the Gorn at this point), one must,
in the absence of any definite evidence to the contrary, regard them
as probably representing the extreme marginal deposits of the lake.
We may, indeed, conclude that, while the lake presumably at one time
reached to a maximum level of 85 metres, it stood for a considerable
period at about 70 metres above sea-level.
[Illustration: COFFIN-MASKS FROM BELLAIDA.]
[Illustration: ANCIENT POTTERY FROM THE LACUSTRINE DEPOSITS.]
The next step was to ascertain the altitudes of the archæological
sites and the relation of the latter to the lacustrine deposits. Up
to the present time levels have not been carried through to the south
end of the oasis, and aneroid determinations are not of sufficient
accuracy for our purpose, so that we must confine our attention
in this connection to the northern portion of the depression. The
ground-level of the temple of Hibis was found to be at 75 metres
and the lowest of the tombs of the Necropolis at 80·6 metres above
sea-level. The columbarium already alluded to, on the south-east
side of the Gorn el Gennâh, is built on the denuded slopes of
the lacustrine series at a level of 57·2 metres, while the base
of a number of brick ruins a little to the north was found to be
just over 53 metres. Finally, the ground-level at the base of the
slope on which stands Qasr Zaiyan was determined as 21 metres, a
bench-mark being made on the southern door of the temple at 24·52
metres above sea-level.
There are several points in connection with the disposition of
the archæological remains which cannot but strike one. In the
first place, they are mostly on or near the extreme margin of the
lacustrine deposits; secondly, they are absent altogether from the
central portion of the lake site; and thirdly, the older monuments
occupy the highest levels, while there are no representatives at
all of the earlier Egyptian periods. While the disposition of the
monuments may, of course, be entirely fortuitous, we are justified,
I think, in assuming that the lake existed well into the historic
period, and may have still stood at the 65 or 70 metre level when
the temple of Hibis was erected by Darius, about 500 years before
the commencement of the Christian era. In the time of the Ptolemies
it was certainly considerably lower, while in still later days,
when the country became a Roman province, the lake had very much
contracted, and probably only existed as a marshy swamp occupying
the lower portions of the depression.
What age, it may be asked, is indicated by the pottery, bones,
and fresh-water shells which, as already mentioned, have been
found in the lacustrine deposits? Unfortunately the shells belong
to species which have a wide distribution, and have persisted from
early Pleistocene times right up to the present day. They do not,
therefore, help us to fix the age of the deposits, except within
wide limits. The bones were submitted to Dr. Andrews, F.R.S., of
the British Museum Staff, and his conclusion is that they belong
to two domesticated animals—one a small, lightly-built ox, the
other a small horse, donkey, or zebra; unfortunately they are not
sufficiently complete to be determined with certainty. Finally,
as to the pottery: the types do not differ in any important respect
from those associated with the towns and cemeteries of Græco-Roman
age in many parts of the oasis. The barrel-shaped pot has, indeed,
persisted to modern times, being, in a slightly different design,
the standard water-jar at the present day in the oasis of Dakhla. The
pottery, therefore, bears out our conclusions that the lake continued
to exist well into the historic period.
Although flint implements have never yet been detected _in situ_
in the lacustrine deposits, I have collected a considerable
number from the area originally occupied by the lake. Some of
these were found lying on the denuded surfaces of the lake beds,
in positions which lead me to suppose that they have weathered out
from the deposits. They are decidedly Neolithic in workmanship and
character, and were, in my opinion, used by people inhabiting the
depression at the time of, and probably prior to, the existence of
the lake. A number of examples are shown in one of the accompanying
plates; the figure in the bottom left-hand corner is, however,
that of a palæolith, a typical example of those which occur on the
borders of the plateau, and on or near the eastern escarpments. In
the right-hand bottom corner is figured an object of very common
occurrence in the oasis—a sandstone hand-grinder, probably of
Roman age. With the exception of these two the specimens illustrated
are all implements from the site of the lake. Flint implements
were evidently in use in Kharga at a very late period, as large
numbers of worked flints, mostly in the form of flakes or tools of
very poor finish, occur near many of the old sanded-up wells. A
considerable amount of detailed work will have to be undertaken
before the different flints of the oasis can be satisfactorily
arranged in chronological order.
From what period did the lake date, and to what cause did it owe its
origin, are questions which cannot, I fear, be definitely answered
as yet. While it is quite reasonable to consider, in the absence
of any decisive evidence to the contrary, that the lake originated
in early prehistoric or Pleistocene times—that it dates possibly
from the time of the formation of the tufas of the Nile Valley and
oasis-escarpment, when the climate was certainly much moister than
at the present day—we must not forget the possibility that it
was formed by artificial means during one or other of the Egyptian
dynasties between 3000 and 1000 B.C.
There is good reason to believe that the depression was inhabited
previous to the formation of the lake, and although we have no
information as to when the first deep borings were made, there is
some evidence which leads me to suspect that wells existed prior to
the time when the surface of the lake began to fall, if not very
much earlier. The evidence to which I refer is the discovery of a
portion of an earthenware pipe embedded _in situ_ in the lake clays
at a height of 42·85 metres, of the type used by the ancients for
lining their water-channels. Is it possible, therefore, that, as the
result of the industry of the ancient well-borers— following their
initial discovery of these deep-seated sources—the long-confined
waters welled up with irresistible force, and gradually flooded
the country. At the present day, when the pressure throughout the
artesian basin must be very much less than formerly, it is not
uncommon for new bores to get out of control and flood considerable
areas of country. The same thing may possibly have happened on a
very much larger scale thousands of years ago, when the first bores
were sunk into a previously untapped artesian basin, fully charged
with water under great pressure.
[Illustration: FLINT IMPLEMENTS.]
There is another explanation which it is advisable to keep in mind,
though it has never hitherto, as far as I am aware, been advanced
as a possible cause of the formation of lakes. The very existence of
artesian water depends on the presence of porous strata overlain by
impermeable beds. If one or other of the porous beds, charged with
water under pressure, should, through the action of denudation on
the overlying beds, become exposed at the surface, the waters would
escape through natural springs in very large quantities. This might,
indeed, continue for a long period of time, until the bed was nearly
depleted and the pressure reduced to nil. There is little doubt that
the beds which we have named the ‘Surface-water Sandstone,’
and which are now exposed in places on the floor of the oasis,
were originally entirely covered by impervious clays, and contained
artesian water under pressure; they may, in fact, have been in the
same condition as is the Artesian-water Sandstone at the present
day. It is conceivable, therefore, that when those beds became
exposed at the surface, owing to the removal of the overlying
confining strata, their contained waters escaped in such quantities
as to have given rise to a lake of considerable dimensions, if not
to one equal in size to that which we have been considering.
No one can be more conscious than myself of how much there is still
to be learnt regarding the topographical aspects of the oasis
in early historic times, and although the theory that the lake
may have been formed by waters which escaped from the underlying
water-charged beds (either artificially through bore-holes or
naturally as springs) may at first sight appear fanciful, it is
one which, in the present imperfect state of our knowledge, is
at least worth bearing in mind. A more detailed examination of the
lacustrine deposits would probably throw further light on the matter;
and a minute analysis of the nature, composition, and arrangement of
the individual grains would almost certainly show whether the beds
have in the main been formed of sediment carried into the lake by
streams from the neighbouring cliffs and plateaux, or whether they
represent wind-borne accumulations of sand and clay-dust from the
surrounding plains.
At whatever period and in whatever manner the lake may have been
formed, it is quite clear that it existed well into historic times,
and that on its bed were laid down thick deposits of clay and sand,
which at the present day form the bulk of the cultivated lands of
the oasis.
CHAPTER IX
THE UNDERGROUND WATER-SUPPLY
The Water-bearing Strata underlying the Libyan Desert —
Essential Conditions required to produce an Artesian Basin — The
Surface-Water Sandstone — Collecting Pits — Fissures — Yield
of Water — Flowing Wells from this Sandstone — Bores at El Dêr
el Ghennîma — Variable Quality of Water — Ancient Subterranean
Aqueducts — The Artesian-Water Sandstone — General Characters
— The Headquarters Area avoided by the Ancients — Drilling
Difficulties — Results of New Bores — Factors determining
Discharges of Wells — Temperature and Chemical Composition of
Artesian Waters.
When laboriously traversing the hot and arid plateaux of the Libyan
Desert, our thoughts divided between the fertile plains of the Nile
we have left behind and the still far distant oasis, it is difficult
to realize the presence, within a distance of a few hundred yards,
of an abundant supply of the purest water. Yet there is little doubt
that the water-bearing beds underlie practically the whole of the
Libyan Desert, though it is only on the floors of the depressions
that they lie within accessible distance of the surface. On the
high tablelands the cost of sinking bores to reach the sandstones
would be prohibitive, and without the aid of powerful and costly
pumps the water would not rise to the level of the ground. But
although the subterranean waters of the great desert plateaux
cannot economically be made available at the surface, it must not
be forgotten that the deeply buried sandstones of these regions must
act to a great extent as storage reservoirs capable of replenishing
the beds underlying the oases-depressions, from which large volumes
of water are continuously drawn by the numerous artesian wells.
The essential conditions required to produce an artesian basin,
which, when tapped by borings, will produce self-flowing wells,
are the presence of strata of sufficient porosity to carry water,
enclosed above and below by beds of sufficient impermeability to
prevent the escape of that water; the outcrop of the porous beds
in some higher and distant region, with an adequate exposure to
an abundant source of water, whether rain, river, or lake; and,
finally, the absence of an easy escape at a lower level, unless at
a considerable distance from the sites of the wells.
These requirements are well fulfilled in the Libyan Desert, where
the Nubian Series at the base of the Cretaceous consists of highly
porous sandstones, subdivided by impervious beds of shale, overlain
by a great thickness of absolutely water-tight beds, and underlain by
probably almost equally impermeable crystalline rocks. These porous
sandstones rise gradually to the south, and presumably outcrop in
Nubia and the Sudan, though whether, as we shall see later, they
derive their water-supplies from the Nubian reaches of the Nile,
from the great swamp regions of the Sudan, or from the rains of
Abyssinia or Darfur, is still, to some extent, an open question.
[Illustration: AN ARTESIAN WELL (BORE NO. 39).]
In Northern Kharga we find two similar but distinct sandstones,
separated by a 75-metre band of Impermeable Grey Shale. The upper
bed, which we have for convenience designated the ‘Surface-water
Sandstone,’ is exposed at the surface, and contains standing or
sub-artesian water; while the lower, from which the flowing wells
derive their supplies, never approaches within 80 metres of the
surface, and forms the true ‘Artesian-water Sandstone.’ It will
be convenient to give these sandstones separate consideration.
THE SURFACE-WATER SANDSTONE.
The stratigraphical position of the Surface-water Sandstone will be
seen by reference to the geological sequence given in a preceding
chapter, and to the section drawn across the oasis. The beds
forming this division have an average thickness of 45 metres, and
consist almost entirely of fine sandstones or coarser grits, often
containing an abundance of oxide of iron, and occasionally beds of
alum and Epsom salts, or, to be chemically exact, hydrous sulphates
of alumina and magnesia. Thin bands of shale are frequently met with,
intercalated in the sandstones, generally near the top or base of
the series. On the level or gently undulating floor of the oasis,
to the east of the line of disturbance passing through Jebel Têr,
the Surface-water Sandstone has a wide outcrop, while to the west,
where the general level of all the formations is higher, the same
stage forms the foot-hills of Jebel Tarif, of Jebel Têr, and of
the high cliffs which rise to the north of Um el Dabâdib and Ain
Lebekha. It is probable, moreover, that the sandstones which form
the surface of the desert between Kharga and Dakhla, and which cover
immense areas to the south of the oases, also belong to this group.
Over a portion of the floor in the north of the depression these
sandstones have been entirely removed by denudation, so that in
this area the underlying grey shales form the desert surface. At
one time the sandstone was continuous across the depression, and
entirely covered by an impervious mantle consisting of the Purple
Shales. It was then, in all probability, fully charged with water
under pressure, as is the true Artesian-water Sandstone at the
present day; and it is possible, as we have already suggested,
that when the sandstones in question were first laid bare by the
active agents of erosion, innumerable springs broke forth, and
gave rise to a lake of considerable magnitude, which may, indeed,
have been that which persisted into the historic period.
In the district round Headquarters several pits have been sunk
in this sandstone, from which the water is lifted by power for
purposes of irrigation. In six pits the maximum level of the water
varies from 55·38 to 56·52, the average being 55·74 metres. From
Headquarters the general surface of the country falls to the north,
south, and east, and curiously the water-level in the sandstone
falls in the same directions. In a pit near Bore No. 43, about 3½
kilometres to the south-west, the water-level is 52·4 metres; at
points 640 metres and 2 kilometres to the west it was found to be
52·16 and 50·21 metres respectively; while near Bore No. 33, 4
kilometres to the north, the surface-water stands at 52·71 metres
above sea-level. The ground-levels at these points are 54·54,
57·90, 53·61, and 57·61 respectively, while that at Headquarters
averages 59·57 metres above sea-level.
For irrigation purposes an ordinary bore-hole or small pit is
quite useless, the inflow of water through the pores of this
sandstone being too slow to yield a pumping supply. When a large
pit is excavated, fissures, through which water is seen to be
freely circulating, are nearly always exposed. Experiments show
that—provided a sufficiently large collecting-tank is made,
measuring, for instance, 5 by 4 metres, and sunk from 1 to 2
metres below the standing water-level—a supply sufficient to
yield a continuous discharge of 8 gallons a minute (equivalent
to 11,500 gallons per day of twenty-four hours) can frequently be
obtained. Moreover, by sinking a bore to a depth of 7 or 8 metres
from the bottom of the pit, preferably on one of the fissures,
the supply can be increased threefold, the water emerging from the
bore in considerable volume, though with insufficient pressure
to carry it (in a length of well-casing fixed on the top of the
bore-hole) above the level of 55·74. The latter figure may, indeed,
be regarded as the static head in this neighbourhood of the water
in the Surface-water Sandstone. The fact that from this sandstone
we are unable to obtain an artesian well at the surface, but can
get flowing water at a depth of a few metres, is an important
illustration of the very slight difference in some cases between
flowing and non-flowing wells, and of their close connection with,
and dependence on, the absolute ground-level.
The extent to which this sub-surface source can be drawn on without
lowering its level has not yet been determined, though, in a pit
alongside Bore No. 2, a ‘saqia’ or Persian waterwheel (a native
contrivance adapted for lifting water, worked by oxen or camels),
has been working for about eighteen months without appreciably
affecting the supply.
We have seen that a flowing well can be obtained (in a pit) a few
metres below ground-level, and under certain conditions it may be
possible to obtain flowing wells at the surface from the sandstone
under consideration; the occurrence of artesian water at El Dêr
el Ghennîma, on the east side of the depression, may, indeed, be
a case in point. To the east of Headquarters, as may be gathered
from the section, the Surface-water Sandstone dips gently under
the Purple Shales, the thickness of the latter increasing as the
eastern escarpment is approached. Running north and south through
El Dêr is an anticlinal fold, and flowing water is obtainable
from wells sunk on its crest through the shales to the underlying
sandstone. The original depths of the ancient wells in this district
cannot be determined with certainty, but when one of those to the
north of the ruined fort was cleaned out and cased, flowing water
was obtained when the drill reached a depth of 41 metres. Below
this the ground appeared to be untouched, the bore being carried a
few metres deeper into fresh sandstone, which yielded an increased
supply. This well has given a steady discharge of about 40 gallons
a minute for over eighteen months. Quite recently the flow has been
augmented to just over 50 gallons per minute by its outlet being
lowered about 1½ metres, to 92½ metres above sea-level.
The water here seems to be derived from the Surface-water Sandstone,
though, considering that the well is situated on a line of folding,
it would not be advisable to entirely disregard the possibility
of the presence of fissures, through which the water might rise
directly from the Artesian-water Sandstone below. If, as appears to
be the case from the depth and position of the bore, the water does
have its origin in the Surface-water Sandstone, the explanation
may be that the necessary working head or pressure is furnished
by the difference of level of the sandstone here and in adjacent
districts. In the extreme north of the oasis the same sandstone lies
at a considerably higher level, and, at the same time, holds large
volumes of water, and it may be that the pressure of this water,
acting on that contained in the beds at lower levels, gives rise
to flowing wells when bores are sunk in favourable localities.
A very great drawback to the water of these upper sandstones is
its variable quality. In the Headquarters district it is usually
more or less ferruginous, and in some pits may contain as much as
63 grains of dissolved solids per gallon, the salts consisting of
iron, potash, and soda, with traces of lime and magnesia, mostly
in the form of sulphates and chlorides. Mr. William Garsed[9] has
calculated that this water would, if used for irrigation at the
rate of 3 gallons a minute per acre, effect an annual deposition
of over 3 tons of sulphate of potash and common salt on each acre
of land. Salts of this nature in such quantities would, of course,
have a very deleterious effect on the crops, not to mention the
mechanical binding action of the iron on the soil.
It appears that the want of uniformity in the quality of the water is
due to local causes, chief of which may be the relative abundance of
fissures, the purity of the sandstone, and the presence or absence
of mineralized shales. In those areas where the water is moving
only slowly—where, in fact, it tends towards stagnation in the
strata—it is probably liable to become more or less highly charged
with mineral salts; certainly the best qualities seem to coincide
with relative abundance, and the largest supplies are undoubtedly
found where the beds are traversed by fissures.
In many parts of the oasis perfectly sweet water is obtainable from
the sandstones of this series, and this source, as an auxiliary to
the artesian supplies obtained from deep borings, was taken full
advantage of in olden times. The ancients constructed the most
marvellous systems of subterranean aqueducts to tap these sources,
more especially in the neighbourhood of Um el Dabâdib, Qasr Lebekha,
and Qasr Gyb, where such works were especially applicable, owing to
the fact that the sandstones in those districts form extensive hills
above the general level of the surrounding cultivable ground. These
underground works are, in many respects, of far greater interest than
the ancient monuments, and they will therefore be fully described
in a later chapter.
THE ARTESIAN-WATER SANDSTONE.
The source of the great majority of the flowing wells of the
oasis is the group of sandstones underlying the Impermeable Grey
Shales. Although the beds of the series are nowhere visible to the
eye, their general characters can be judged by an examination of the
material brought to the surface during drilling operations. The
samples prove that, in general lithological characters, the
Artesian-water Sandstones do not essentially differ from those just
described. Throughout the area over which boring operations have
recently been carried out no well-defined, continuous, argillaceous
bands have been met with, though lenticular intercalations of
clayey strata are not uncommon. Up to the present time the base
of the Artesian-water Sandstone has not been reached, although
the deepest borings have been carried down to a depth of 122
metres below its junction with the confining shales above. The
different bands vary considerably in coarseness and porosity,
in hardness, and in the amount of cementing material between
the individual grains of the rock, all of which characters have
a marked influence on their capacity as water-carriers. Judging
from their unfossiliferous nature, from the presence of thin seams
of lignite associated with bands and nodules of iron pyrites, and
from certain other considerations, we are led to infer that these
sandstones were originally laid down on the bed of an immense inland
fresh-water lake.
During the past half-century the natives have put down a considerable
number of deep bores in this and the neighbouring oasis. No written
records concerning these are, however, available, so that in seeking
information one has to rely on the memory of the men who sunk the
wells. By careful cross-questioning I have collected a large amount
of interesting and valuable information, but still, in describing the
artesian wells themselves, it will be more satisfactory to confine
our attention to those which have been drilled on the Headquarters
area during the last two or three years, and of which accurate and
reliable records have been preserved.
The Headquarters area, occupying the central part of the depression
between Kharga village and Jebel el Ghennîma, is one of the few
large districts entirely devoid of old wells and traces of former
cultivation. A combination of unfavourable circumstances appears to
have led the ancient well-borers to avoid this district. Firstly,
the general elevation is comparatively high, meaning small flows
from wells of ordinary depth; secondly, the superficial alluvial
deposit is clayey and heavy, necessitating a considerable expenditure
of time and labour to bring it into satisfactory condition for
cultivation; and, thirdly, and probably most important of all,
the presence of a copious supply of sub-surface water, which would
have greatly hampered, if not made impossible, the sinking of wells
by the ancient system.
It may therefore be assumed that, owing to the entire absence of
both ancient and modern wells, the sandstones of this district
were practically fully charged with water at the time the first
bore was sunk.
The junction of the Artesian-water Sandstone with the grey
shales above is usually fairly abrupt, the first flowing water
being obtained as soon as the drill strikes the top of the
sandstone. Where alternating sandstones and shales occur at or
near the junction, the former are generally charged with water
under feeble pressure, yielding flows at the surface of from 1
to 5 gallons a minute. Sometimes, indeed, the piercing of these
thin bands, prior to the main body of sandstone being entered,
merely results in a rise of water in the bore-hole, without actual
flow. On drilling into the sandstone proper, increments of the
flow are obtained at fairly frequent, though irregular, intervals
of depth. At times the discharge is seen to increase slowly but
steadily, while a particularly porous bed is being passed through;
at others the rate of increase is so rapid as to suggest that a
fissure charged with freely flowing water has been struck. As a rule,
hard beds of sandstone, (the ‘shells’ of American drillers)
overlie the best water-carrying layers, and though these act
locally as confining beds, there almost certainly is, nevertheless,
an intimate connection between different parts of the sandstone,
as no persistent argillaceous bands have been met with.
Loose uncemented sands may be encountered at any time, but
do not seem to coincide with marked increases of flow. These
‘quicksands’ form one of the greatest difficulties with
which drillers have to contend, and many bores have perforce to be
discontinued owing to the impossibility of drilling through them. The
loose sands ‘cave’—that is, run in from all sides—the whole
wall of the bore at times falling in, throughout a length of 5 or 10
metres. The only remedy against caving is the insertion of casing,
but this is generally undesirable, as it may effect the shutting off
of water already obtained from the upper bands of the sandstone;
in some cases, however, perforated lining may be satisfactorily
employed.
Of thirty-one bores finished in this district, none has failed to
strike water, though three have yielded such small flows that they
may be regarded as comparative failures. The average flow of the
thirty-one wells, the measurements being made in each case a week
or two after completion, was approximately 100 gallons a minute,
the maximum being 315 and the minimum 18 gallons per minute. All
bores have shown a marked decline in discharge for some time after
completion, when, if isolated, they have settled down to a fairly
steady flow, or at least to a flow which decreases at a constantly
diminishing rate.
Owing to the very adverse effect of some of the larger bores
(situated on the lower parts of the area) their flows have
been purposely reduced; and as a further precaution against
over-exploitation, and as a remedy to the waste consequent on
irrigation at night, all wells are, as far as possible, shut down
between sunset and sunrise. The average discharge, therefore, at the
present day is considerably less than the figure mentioned above,
amounting, in fact, to approximately 70 gallons a minute per bore.
By far the most important factor determining the volume of flow is
the absolute ground-level at the mouth of the well. The floor of
the oasis in the district in question lies between 53 and 61 metres
above sea-level, the general slope being to the west, in the opposite
direction to the dip of the water-bearing sandstones. Although the
actual difference of level is so little, amounting only to 7 or 8
metres, the difference of flows from wells of equal depth on either
side of the area averages fully 100 per cent. This indicates that the
surface of this area is very near the static head or limit to which
water will rise from bores of this depth; in fact, if the ground were
raised by a very few metres, not one of the wells would discharge
at the surface. This I have proved by actual experiment, and it is,
moreover, borne out by the observed pressure, which even in the best
wells seldom amounts to more than 13 or 14 pounds to the square inch.
Before going further into this important matter of pressure, let
us briefly notice the temperature and chemical composition of the
artesian water. In Dakhla Oasis the temperature of the wells often
rises as high as 90° or 95° F., the highest recorded being 105°
F. in Bir el Dinaria, a bore sunk fifteen or sixteen years ago,
and the deepest and most northerly in that oasis. In Kharga it is
seldom that we meet with temperatures over 90° F., the well-waters
at Headquarters varying from 86° to 88° F. Identical figures were
obtained in the southern part of the oasis.
One of the most noticeable features of the artesian water is its
highly effervescent character when it reaches the surface. In most of
the newer bores the water is so strongly charged with minute bubbles
of gas that it closely resembles the contents of a newly-opened
bottle of highly aerated water, while in many of the older wells
the gas rises to the surface in a slow procession of large bubbles.
Analysis shows the gas to consist almost entirely of nitrogen, only
small quantities of oxygen and carbon dioxide being present; and it
has been estimated by rough experiment that the volume of gas issuing
from Bore No. 1 (internal diameter, 4¼ inches) amounts to half a
pint per minute. My own opinion is that this nitrogen represents
ordinary air deprived of its oxygen during the underground passage
of the water, and this explanation seems confirmed by Mr. Lucas,
F.C.S., Chemist to the Egyptian Survey Department, who refers me
to several cases in which air is believed to have been depleted of
its oxygen by pyrites, etc., during its passage underground.
The quality of the artesian water is in all respects excellent,
and when taken direct from a cased well forms, after cooling, a
palatable water free from all danger of contamination. Analyses by
Mr. Garsed of water samples from four bores show the total dissolved
solids to range from 43 to 47 parts per 100,000, equivalent to from
30 to 33 grains per gallon. In new bores the water is usually only
slightly ferruginous, though, as already mentioned, in some of the
ancient wells of certain districts it is so highly charged with
ferric oxide that thick deposits of ochre have been formed along
the irrigation channels.
The chemical composition of the dissolved salts, so far as
determined, is shown in the following table:
ANALYSES OF TYPICAL ARTESIAN WATER OF KHARGA OASIS (HEADQUARTERS
DISTRICT).
+-------------------------+------+------+------+------+
| | Bore | Bore | Bore | Bore |
| |No. 1.|No. 2.|No. 5.|No. 6.|
+-------------------------+------+------+------+------+
|Total solids (grains per | 33 | 30 | 33 | 32 |
| gallon) | | | | |
+-------------------------+------+------+------+------+
|Composition of dissolved | | | | |
|salts, per cent. | | | | |
| Silica | 4·2 | 4·5 | 4·6 | 3·4 |
| Ferric oxide | 1·7 | 0·8 | 1·2 | 1·3 |
| Lime | 6·5 | 7·0 | 5·4 | 5·6 |
| Magnesia | 2·9 | 3·1 | 2·7 | 3·8 |
| Sulphuric anhydride | 4·5 | 4·9 | 4·4 | 4·4 |
+-------------------------+------+------+------+------+
CHAPTER X
FLOWING WELLS: SOME EXPERIMENTS AND OBSERVATIONS
Total Water Discharge of Oasis — Water-Pressures — Static
Head — Importance of Systematic Observations and Records of
Bores — Sensitiveness of Wells — Experiments showing Mutual
Interference of Wells — Bores Nos. 5 and 6 — Bores Nos. 4 and
42 — The Wells at El Dêr el Ghennîma — Decline in Discharge
of New Wells — Effect of Closing Bores — Rate of Flow of Water
in Sandstones — Danger of Over-Exploitation — Holding Capacity
and Porosity — Experiments on Porosity of Nubian Sandstone —
Large Quantities of Water held in Storage Beds — Economically
only partially available at Surface.
At the present day there are about 230 native-owned wells in the
oasis, yielding a total discharge of some 295 qirats. We have seen
that the qirat has not a fixed value, but represents a discharge
varying from 22 to 38 or more gallons a minute. Applying these
values as far as possible to the old wells, and adding the known
discharge of the new, we shall not be very far from the truth if we
estimate the total discharge of the oasis wells at 8,000 gallons
a minute, or 11,500,000 gallons (53,000 cubic metres) a day. The
largest well in Kharga Oasis is Ain Estakherab at Gennâh, with a
discharge of between 700 and 800 gallons per minute. The average
yield of those which might be described as the best wells probably
does not exceed 150 to 200 gallons, while there are a great many
which only discharge 20 or 30 gallons per minute.
In some parts of the world the discharges of artesian wells are
measured by thousands, not hundreds, of gallons. In Queensland and
other parts of Australia, for instance, there are numerous bores
throwing over 1,000 gallons a minute; in these regions the depth
of individual bores in many cases amounts to thousands of feet,
the pressure frequently rising as high as 100 pounds to the square
inch. It must, moreover, be borne in mind that the artesian basins
of Australia have only been exploited during a comparatively short
period, and that from the nature of the country the wells are,
as a rule, at considerable distances apart.
The exploitation of the artesian basin of the Libyan Desert has been
in progress for hundreds and thousands of years, and it is probable,
therefore, that in the oases-depressions the general average pressure
has been very much reduced. At the present time the water-pressures
seldom exceed a very few pounds per square inch, so that the static
head, or absolute height to which the water will rise, is seldom more
than a few metres above the actual surface of the ground. The outlets
of the native wells are, unfortunately, of such a nature that it is
not possible to make even approximate determinations of pressure;
but after taking into account the influence of ground-level on the
volume of flow, we still find differences which point to there being
considerable variation in the absolute static head in different
parts of the oasis—that is to say, the water will rise higher in
some places than in others. This is probably partly to be accounted
for by variations in the level of the underlying strata and by the
presence of faults—for instance, the static head to the west of
the central line of disturbance is certainly considerably higher
than to the east.
In the absence of accurate data, the static head in a district can
be approximately gauged from the ground-level and flow of any one of
the higher and more isolated wells. The maximum static head judged
in this way appears to be 88 metres above sea-level in the Kharga
district on the west side of the fault; but in the Headquarters
area, to the east of the fault, it can be definitely proved to be
very much less.
In order to determine the extent of the local variations throughout
the district where the recent boring operations have extended,
I carried out a number of experiments. For this purpose four bores
in different parts of the area were selected, of similar diameters,
and of approximately equal depths into the water-sandstone. By means
of a flange the casing of each bore was carried vertically upwards,
the ordinary outlet being kept shut until the pressure ceased to
rise, as indicated by a pressure-gauge. It was then found that in
Bore No. 36 the water had risen to 61·6 metres, in Bore No. 38
to 59·55, in Bore No. 42 to 64·26, and in Bore No. 44 to 62·0
metres above sea-level. The average static head in this district
may therefore be taken as 61·85 metres. The positions of the four
bores in question, with regard to Headquarters, are as follows:
No. 36, 7·7 kilometres N.; No. 38, 2·6 kilometres N.W.; No. 42,
1·6 kilometres S.E.; and No. 44, 3·9 kilometres W.N.W.
To the north of Meheriq the static head appears to rise, as flowing
wells are found up to 76 metres above sea-level (Ain Mohammed
Delaib). The water-level at Ain el Ghazâl is even higher (84·56),
but this well does not actually run.
In the development of an artesian basin this question is of the
utmost importance; only by a knowledge of the static head and the
ground-level can we, with any likelihood of success, estimate
beforehand the discharge to be looked for in any particular
district. If, for instance, we sink a bore in a locality whose
surface is above the static head, the result, so far as a flowing
well is concerned, can only be failure, however great the amount
of water existing in the underlying strata. If a sufficient number
of observations are available, it is possible to construct charts
showing the isopotential lines, or lines of equal pressure,
and these may be of great value when boring is contemplated in
intermediate districts.
It is seldom that accurate records of bores are preserved in the
initial stages of the development of new artesian basins, and to
this neglect is due much of the doubt which frequently arises at
a later period as to the extent and permanence of the underground
water-supplies.
[Illustration: BORE NO. 5.]
[Illustration: BORE NO. 14.]
In some countries, however, the water-resources have long been the
subject of exhaustive examination, notably in the United States,
where a most valuable and instructive series of water-supply reports
has been issued by the Geological Survey. The chief difficulties
arise from the fact that bores are generally the property of private
individuals, who are seldom both able and willing to supply accurate
information. Discharges, for instance, are usually given in the
roundest of figures, and without regard to the conditions under
which they were taken. In Australia more than one geologist has
called attention to the matter, and quite recently Mr. G. H. Knibbs,
F.R.A.S., of the University of Sydney, in a valuable and suggestive
paper on the hydraulic aspect of the artesian problem, refers to the
want of comprehensive and deliberate investigation in the past, and
admits the inadequacy of the available data for the determination
even of the one question only—_i.e._, the extent to which
exploitation can be pushed without fear of exhausting the supply.
When drilling was first commenced in the Headquarters area, the
bores were placed at an average distance apart of 500 metres;
circumstances, however, led to there being a considerable
variation in the depths of the wells, with the result that those
of shallow depth and those situated on comparatively high ground
were adversely affected by the deeper and more favourably placed
bores. The sensitiveness of any one well to the influence of its
neighbours is, I believe, far greater than is generally supposed,
and appears to be especially dependent on the amount of difference
between the depths, discharges, and surface-levels of the bores. In
investigating this subject I made a number of experiments with the
object of determining the mutual influence of wells, and perhaps
some reference to these may not be without interest and value.
The first experiment to which I shall refer was made on wells
situated comparatively close together. Bore No. 5 is 570 metres
W.S.W. of Bore No. 6, the outlet of the former being at 57·38,
that of the latter at 59·18, a difference of 1·8 metres. No. 5
has an internal diameter of 5⅝ inches, is 197 metres deep and 95
metres into the water-sandstone; No. 6 has a diameter of 8 inches,
is 146 metres deep, and 61 metres into the sandstone. The two
wells had been flowing continuously for a considerable period,
and during the experiment neighbouring wells were kept shut down,
so that there is no reason to suppose that the observations were
affected by other bores.
Bore No. 5, discharging 114 gallons a minute, was shut down at
7 p.m. on June 12, 1907, and reopened at 7 a.m. on June 13. The
hourly observations, as given in the following table, show the
effects produced on Bore No. 6.
EXPERIMENT TO SHOW MUTUAL INTERFERENCE OF BORES.
+-------------------------------++-------------------------------+
| Bore No. 5 closed at 7 p.m., || Bore No. 5 opened at 7 a.m., |
| June 12, 1907. || June 13, 1907. |
+-----+---------+-----+---------++-----+---------+-----+---------+
|Time.|Discharge|Time.|Discharge||Time.|Discharge|Time.|Discharge|
| | of Bore | | of Bore || | of Bore | | of Bore |
| | No. 6. | | No. 6. || | No. 6. | | No. 6. |
+-----+---------+-----+---------++-----+---------+-----+---------+
|P.M. | Gallons |A.M. | Gallons ||A.M. | Gallons |P.M. | Gallons |
| | per | | per || | per | | per |
| | Minute. | | Minute. || | Minute. | | Minute. |
| | | | || | | | |
| 7.0 | 61·2 | 1.0 | 76·6 || 7.0 | 83·7 | 1.0 | 69·0 |
| | | | || | | | |
| 8.15| 65·6 | 2.30| 77·4 || 8.0 | 78·4 | 2.0 | 67·7 |
| | | | || | | | |
| 9.0 | 68·4 | 3.0 | 79·2 || 9.0 | 75·0 | 3.0 | 66·8 |
| | | | || | | | |
|10.0 | 69·6 | 4.0 | 79·7 ||10.0 | 73·0 | 4.0 | 66·2 |
| | | | || | | | |
|11.0 | 73·2 | 5.0 | 82·1 ||11.0 | 70·8 | 5.0 | 66·6 |
| | | | || | | | |
|12.0 | 74·7 | 6.0 | 83·1 ||12.0 | 69·6 | 6.0 | 65·3 |
| | | | || | | | |
| | | | || | | 7.0 | 64·0 |
+-----+---------+-----+---------++-----+---------+-----+---------+
From these figures it will be seen that the shutting down of a
flowing or the opening of a closed well may produce a most marked
effect on a neighbouring well within the short space of sixty
minutes, even when the intervening distance is over 500 metres. In
the above instance the rate of increase was most rapid at first,
there being a gain of 7 gallons per minute, equivalent to about
12 per cent., in the first two hours. The total increase in the
twelve hours amounted to 22½ gallons, or about 37 per cent. On
reopening No. 5 it is seen that the discharge of No. 6 at once
commenced to fall, the loss being nearly 9 gallons in the first
two hours; afterwards the rate of decrease gradually diminished,
until at 7 p.m., when the observations were discontinued, the flow
had fallen to within 3 gallons of its normal.
A second series of observations was made between two bores
considerably farther apart, No. 4 being 835 metres N.N.W. of
No. 42. The difference of level in this case was found to be 1·18
metres, the outlet of No. 4 being 60·74, and that of No. 42,
59·56 metres. Bore No. 4 has an internal diameter of 4¼ inches,
is 141 metres deep, and draws from 19 metres of sandstone; Bore
No. 42 is 6 inches in diameter, 218 metres deep, and 69 metres into
the water-sandstone. Previous to the experiment, No. 4 was flowing
36·75, and No. 42 about 68·5 gallons per minute. Precautions were
taken against other wells influencing the results, the nearest bores
having been opened twenty-four hours previously and being kept in
the same condition throughout the experiment. Bore No. 42 was closed
down at 9 a.m. on March 4, 1908, periodical observations being then
made of the discharge of No. 4 during the next thirty-six hours.
Briefly stated, the result of this experiment was as follows: The
discharge of No. 4 had not perceptibly increased at the end of the
first half-hour, but had done so after one hour. It continued to
increase at a very slow rate, the net gain after thirty-six hours
being only 3 gallons, or between 8 and 9 per cent. In this case
the mutual interference is very much less than that between Nos. 5
and 6, doubtless largely owing to the greater distance apart,
and to the lesser difference between the outlet-levels of the
wells. In all probability there are many other conditions which
combine with the above in determining the amount of interference,
such as the positions of the wells with regard to the main lines
of underground flow, the relative depths of the bores, and the
thicknesses of sandstone from which they draw their supplies.
The most marked example of interference with which I have met was
in the case of two ancient wells at El Dêr el Ghennîma, situated
only 88 metres apart, on the crest of an anticlinal fold running
north and south. These wells had been sanded-up for centuries,
but were recently taken in hand and cleaned out. The difference of
level in the outlets is 2·07 metres, the higher well being 34½
metres in depth, the lower 41 metres. The opening or closing of the
lower well produces an almost instantaneous effect on the higher,
the difference in flow of the latter within thirty seconds amounting
to as much as 11 per cent.
A great many observations were made, but the following are sufficient
to show the rates of decrease and increase:
Gallons per
Minute.
Upper well flowed 13·2 when lower well was open (flow 50·3 g.p.m.).
„ „ 20·5 „ „ had been closed 10 minutes.
„ „ 23·7 „ „ „ „ 20 „
„ „ 26·3 „ „ „ „ 30 „
„ „ 39·4 „ „ „ „ 24 hours.
„ „ 35·6 „ „ had been open 30 seconds.
„ „ 32·5 „ „ „ „ 2 minutes.
„ „ 26·7 „ „ „ „ 7 „
„ „ 24·9 „ „ „ „ 9 „
„ „ 23·4 „ „ „ „ 16½ „
„ „ 19·7 „ „ „ „ 45 „
The closing down of the lower well is thus seen to have influenced
the discharge of the upper to the extent of 100 per cent, in
the short space of thirty minutes, while the flow was trebled in
twenty-four hours. On opening the lower well the discharge of the
upper fell to within 50 per cent. of its normal within forty-five
minutes.
As already mentioned, most bores show a marked decline in discharge
for some time after completion, and except in special cases it
seems doubtful if large bores can be expected to maintain their
original flows for long periods of years. During the early part of
its existence a well draws its supplies from fully saturated beds,
the water being forced into it from every side, not only through the
pores of the sandstone, but through any fissures the bore may have
struck. The flow of water through a compact sandstone is, however,
extremely slow, and it is probable that as time goes on every bore
becomes more and more dependent on fissures for the maintenance
of its supply. This supersaturation of the water-bearing beds,
if we may be permitted to use the term, is well illustrated by the
closing of a bore for a few days. The water at once commences to
accumulate around it, and when the bore is reopened the discharge
will generally be found to have increased to a very great extent. As
an example of this I may mention Bore No. 14, which, on April 19,
1907, was flowing at the rate of 225 gallons per minute. The well
was then closed down for five days; on reopening the discharge was
found to be 370 gallons per minute, an increase of 145 gallons, or
about 65 per cent., the pressure during the same time having risen
from below 9 to nearly 16 pounds per square inch. The discharge
took about twelve hours, or one-tenth of the time, to fall to its
normal. On another occasion the same well had its output increased
from 217 to 339 gallons by being closed for twenty-four hours,
a gain amounting to 55 per cent.
The rate of flow of water through an underground sandstone depends
upon a number of conditions, the most important being the size of
the pores or spaces between the component grains, the porosity
or water-holding capacity of the sandstone, the temperature of
the water, and the pressure acting on it. The yield of a well
will depend, of course, not only on all these factors, but also
on the diameter of the bore, its depth into the water-stratum,
the size and number of fissures passed through, and, last and most
important of all, on the absolute height of its outlet. Large pores,
high average porosity, and high temperatures make for strong flows,
though in the absence of pressure greater than that due to a column
of water equal in height to the distance between the water-stratum
and the outlet of the well, they are in themselves of no avail in
the production of an artesian flow. Moreover, although some of the
above conditions may be known beforehand, the resistance to flow of
the strata immediately surrounding a bore can never be more than
approximately conjectured, as the size and mode of arrangement of
the individual grains of any sedimentary rock must always vary,
both horizontally and vertically, to a very great extent, and on
these factors depends in very large measure the capacity of the
strata to transmit water.
Data are as yet far too insufficient to warrant an attempt to
calculate the supply which can safely be drawn from a given area
without unduly reducing the pressure, lowering the average static
head, and endangering the continuance of the artesian supply. In
some parts of the oasis there are bores many hundreds of years
old still pouring forth their hundreds of gallons a minute; such
wells are probably situated in exceptionally favourable localities,
and are very possibly fed to a great extent by fissures. At the
same time it must not be forgotten that there are throughout the
oasis scores of wells which have ceased to run, either through
local exhaustion of the water-bearing strata, or through failure to
keep the bore-channels open; possibly through a combination of both
circumstances. In some cases time seems to have remedied matters,
as it is not uncommon to meet with instances where new bores, sunk
in the immediate neighbourhood of long extinct wells, have produced
strong discharges of considerable volume.
As I have already stated, the rate of flow of water is largely
influenced by both the size of the pores and the porosity of the
rock, the capacity to transmit water being very much greater for
large than for small pores, and for high than for low porosity. It
must, however, be pointed out that large pores and high porosity
do not necessarily go together, and that small pores in a rock
frequently accompany high holding capacity. For instance, a
fine-grained sample of Nubian Sandstone will absorb from 25 to 28 per
cent. of water, a medium-grained sample 20 per cent., while a very
coarse sample may take up as little as 15 per cent. The pores and
transmitting capacity of the coarse-grained variety will, however,
be very much greater than in the case of either of the others.
In order to arrive at some sort of idea as to the holding capacity
of the artesian-water strata of the oasis I made an examination of
between sixty and seventy samples of sand brought up from varying
depths from a few selected bores in the oasis. As, however, owing
to the methods of drilling employed, only powdered samples were
available, it was necessary in the first instance to ascertain the
relative porosity of sandstone in its ordinary state and broken up
into the form of sand. For this purpose I collected eight specimens
of the Surface-water Sandstone from various points in Northern
Kharga, and subjected them to absorption tests, both in the whole
and in the powdered states. In six out of the eight examples the
absorption was more when powdered than when whole, the average for
the eight rock samples being 22·44 per cent.; for the same when
powdered, 23·55 per cent. There is, moreover, no reason to suspect
that in ordinary lithological characters the Surface-water Sandstone
differs in any important respect from the Artesian-water Sandstone,
so that if we estimate the porosity of the latter from powdered
samples, we shall obtain a figure only about 5 per cent. too high.
The average porosity of sixty-four samples, collected from Bores
14, 16, 18, 31, 39, and 44, at various depths in the water-bearing
strata, was found to be 19·45 per cent. If we confine our attention
to a single bore, and examine a representative sample from every
stratum of the water-bearing sandstone, and, in deducing the
porosity, take into account the thickness of each individual
bed, we shall obtain a still more reliable figure. This was
done in the case of Bore No. 18, which passed through 122 metres
of water-bearing strata, thirty-one samples being collected and
subjected to examination. The absorptions obtained varied from 15·3
to 25·5 per cent., the average porosity of the whole column being
calculated as 19·6 per cent. I believe this figure may be accepted
without misgiving as a satisfactory working value for the porosity
of powdered Nubian Sandstone, that of the solid rock being taken
as 5 per cent. lower, or, say, 18·5 per cent.
The Artesian-water Sandstone has been proved to reach a thickness
of 122 metres, and probably its total thickness is considerably
more. Assuming, however, a vertical extent of only 122 metres,
the water-bearing beds under 1 square kilometre would, if fully
saturated, hold 4,965,000,000 gallons, which is the equivalent of
the water which would be discharged in ninety-four years by a well
flowing at the rate of 100 gallons a minute. When we consider that
the area of the floor of the depression is some thousands of square
kilometres, and that the water-sandstones, except in the immediate
neighbourhood of the existing wells, are probably fully saturated, we
realize the vast amount of water which is stored under the depression
alone, irrespective of the still greater quantities which underlie
the surrounding plateaux. The movement of the water through the
sandstones, except along fissures and through particularly porous
beds, is, however, very slow, so that the amount of water which
can economically be made available at the surface is more or less
limited, self-flowing wells being only obtainable over that portion
of the area lying below the general static head.
CHAPTER XI
THE ORIGIN OF THE ARTESIAN WATERS
Flow of Water through Porous Rocks — Importance of Pressure,
Porosity, and Temperature — Intermittent Flows — Abundance of
Extinct Wells — Former Prosperity — Possibility of increasing
Present Total Discharge — Local Traditions regarding Origin of
Artesian Waters — Possible Sources of Origin — Seepage from Nile
into Nubian Sandstone — Sandstones as Storage Reservoirs — The
Oasis Waters of Meteoric Origin — Fissures — Rate of Flow —
Strongly-flowing Wells not necessarily dependent on Fissures —
Local Pressure from Variation in Level of Water-Table — Rise of
Water due to Hydraulic Pressure — Points requiring Investigation
— High-Level Springs: Ain Amûr; on Escarpment near Beris;
at Nakhail.
The rate of flow of water through porous rocks has been investigated
by a number of engineers and geologists, among whom may be mentioned
Darcy, Hazen, King, Slichter, Knibbs, and Baldwin-Wiseman. The
subject is an extremely complicated one, and its study requires a
combined knowledge of mathematics, physics, and geology. Various
formulæ for determining the rate of flow under varying conditions
have been devised, but it will be sufficient for our present purpose
to remark that the average velocity of water in sands does not appear
to be more than 3 or 4 kilometres a year. The importance of porosity,
pressure, and temperature on the rate of flow can be illustrated by
utilizing tubes containing equal columns of sand of different degrees
of coarseness, and noting the volumes of water passed under different
conditions of pressure and temperature. The coarse sands will be
observed to permit the passage of water at a far greater rate than
the finer varieties, while any sand can be made to markedly quicken
its rate of discharge by increasing the head of water in the tube
above. Moreover, the rate of flow will be found to increase with
the temperature of the water. In the case of the ordinary water of
the oasis, a difference of only a few degrees was found to cause a
very great difference in the rate of flow; it seems, indeed, as if
the water, when below a certain temperature, deposits its mineral
contents in the pores of the sandstone, so as to block the passages
to a large extent. I have not yet had an opportunity of making the
necessary experiments to ascertain if this explanation is correct,
but if it should prove to be so, the importance of temperature on
the rate of underground flow can hardly be over-estimated.
We have already described the intermittent character of the flow
in the case of some of the larger wells in the southern part of the
oasis. The circumstance is apparently due to the temporary blocking
of the bore-hole by sediment, and the consequent increase of water
and gas pressure below, which at intervals forces the sediment from
the channels and restores the normal flow. Something of the same
nature was also noticed in Bore No. 42, in the course of experiments
carried out to determine the height to which the water would rise
in an open pipe fixed to the end of the casing. At intervals a
distinct gurgling and bubbling took place in the pipe, the water at
the same time rising to as much as 8 centimetres above its normal
level, with distinct oscillations of a pressure-gauge attached to
the well. The ebb and flow did not, however, take place at regular
intervals, but at periods varying from four to nine minutes. I think
a sufficient explanation of these phenomena is the probable variation
in the amount of gas finding its way into the bore; and certainly,
after several years’ observation of the flows of a large number
of bores, I cannot admit that there is the slightest evidence in
favour of the view that the flows of the wells have a periodicity
dependent on the rise and fall of the Nile.
One frequently hears it stated that the oases were far more thickly
populated and better watered in olden times than at the present
day. This belief is based on the existence in many parts of the
depression of extensive remains of temples, forts, and villages,
on the widespread traces of formerly cultivated lands, and on the
abundance of sanded-up wells. It must not, however, be forgotten
that the remains in question belong to successive generations,
and that there is as yet no evidence to enable us to determine how
much of the land, or how many of the wells, were in use at one and
the same time. The evidence is, however, sufficiently pronounced to
justify the conclusion that under the Romans the oasis of Kharga
was far more flourishing than in modern times, a large part of
the population being engaged, not in agriculture, but in mining,
boring, and in the excavation of subterranean aqueducts.
[Illustration: LANDS UNDER RECLAMATION AT BORE NO. 39.]
We have heard the most diverse and dogmatic opinions as to
the feasibility of restoring the oases to their supposed former
prosperity. For my part, I do not think that there is the slightest
doubt that the total discharge of water could be very much increased,
though to what extent it is impossible to say with the information at
present available. One must consider the vast areas under which the
water-bearing sandstones are known to extend, and the comparatively
small extent of country over which the existing wells occur; that
as yet the deepest bores have only penetrated the water-bearing
beds to a depth of 122 metres; that the existing total discharge
is mostly made up of insignificant flows from a great number of
ancient and comparatively shallow wells, which for centuries have
been subject to gradual decay; that so far as observed the flows
increase in volume as deeper beds are struck; and that it might be
possible to use artificial means of lifting the water to the surface,
especially in districts lying above the level to which the artesian
water will rise unaided. The extent to which the water-supply could
be profitably augmented is, however, quite another question, and
one depending on a great number of at present indeterminable factors.
According to local tradition, the waters of the Kharga wells
come directly from the Nile through subterranean passages under
the intervening plateaux, and the experience of an Arab trader is
frequently related in support of this idea. The Bedawi in question,
while engaged in filling his water-skins on the banks of the Nile,
preparatory to setting out across the desert to the oasis, let
fall his ‘tarbush,’ which was speedily engulfed in an eddy
of the river. Although much annoyed at the time, our friend soon
forgot the incident, until a few days later, when he was refreshing
himself after his journey at a well in the neighbourhood of Beris,
the identical piece of head-gear was borne up from its depths!
Mr. Patterson, whose knowledge of the folklore of the inhabitants is
unique, recently related to me the following characteristic story:
The natives of Beris, as the result of opening a long sanded-up
well, obtained a very large flow of water. So terrified were they at
the magnitude of the discharge—imagining, indeed, that they had
tapped the Nile—that a deputation was hastily despatched to the
Governor of Assiut, with profuse apologies for the damage done to
the river. Needless to say, the Governor was somewhat taken aback,
but realizing the solemnity of the mission, magnanimously informed
its members that the waters of the Nile were so abundant that they
might without fear take all they required.
At present any attempt to explain the origin of the artesian waters
of the oases must be regarded as little better than speculation. More
information is required concerning the geology of the country
to the south of the oases, and as to the relative levels of the
oases-depressions and the different parts of the Nile Valley and
Libyan Desert, as far south as the more elevated regions of Kordofan,
Darfur, and Tibesti. Little has been written on this subject, but
the source generally assigned appears to have been Darfur. Possible
sources of origin lie in the rainy districts of the Sudan, in the
mountainous region of Abyssinia, in the great swamps of the Upper
Nile, in the Nile River itself, and in past accumulations of water
absorbed from the extensive lakes which covered parts of the country
in the pluvial period which preceded the existing desert conditions.
In the present state of our knowledge I am personally inclined to
agree with those who regard the Nile River as a present source of
supply. It is known to flow for a considerable part of its course
through a valley cut out in the Nubian Sandstone, and it is believed
to lose an appreciable volume of water into that sandstone, though
the exact amount has not been determined. Mr. J. I. Craig, of the
Egyptian Survey, has estimated that at low Nile as much as 6,000
cubic metres of water (1,320,000 gallons) per minute drains back
into the river from the sandstones on either side of the reach
between Khartum and Wadi Halfa, and, as Captain Lyons remarks,
this indicates that there is considerable percolation into the
sandstones from the river when in flood.[10]
There is one point of the greatest importance to which we should
like to draw attention, as it is generally entirely overlooked. The
stores of water in the sandstones may represent the accumulations
of hundreds and thousands of years, and the conditions to which the
beds formerly owed their sources of supply may at the present time
have become materially altered. It is quite conceivable that it
may have required centuries or thousands of years to saturate the
huge block of sandstone underlying the Libyan Desert, and even were
the original sources of supply entirely cut off at any particular
time, the effect on a few hundred bores, discharging only 50,000
cubic metres a day, would not necessarily be appreciable in one,
or even five, centuries.
The total annual discharge of the whole of the wells of Kharga Oasis
is barely equal in volume to the water which can be held by saturated
beds underlying 1 square kilometre of surface, assuming the sandstone
to be only 122 metres thick; that is to say, it would take between
3,000 and 4,000 years for the existing wells to discharge the water
held by the beds underlying the depression alone, without considering
the vast surrounding desert areas, where there is no reason to
doubt that the water-tables are equally well developed. It must
not, however, for a moment be supposed that bores would continue
to discharge until the sandstones immediately surrounding them
were completely depleted of water; they would, in all probability,
pass into a sub-artesian condition in a very short time were the
sandstones not replenished from more outlying districts.
In my opinion the subterranean water of the oasis is certainly of
meteoric origin—that is to say, it is water which originally
fell as rain, and has percolated underground from one of the
possible sources above mentioned. It will, however, readily be
admitted that the ordinary explanation of the flow and origin
of artesian wells in regions of moderate or abundant rainfall,
situated in well-defined basins, where the exact position, extent,
and absorbing capacity of the water-table outcrop can be carefully
determined, may be in some respects inadequate to account for the
flowing wells of vast arid regions like the deserts of Africa and
Australia; yet, after due consideration of the arguments for and
against, I am unable to subscribe to Professor J. W. Gregory’s
view[11] that a considerable portion of the waters in such regions
is derived from magmatic or plutonic sources—that is to say,
has its origin in the deep-seated crystalline rocks.
It may seem at first sight almost incredible that in those regions,
where the outcrop of the water-bearing strata is so remote from the
wells themselves and the dip over the intervening country so slight,
the rise of the water in the wells could be due to direct pressure of
water in the higher portions of the beds, unless on the supposition
of large and continuous open fissures. That such fissures exist,
and exist abundantly, is, I think, almost a matter of certainty;
but it does not follow that their presence is essential to the
production of flowing wells. Fissures are visible to the eye in
the Surface-water Sandstone (which, as has been remarked, does not
appear to differ in any important respect from the Artesian-water
Sandstone), and it is through them that the bulk of the sub-surface
water is obtained. The presence of fissures in the Artesian-water
Sandstone is, moreover, in my opinion, almost demonstrated by the
experiments on the mutual interference of wells. It seems hardly
conceivable that the closing or opening of a bore could in the
space of a minute or two affect the discharge of another well over
½ kilometre distant, if there did not exist a more or less open
and direct connection between the two.
Rapid flow through a compact sandstone is impossible owing to
friction, which increases as the size of the channels decreases;
but, as pointed out by Knibbs and others, the hydrostatic pressure
can never entirely disappear through friction, the rate of loss of
head being dependent on the rate of flow. It therefore by no means
follows that a strongly-flowing well cannot be obtained from an
unfissured sandstone, for a rapid flow from the bore itself does
not in any way depend on an equally rapid flow of the water through
the sandstone surrounding the bore. For instance, Mr. Knibbs has
calculated[12] that although in a 10-inch bore, discharging 700
gallons a minute from a 10-foot stratum, the water would have a
velocity of 5½ feet a second at the bore itself, at the distance
of one mile it would only be moving through the stratum at the rate
of about ¹⁄₂₀₀ inch per second, or 18 inches an hour. In
other words, water flowing through a 10-foot bed of sandstone from
all sides towards a 10-inch bore, need, at the distance of one mile,
only have a velocity of 18 inches an hour to produce a discharge
from the well of 700 gallons a minute.
The importance of local pressure arising from variations in level
of a fully saturated water-table in adjacent areas may be of itself
quite adequate to cause flowing wells, especially if assisted by the
presence of large volumes of gas under compression, such as occur in
the Kharga waters. Another theory which has at times been brought
forward as an adequate cause of flowing wells is rock-pressure—
_i.e._, pressure due to the weight of the overlying strata. The
objections to this theory seem to me, however, so cogent that
we may at once dismiss it from our minds. There is indeed little
doubt that the waters of the oasis are of meteoric origin, have
travelled immense distances underground, and rise through bores
placed in favourable localities by means of hydrostatic or hydraulic
pressure, acting both through the pores of the rock and through
open fissures. Although the rate and direction of flow through the
sandstones as a whole may remain more or less matters of conjecture,
it seems probable that the water of any one bore is derived from
all sides, rising as the result of the pressure exerted by the
water held in the same bed situated at higher levels, whether in
the immediate neighbourhood or at a considerable distance.
I am conscious of having done little more than indicate the possible
origin of the oasis waters and suggest the causes to which the
flowing wells are due; more than this it is at present impossible
to state with any confidence. The points to which attention should
be directed as likely to throw further light on the subject are as
follows: The area and position of the outcrops of the Impermeable
Grey Shales and the underlying sandstone, and their relations to
possible sources of water, whether rain, river, or lake; the nature
of the bed of the swamp region of the Upper Nile; the amount and
distribution of the rainfall of all surrounding regions; the volume
of water lost in the different reaches of the Nile over and above
that which can be directly accounted for by evaporation and by water
abstracted for purposes of irrigation; and the total thickness of the
water-bearing beds, the presence within them of impervious strata,
and their relation to the underlying crystalline rocks.
[Illustration: AIN AMUR, ON THE UPPER DAKHLA ROAD.]
HIGH-LEVEL SPRINGS.
Before leaving the subject of water-supply we must briefly refer
to two or three remarkable instances where water is found at very
high elevations. The most important of these is on the upper road
between Kharga and Dakhla, where a spring, known as Ain Amûr,
occurs near the summit of the plateau at about 460 metres above
sea-level. The water, which is quite potable, occupies the bottom
of a hole about 3 or 4 metres in depth, at the base of a clump of
palm-stubs, a few paces to the south of a solitary tree; it does
not run, and the water-level is said to fall considerably in the
summer. A small patch of green rushes lies a few paces to the west,
and there is a good deal of scrub in the neighbourhood, from the
position of which one is led to infer that there are several small
springs thrown out along one of the bedding-planes, at the summit
of the marly and clayey beds which underlie the limestones forming
the uppermost portion of the cliff.
The high-level spring on the eastern wall of the oasis, in the
neighbourhood of Beris, consists of a pool of clear sweet water at
the base of a large fallen block of limestone, in a desolate rocky
dingle. Ball determined its height as being 180 metres above Beris,
or 260 metres above sea-level. The pool itself is overgrown with
weeds, and, scattered about on the sides and bottom of the valley,
there is a good deal of vegetation, mostly in the form of coarse
grasses, prickly scrub, and tamarisk bushes. Geologically, the spring
appears to be similarly situated to Ain Amûr—that is to say, it
emerges near, or at the summit of, the argillaceous Exogyra Series,
and below the overlying Danian limestones.
The water obtainable at Nakhail, 60 kilometres S.S.E. of the oasis,
also appears near the summit of the Exogyra Series, and may therefore
be considered to have a similar origin to the springs just described.
These elevated occurrences, thrown out along more or less definite
geological horizons, must be regarded as natural springs, quite
distinct from the artificially-made wells of the oasis-floor. As
the springs lie several hundred feet above the static head of the
artesian water, and are separated from the water-bearing sandstones
by a great thickness of argillaceous impermeable strata, it is
perhaps permissible to assume that their waters are derived from
an entirely different source. The occurrences known are of very
limited number, and the water only appears in small quantities, so
that it is not unlikely that it is derived from the very occasional
rains which fall on the plateaux. A portion of these rains would
doubtless find its way downwards through fissures in the limestone,
and, in areas where the dip of the beds was towards the oasis,
might travel underground and occasionally be thrown out as springs
on the walls of the depression, at the junction of the limestones
and underlying clays.
CHAPTER XII
THE ANCIENT SUBTERRANEAN AQUEDUCTS
Works of Public Utility — The System probably introduced from
Persia — The Bulk of the Works carried out by the Romans —
Trenches connecting Wells with Cultivable Lands — Fortress
Bores and their Underground Connections — Dêr el Ghennîma
— Subterranean Aqueducts of Qasr Gyb — Qasr Lebekha and Um el
Dabâdib — Reopening of Tunnel by Sheikh Hassan Hanadi — Sala
Abdulla — Nature of Tunnels and Shafts — The Magnitude of the
Underground Works — Exploration of the Tunnels — Origin of
the Water.
Although the Persians and Romans left abundant traces of their
occupation of the country in the shape of temples, forts, and
monasteries, the determination and energy with which they prosecuted
the colonization and general development of the oases is best
shown by their attention to works of public utility. At no period
in the history of the oases has so much attention been paid to the
water-supply. Not content with tapping the deep-seated sources by
means of bores, they carried out underground works of considerable
magnitude and involving engineering difficulties of no mean order,
so as to obtain additional supplies from the sandstones lying at
or near the surface. The methods employed were probably introduced
from Persia, where underground aqueducts, or ‘kareez,’ for the
transference of water from one locality to another, have from an
early date been employed. At the same time, judging by the character
of the ancient buildings in the immediate neighbourhood of the most
important of these works, it seems probable that the latter were
for the most part constructed by the Romans.
Underground aqueducts are found to some extent in all the chief
oases of the Libyan Desert, but in Northern Kharga they far exceed
in magnitude anything known elsewhere. In their simplest form they
consist of deep trenches connecting the wells with low-lying areas
of cultivable land, the object being to tap the bores at the lowest
possible levels, in order to obtain the greatest discharges. Thus,
although a bore, originally sunk on comparatively high ground for
the purpose of irrigating a particular area of land, might through
one cause or another have ceased to flow, it could still be made
available for any low-lying area farther afield by the simple
expedient of tapping it below the surface by means of a trench or
tunnel. This practice was frequently resorted to.
In selecting sites for their forts, monasteries, and other
buildings, the Romans were naturally drawn to eminences commanding
views of the surrounding country. It was, of course, desirable,
and in the case of forts absolutely necessary, to have a supply
of water within the building, and it was the custom, therefore,
to sink a deep bore within the precincts, generally in the centre
of the courtyard. In many cases, however, owing to the elevation,
the water would not rise to the surface, the supplies being drawn
up by hand. In order to make the water of such a well available for
irrigating the lands situated outside the fort, one or more gently
inclined tunnels were excavated so as to tap the bore below the
fort; the well was thus made to serve a double purpose. Excellent
examples of such conduits are to be seen at Dêr el Ghennîma. Here
the well is in the middle of the courtyard, and three underground
tunnels converge on it from the low-lying and anciently cultivated
lands to the north and north-west. Along those portions where the
bottom of the channel was in soft ground, and not more than a metre
or two below the surface, the conduit was made in the form of an
open trench, the sides being carefully built in with stone.
[Illustration: QASR LEBEKHA AND THE NORTHERN ESCARPMENT OF THE
OASIS.]
When the excavation of the trenches was completed, the open portions
were covered over with large flat slabs of rock, so that the channels
were not only well protected from blowing sand, but quite invisible
on the surface. The underground conduits at Dêr el Ghennîma were
indeed quite unsuspected before they were accidentally discovered
a year or two ago. The tapping of the bore within the fort had,
of course, the effect of still further lowering the water-level
as regards the courtyard; it is quite likely, therefore, that
the inhabitants had a means of blocking the underground channel
when they desired the water to rise to its maximum level in the
well. But in any case the few extra metres of distance from the
surface to the water could not have been a matter of importance,
as the comparatively small supplies needed for domestic purposes
within the fort were doubtless raised by means of a bucket and rope
attached to a windlass.
These short tunnels, tapping the water of artesian wells bored on
high ground, are quite insignificant compared with the extensive
systems of subterranean aqueducts driven into the solid rock in
various localities in the north of the oasis. The most remarkable
of these are found at Um el Dabâdib, at Qasr Lebekha, and in
the neighbourhood of Qasr Gyb. They were made with the object
of obtaining auxiliary supplies of water from the Surface-water
Sandstone, and were especially applicable to localities where this
sandstone has an extensive development and forms hills or plateaux
above the general level of the floor of the oasis. Although it
is difficult to believe that the supplies of water obtained were
commensurate with the time and labour involved in the construction of
the collecting tunnels, we may safely assume that the engineers who
so carefully planned and carried out the works had fully considered
the results to be looked for. The ruins of villages and the traces
of formerly cultivated tracts show that sufficient water was obtained
to enable fairly large colonies to exist, though after the withdrawal
of the Romans these outlying districts were abandoned, the aqueducts
silted up, and the cultivated lands reverted to the desert.
The ruins of Um el Dabâdib are situated under the northern wall
of the depression, and distant about 36 kilometres N.N.W. of Kharga
village, the route usually followed lying between the hill-massifs
of Jebel Têr and Jebel Tarif. A better route is afforded by the
caravan road running from Meheriq to Ain Amûr, Um el Dabâdib lying
somewhat to the north of the track at a distance of 25 kilometres
from the village.
Dr. J. Ball, in the course of his survey of the oasis, visited Um el
Dabâdib in 1898, and thought it possible that one of the tunnels,
which he observed ran northwards from the neighbourhood of the ruins,
had originally formed a means of communication with some unknown and
formerly inhabited depression to the north of the escarpment. Its
real nature was, however, well known to the Kharga people, and a
year or two later Sheikh Hassan Hanadi, a brother of the present
Omda of Kharga village, got together a number of men and cleaned
out one of the tunnels from top to bottom, with the result that,
after a lapse of perhaps 1,000 years, water again flowed from the
mouth of the aqueduct, and enabled a small agricultural colony to
establish itself on the ruined site of the original founders.
Sheikh Hassan informed me that the bulk of the work had been done
under his personal supervision, by a gang of from seventy to eighty
men employed throughout the hot season; he had found from experience
that the natives worked better in summer than in winter. The main
tunnel was entirely cleared of clay and sand, the silted material
being lifted out through the numerous man-holes or vertical shafts
which connect the aqueduct with the surface above. A great deal of
rough masonry work had also to be undertaken where the sandstone roof
or walls had fallen in. The place was put in thoroughly good order,
and all the shafts again closed, with the exception of two or three
left open to permit of the descent of the men sent down periodically
to examine the channel and keep it free from silted material.
When I first visited the place in January, 1905, I found the
discharge from the mouth of the aqueduct was between 30 and 35
gallons per minute. A dozen acres or so of land had been reclaimed,
and were tended by seven or eight men, who informed me that the crops
raised there were equal to those in any part of the oasis. This I
can quite believe, as, in spite of the fact that several dune-belts
exist in the neighbourhood, the place is comparatively sheltered
from the northerly winds by the great escarpment to the north.
The little settlement of Um el Dabâdib, with its adjoining fertile
fields and fruit-garden, threaded by the life-giving stream emerging
from the foot-hills of the stupendous cliffs to the north, and
backed by the grim fort of bygone ages to the south, has in the
midst of this desert an indescribable charm.
[Illustration: RUINS AT UM EL DABADIB.]
Sala Abdulla, old Sheikh Hassan’s head-man here, proved to be a
most delightful fellow, and far superior to the average native in
general intelligence. He spun the most fantastic yarns about the
desert tableland to the north, and—a peculiarity I appreciated
most of all—without expecting me to believe him. According to
Sala, traces exist of a formerly much-frequented road, said to lead
to a place called Ain Hamûr, lying somewhere to the north-west of
Ain Amûr. But although he himself had on one occasion set out and
travelled for many hours beyond the summit of the cliffs, he had
been forced to return without finding the place, the exact position
of which is at the present day unknown. This out-of-the-way corner
of the desert is, according to my informant, so undisturbed by man
that the gazelle there live for untold periods, and only eventually
succumb to old age and the increasing weight of their horns, which
grow to such a size that the poor beasts are unable to move about
in search of food!
On my expressing a desire to examine the underground aqueduct,
Sala led the way to one of the man-holes situated a couple of
kilometres to the north, near the upper end of the tunnel. Producing
a palm-fibre rope from under a ledge in a cliff hard by, he attached
it to a log placed across the mouth of the shaft. There was a hot,
steamy current of air ascending from the man-hole, the interior of
which was as black as night. Sala had, however, provided candles
and matches, and when he reached the bottom and shook the rope
as a signal to me to follow, I could see a tiny speck of light in
what seemed to be the bowels of the earth. Fortunately I had had a
good training in the Cornish and Welsh mines at home, so that the
prospect of a descent by the rope did not worry me in the least, and
after scrambling into the shaft I went carefully down hand over hand.
The shaft, rectangular in cross-section, and beautifully cut through
the solid sandstone rock, measured roughly 1½ metres by ¾ of a
metre, tapering gradually downwards. The first few metres, sunk
through the down-wash forming the bed of a valley, were carefully
built in with blocks of limestone, the bottom layer resting on the
solid rock below. Rough footholds on opposite sides of the shaft
facilitate the descent, and when nearing the bottom, as the rope
stretched and contracted like elastic in a most unpleasant manner,
I was glad to avail myself of their assistance. The shaft, which I
afterwards found to have a depth of 40·3 metres (132 feet), goes
down perpendicularly, and when the bottom was reached, I found myself
standing in a gently flowing stream of water, which I knew continued
its underground course for at least 2 kilometres to the south.
The tunnel itself is distinctly coffin-shaped in cross-section,
being widest near the roof, and tapering downwards. Its average
height is about 1½ metres, the mean width near the top being
about 60 centimetres—_i.e._, it measures roughly 5 feet by 2
feet. In some places it is even narrower, so that a man of average
stature not only has to keep his head very much bent, but is also
forced to progress sideways if he wishes to make his way along
the channel. The place was so sultry, and the cramped position I
had to assume so tiring, that I had soon had enough, and groped my
way back to the base of the shaft. As I had anticipated, the ascent
proved considerably more difficult than the descent, and I was not
sorry when I regained the surface. After the heat of the shaft and
the exertion of climbing, the outside air, despite the fact that
it was an exceptionally hot day, felt bitterly cold, and the rapid
evaporation from our perspiring bodies chilled us to the marrow.
Although I had vowed at the time that nothing would induce me to
again enter the place, I afterwards reflected that, not having
followed the tunnel to its extreme limits, there might still be
further information to be gained, and at the termination there
might exist an inscription, the deciphering of which would yield
the much-desired information as to when and by whom the work had
been carried out. Moreover, I particularly wished to ascertain
whether the bulk of the water came from one particular point or
whether it represented the accumulated flow from the numerous small
fissures which a tunnel of such length must necessarily traverse. I
therefore took the first opportunity of revisiting the place, this
time providing myself with proper gear to facilitate the descent,
and with instruments to make a thorough survey of the whole network
of underground waterways.
The accompanying sketch-map, reduced from the detailed plan made
during my last visit, shows that there are four main aqueducts,
running nearly parallel, in a north and south direction, along the
sides of three separate valleys. It is, of course, quite evident
that the tunnels were run under the valleys rather than beneath the
intervening ridges with the express object of keeping as near the
surface as possible, so as to avoid unnecessary excavation in the
sinking of the vertical shafts, and to reduce the labour involved in
hoisting the excavated material to the surface. The engineers were
at the same time careful to avoid the actual beds of the valleys,
as there the soft nature of the ground would have necessitated a
considerable amount of stone pitching, without which there would have
been constant falls of the loose detritus, consisting of sand and
pebbles with large blocks of limestone, forming the actual floors
of the valleys. Alignments were chosen along the extreme margins,
the mouths of the man-holes being commenced on the sloping sides of
the valleys, a metre or two above their pebbly floors. The great
majority were thus excavated throughout in solid rock, the latter
being, as a rule, sufficiently firm to stand without timbering or
masonry supports.
Although only one of the four main aqueducts is open at the present
time, the exact course which each follows can be seen from the
dump-heaps marking the positions of the shafts. The longest of the
tunnels is the most westerly, measuring 4·6 kilometres from the
point of origin to its exit on the west side of the ruined fort,
the four together having a total length of 14·3 kilometres. The
actual length of horizontal excavation is, however, considerably
in excess of this figure, as there are very numerous subsidiary
collecting branches ramifying from the main tunnels. Moreover,
the total length given is the figure obtained by measuring along
the surface from shaft to shaft; whereas, one of the most striking
things underground is the markedly irregular trend of the tunnel,
which frequently takes a wide bend between two adjacent shafts.
[Illustration: THE SUBTERRANEAN AQUEDUCTS
OF
UM EL DABADIB]
The man-holes, or vertical shafts connecting the underground waterway
with the surface, served a double purpose. Through them the excavated
material was hoisted to the surface, and in addition they afforded
a means of ventilation, without which it is doubtful whether the
work could have been carried out. The excavation of the man-holes
alone must have been a gigantic task, equal to, if not greater than,
that of cutting out the horizontal tunnels. The cross-section of
an average-sized shaft is, if anything, greater than that of the
tunnel; and although in vertical dimension the man-holes near
the mouth of the aqueduct are insignificant, the depth rapidly
increases in the opposite direction, owing to the upward slope of
the ground-surface towards the escarpment. As already mentioned,
the particular shaft I descended had a depth of over 40 metres,
and subsequent levelling, from the exit of the aqueduct to a point
above its origin, showed the most northerly one to have a depth of
not less than 53½ metres (175 feet). Along this tunnel, which has
a total length of 2·9 kilometres, I counted exactly 150 shafts,
so that their average distance apart is between 19 and 20 metres.
That the tunnel was most carefully planned and excavated is evident
from its very low and gradual slope, as is indicated by the depth
of water flowing through and by the generally unrippled character
of the stream. Judging by the height of the mouth of one of the
man-holes near the point of origin of the tunnel, and by its depth
to the stream in the tunnel below, there only appears to be a fall
of 1 metre in about 2½ kilometres, or a slope of 1 in 2,670. It is
possible that, owing to the elasticity of the line used, there may
be a slight error in the measurement of the shaft, but the above
figure may be taken as approximately correct.
We have now enough data to calculate the amount of material excavated
from these underground works, and this gives us a good idea of the
magnitude of the task. The average depth of the man-holes (from the
ground-surface to the roof of the horizontal tunnel) works out at 22
metres— that is to say, they represent a total length of vertical
excavation amounting to 3·3 kilometres. Adding 10 per cent. to
the length of the aqueduct, to allow for the numerous bends and
the side branches, we get 3·2 kilometres of horizontal excavation,
or a grand total of 6·5 kilometres. From a number of measurements
the cross-section of both shafts and tunnels works out at an almost
identical figure—_i.e._, three-quarters of a square metre. Thus
the amount of rock excavated in this system alone is about 4,875
cubic metres, and we may safely say that the construction of the
four subterranean aqueducts and the 600 or 700 vertical shafts meant
the excavation and removal of over 20,000 cubic metres of solid rock.
In contemplating the time and labour involved in the excavation and
removal of this great mass of material, it must not be forgotten
that the latter represents the construction of underground passages
over twenty miles in length, and of such restricted size that only
one man could have found room to work on the face of the tunnel or
shaft at a time. And although the sinking of more than one vertical
shaft may have been carried on simultaneously, the cutting of the
long aqueducts had almost certainly to be conducted from one side
only—_i.e._, from their exits. The accumulation of water would
probably have prevented the cutting out of different sections at
one and the same time by separate gangs of men.
One day, in the summer of 1908, I was foolhardy enough to follow
the aqueduct to its termination, from the bottom of the ninth
shaft—the one I had previously descended—and in case some
future visitor to Um el Dabâdib should feel inclined to examine
for himself these wonderful subterranean works, it may not be out
of place to give a brief account of my examination of the upper
portion and termination of the aqueduct in question (the second,
counting from the most westerly), so that he may benefit by my
experience. My particular objects were to ascertain if the bulk
of the water came from one or more large fissures, to determine
whether any special characteristics marked the termination of the
tunnel, and to discover whether there were inscriptions which would
yield valuable information regarding the making of the aqueduct. My
intention was to descend one of the uppermost shafts by means of
the windlass with which, remembering my previous experience with
nothing better than a very elastic native-made rope, I had been
careful to provide myself. I reckoned that the distance thence to
the point of origin of the aqueduct could not be so far as to entail
any great difficulty or danger from insufficiency of ventilation.
Unfortunately descent by any of these shafts proved out of the
question in the time available, owing to their mouths having been
carefully closed by great slabs of rock, which I had no facilities
for moving. This discovery upset my calculations in two ways:
unless I abandoned the undertaking altogether, which I was extremely
loath to do after coming so far, it would be necessary to follow
the tunnel from the bottom of the ninth man-hole for at least 230
metres, and I had already experienced the difficulty of progressing
even a short distance in so confined a space. Secondly, there was
the question of ventilation. With an open shaft near the top there
would at least have been good circulation through the greater part
of the aqueduct; however, I still hoped that the upper man-holes were
not so tightly closed as to render the air below entirely stagnant.
One of the natives who had taken part in the cleaning out of the
aqueduct many years before asserted that the air was not altogether
bad, and though I could not definitely ascertain whether or no he
had been to the end of the tunnel since the closing of so many
of the ventilating shafts, I determined to accept his word for
it, and we descended safely to the bottom. The water felt cool by
comparison with the air of the tunnel, though my thermometer showed
the temperature of both air and water to be identical, registering
87° F. in both cases. It was quite sweet, though a good deal of
sediment appeared when the stream was stirred up.
After making a number of measurements of the shaft and tunnel,
we proceeded on our way upstream. The sides of the tunnel
were everywhere beautifully cut in a light brown sandstone, the
direction of the pick-marks showing that it had been excavated in
the same direction as that we were following—_i.e._, from south
to north. Small notches for the lights used by the workmen were
plainly observable on the walls, about half-way between the floor
and the roof. As a rule the tunnel maintains an elongated oval form,
wider near the top than elsewhere; along one length, however, where
it evidently follows a fissure, both top and bottom taper sharply,
so much so that our feet constantly got jammed in the narrow,
wedge-shaped channel through which the water flows. We passed many
side branches, blind alleys, in fact, and the main tunnel itself
zigzagged considerably, frequently turning at sharp angles, and
more than once almost doubling back on itself.
The air was bad enough at the start, but seemed to get worse as we
proceeded. I trusted, however, to finding a distinct improvement in
the neighbourhood of the shafts, but to my dismay each one in turn
proved to be hermetically sealed with masses of rock just above its
junction with the tunnel, and there was not the slightest suspicion
of any circulation of air, so that the only relief they afforded
was the possibility of resting in an upright position. Three
hundred metres, as I afterwards calculated the total distance
to be, may seem little enough in the open, but to grope one’s
way this distance by the light of a feeble candle along a passage
so restricted that one has to proceed not only with bent head and
shoulders, but half sideways, in a hot, steamy, stagnant atmosphere,
is quite a different matter. My companion, being of small build and
stature, was able to walk upright in comparative comfort, without
continually bumping his head and bruising his shoulders, so that
the want of air did not tell on him to the same extent; while I
became more and more fatigued, owing to the difficulty experienced
of getting sufficient oxygen from such an atmosphere in the cramped
position I had of necessity to assume. On more than one occasion I
sank exhausted into the water, the huge gasps of breath which I took
seeming powerless to relieve the horrible sensation of stifling,
and with the unpleasant prospect of getting drowned if I escaped
suffocation. Yet there seemed to be ten thousand devils tempting
me onwards, and although I did not know how long life could be
supported under such conditions, a mad desire possessed me to see
the thing through; so that whenever I was able to progress a few
yards it was towards the head of the tunnel.
When eventually we reached our destination, some 15 to 20 metres
beyond the last man-hole, it was only to find that the tunnel just
stopped. There was no more water emerging from the rock at the
end than I had seen entering at a dozen small fissures along the
course we had traversed; there was no vertical excavation downwards;
there were no traces of inscriptions; nothing, in fact. After all
our trouble, we had drawn a blank. Although I positively dreaded
the long crawl back, the very fact that every step took us towards
the fresh air made me feel comparatively cheerful. After making my
examination of the end of the tunnel, however, I found the space was
insufficient to allow of my turning round, so that I was compelled
to proceed backwards for some distance before I found room in which
to turn. I must confess to never having experienced such a feeling
of relief as when we eventually arrived at the bottom of the open
shaft, and were able to fill our lungs with copious draughts of the
air descending from above. We could see the tiny pin-hole of light
far above us, and when sufficiently rested we swung the rope as
a signal to be wound up. Although I got back to the surface none
the worse for my adventure, with the exception of skin bruises,
I would not recommend anyone to attempt the exploration of other
similar tunnels unless there were open shafts on either side to
insure some circulation of air.
It is now quite certain that the aqueducts derived their water
from the numerous small fissures traversed, so that the yield
of any single tunnel must have depended to a great extent on its
total length. The general formation of the country determined the
general direction of the tunnels, which, in order to keep within
reasonable distance of the surface, had to follow the valleys. The
latter, without exception in this district, run in a north and
south direction, having formed at one time drainage-lines from the
high plateau to the north. Many of the short branch tunnels are,
however, driven along east and west fissures, though these could
not be followed to any great distance, owing to the high ridges
separating the valleys. It is also quite certain that the work of
excavation was eventually stopped by the ever-increasing labour
involved in the construction of the vertical shafts, the depth of
which necessarily increased at a rapid rate as the surface of the
ground rose when nearing the actual escarpment. For instance, in the
space of only 230 metres, between the ninth and the first shafts,
the depth of the man-holes increases from 40 to 54 metres, and to
the north of this the increase would have been still more rapid,
until the amount of vertical excavation would have become altogether
disproportionate to the horizontal distance gained by the aqueduct.
CHAPTER XIII
BORING METHODS: ANCIENT AND MODERN
The Skill of the Ancients in Well-Boring — Present State of the
Ancient Wells — Ancient Methods of Boring — Wooden Casing —
Introduction of Machinery by Egyptian Government — Native Methods
of Boring at the Present Day — Cleaning of Wells — Divers and
their Work — Recent Boring Operations — American Steam-driven
Boring Rigs.
Olympiodorus, writing more than 1,500 years ago, remarked that
the inhabitants of the oases were celebrated for their skill in
sinking wells. Although at the present day a large proportion of
the very ancient wells are completely sanded up, or have suffered
great deterioration in respect of their flows, there are still many
examples to be met with where bores, certainly between 2,000 and
3,000 years old, are still producing strong discharges of water at
the rate of hundreds of gallons a minute by day and by night.
Although scores of the old wells have been cleaned out and repaired
in modern times, not a single instance has come under my notice
of the finding of implements used by the well-borers of ancient
times. We know, however, that the bores were in practically all cases
lined to a considerable depth with wooden casing, manufactured from
the wood of the doum-palm, date-palm, or acacia, which doubtless
were then, as now, cultivated in large numbers in the oasis. The
timber was carefully fashioned into the required lengths and fitted
together by water-tight joints. During the cleaning operations to
which many of the old wells have been subjected in modern times,
portions of the ancient casing have frequently been extracted, and
some of the examples which I have examined, especially those made of
acacia, proved to be in an excellent state of preservation. The wood
of this particular tree—‘sunt,’ as it is locally called—has
remarkably enduring qualities both in and out of water, though
not when subjected to alternations of wet and dry. Still, that it
should in some cases have retained its original qualities since
Roman times is noteworthy.
It is quite evident, from a comparison of the ancient timbering
and casing with those manufactured and used by the inhabitants of
the oases at the present day, that the methods of well-sinking in
modern times are in many respects identical with those anciently
employed. This is especially the case in sinking through the
superficial strata—_i.e._, those overlying the actual beds in
which the artesian water is held—though of the methods formerly
practised for carrying the bore through the Artesian-water Sandstones
nothing is known.
We have little, if any, information as to how the inhabitants kept
up their water-supply after the withdrawal of the Romans. Probably
there was a gradual diminution of the total output, as it is not
at all certain that any new wells were subsequently sunk—at any
rate, until after the introduction of modern hand-boring machinery
some fifty or sixty years ago. On that occasion one Hassan Effendi,
a servant of a French engineer of the name of Lefèvre, was sent
out by the Egyptian Government to instruct the inhabitants in the
use of the new machinery. Judging from their present proficiency
in sinking wells through difficult strata with the most hopelessly
worn and antiquated tackle, the natives did not take long to learn
the new system. Unfortunately, when left to themselves without
adequate supervision, they promiscuously sunk a great number of new
bores, without regard to the probable effects on the older wells
irrigating the existing palm-groves and cultivated lands, with the
result that, more especially in the oasis of Dakhla, a great deal
of harm was done. Whole districts suffered a general lowering of
water-level, many of the wells ceasing to flow altogether. This
was the direct outcome of the excessive number of new bores put
down in certain districts where the inhabitants were sufficiently
rich and influential to get and retain possession of the majority
of the newly-imported boring-rigs.
About ten years ago I studied the method of well-sinking used in
the oases, and found it to consist of a combination of ancient and
modern boring practices. Owing to the difficulty and prohibitive
cost of transporting heavy steel tubes across the desert, the use
of locally-made wooden casing could not be dispensed with, and as
casing of this description could not possibly be made of sufficient
strength to stand ‘driving,’ the upper portion of the well had
of necessity to take the form of an open shaft carried down as near
as possible to the water-bearing beds, the actual boring by means
of the drilling-plant being confined to the later stages.
The first operation consists in sinking a rectangular shaft, usually
2 metres square; this work is carried out by hand, the ordinary
native ‘fass’ being almost the only implement used. As the shaft
is cut out it is timbered with lengths of palm-wood strung one below
the other, to prevent the walls from falling in. The excavation
is carried as deep as possible, the limit generally depending on
the amount of sub-surface water met with. In the oasis of Dakhla,
where the superficial strata consist almost entirely of clays,
it can usually be continued to a depth of about 30 metres; but in
Kharga the depth varies considerably, owing to the more frequent
intercalations of water-logged sandstones. The success of the
prospective bore depends to a very great extent on the depth to
which this preliminary work is carried, as the succeeding strata,
lying between the base of the shaft and the true artesian beds,
have to be pierced by a hole unprotected by casing, and if of any
very considerable thickness, caving beds are likely to greatly
interfere with, if not prevent, the progress of the work.
On completion of the timbered shaft the wooden casing is placed
centrally in position, so as to form a vertical pipe from the base of
the shaft to the surface of the ground. The pipe may be either square
or round in section, and is usually made of acacia, though hollowed
trunks of doum-palm are sometimes used. It consists of a number of
different sections, joined together in such a way as to leave no
projecting portions either within or without, the whole length of
casing thus preserving a constant diameter from top to bottom. As
a rule, the joints are so well formed that the pipe is, to all
intents and purposes, water-tight after a short soaking. The square
variety of casing usually has an inside width of 36 centimetres,
the thickness of the wood being 4 or 5 centimetres; the circular,
and perhaps more common, variety is made with an inside diameter
of 35 centimetres, except when required for insertion within a
previously fixed string of casing, when smaller sizes have to be
used. The casing, of course, eventually forms the actual channel
through which the artesian water flows to the surface.
The space intervening between the sides of the timbered shaft and
the central pipe is then filled in with a mixture of sand and clay,
firmly packed down, so as to hold the pipe securely in position, and
prevent the escape of water should any of the joints become leaky.
Up to this point there is good reason to believe that the modern
practice is similar to, if not identical with, that anciently used;
but in the complete absence of evidence, documentary or otherwise,
we cannot conjecture how the old well-sinkers proceeded in subsequent
stages. We surmise, however, that, given sufficiency of time, they
were possessed of the requisite patience and skill to overcome
all ordinary obstacles—as has been the case for generations in
China—and it is probable that the percentage of wells abandoned
was not greater than it is at the present day in countries where
well-boring has become an art, carried out by means of scientifically
designed machinery.
The second part of the modern operations is conducted with an
ordinary percussion hand-boring outfit of European manufacture. As
the method of boring with this type of rig is essentially the same
all over the world, we only propose to describe it in brief. The
proceedings commence with the erection of a timber framework,
or derrick, immediately over the mouth of the pipe; at the summit
of the derrick is a pulley, over which passes the rope or chain
which connects on one side with the drum of the winch, and from
the end of which, on the other side, are suspended the actual tools
with which drilling is continued. The boring-rod is made up to the
required length by screwing together a number of 10-foot sections,
the terminal length being a shorter rod fitted with a chisel, auger,
or sand-pump, according to the work in hand.
The rate of progress depends to a great extent on the rapidity with
which the blows of the chisel are delivered. This, of course,
varies considerably, depending on the depth of the well and
consequent weight of the rods in use. Where the weight is great
and the formation sticky, the rods have to be lifted by means of
the winch, and not more than two or three blows a minute can be
struck. When the rods are light or working freely, as, for instance,
when drilling in sandstones, the winch can be dispensed with, and the
necessary motion conveyed by means of a lever actuated by a number
of men. In this way progress can be very much accelerated, as many
as twenty or twenty-five blows being delivered per minute. At the
best, however, the method of drilling by percussion with a solid
rod is necessarily slow, owing mainly to the fact that the terminal
tool cannot be changed or withdrawn without the entire length of
rod being taken to pieces. It is seldom, therefore, that a well of
120 to 150 metres is completed in less than five months, and the
average time taken is more like nine months or a year.
It will readily be admitted that this method of sinking wells is
in many respects well adapted to the local conditions obtaining
in such isolated localities as the oases, where time is of little
consequence to the inhabitants. The completed wells are frequently
equal in almost every respect to those put down by means of the most
up-to-date appliances; in fact, the only objections to the method
are its slowness, the limited depth to which it is applicable,
and the difficulty of fixing to the wooden casing satisfactory
appliances for regulating the discharge.
The patience and industry of the inhabitants of the oases are well
exemplified by their unceasing attempts to maintain undiminished the
water-supply on which their very existence depends. The population
must always have borne a direct ratio to the total discharge of the
wells, as on the latter depends the amount of food-supplies which
can be raised. At no period, as far as we can judge, has the output
of the wells been greater than the requirements, and it is probable
that there has always been a population somewhat in excess of that
which could be supported by local products, the surplus portion
being disposed of by emigration to the Nile Valley.
The methods of dealing with wells in which the flows have diminished
or altogether ceased are of considerable interest, as they have
given rise to a class of men called ‘ghattasin’ (divers),
which one would never have expected to find in such remote and arid
localities as the oases of the Libyan Desert.
It is seldom that the poorer inhabitants can command the use of a
hand-rig for the cleaning of their wells, so that they usually have
recourse to appliances of the most primitive description. Perhaps
the simplest form consists of a short iron rod, a sort of crowbar
or jumper, suspended from a palm-fibre rope, and with a tiny basket
attached to the lower end. In some cases the end of the jumper
is itself fashioned into the form of a cup, so that the basket of
plaited grass or palm-leaf can be dispensed with. The rod is worked
up and down in the bore, so as to stir up the sand and clay at the
bottom, which settles in the basket or cup, and is periodically
hoisted to the surface. The rope is worked over a wooden roller
fixed alongside the mouth of the well, a contrivance which enables
the up-and-down motion to be given with a minimum of energy and
friction. The process is often continued for years, the material
which can be removed in a day only amounting to a few handfuls.
The above method is only applicable to bores in which the wooden
casing is more or less intact. Where the latter has rotted and
allowed the sides of the well to collapse, a much more difficult
and complicated procedure is necessary before the discharge can
be re-established. In a case of this sort the original rectangular
shaft has to be entirely cleared of material, and a new string of
casing placed in the exact position occupied by the original pipe
of the well. Moreover, the timber of the shaft itself has generally
to be repaired or entirely renewed, as otherwise there would be
very great danger of the sides collapsing when the material from
within was removed. The process is rendered extremely difficult
and laborious by reason of the entire work having to be carried on
under water. Although a well may have stopped flowing, the passages
are never so completely blocked as to altogether prevent the water
from rising to within a few feet of the surface, and any excavation
made will always be found to become speedily filled with water. The
work can, therefore, only be carried out by men who have trained
themselves to remain and work under water, and a limited number of
these divers are found in most of the Egyptian oases.
I have frequently watched and chatted with the divers at work on
old wells, both in Dakhla and Kharga. Unlike the usual custom of
remunerating men employed on well-cleaning by shares of the resulting
water, divers are generally paid in cash at the rate of about a
shilling a day, each man receiving his food as well. The descent
is always made feet first, hand over hand down a rope stretched
from the top to the bottom. When the diver wishes to return to the
surface he signals by a motion of the rope to those at the top,
who promptly haul him up.
The rate of progress depends, of course, on the depth at which the
work is proceeding. In a well I once visited near Hindaw, in the
oasis of Dakhla, divers were working at a depth of 29 metres. Each
man descended six or seven times a day, remaining on each occasion
from two to two and a half minutes under water. Work had been in
progress here for four years, and the excavation was still 16 or
17 metres from the bottom of the shaft.
The excavated material is placed in baskets, which, when full,
are drawn up by hand. As soon as the shaft has been cleared to the
bottom the new casing is inserted, the intervening space filled in,
and the work carried on as in a new bore. Many extinct wells have
thus been put into good working order, though in some cases the
divers have been unable to overcome the difficulties encountered,
and the wells have been finally abandoned after months, or even
years, of labour.
In the reclamation operations conducted in the oasis of Kharga
during the last two or three years, both hand and steam boring rigs
have been employed, steel casing being used for all wells. The cost
per foot drilled is somewhat in favour of the hand-rigs, but the
rate of progress is far more rapid in the case of the steam-driven
machines. The method used with the hand-machines is the same in
principle as that employed by the natives and already described,
with the exception that the preliminary excavation is dispensed with,
the bore being drilled from the surface and lined with metal casing
down to the Water-bearing Sandstones. The casing is driven by means
of a heavy weight, or ‘monkey,’ attached to the boring-rod.
The steam-rigs used are of American manufacture, and of the design
usually employed in the oil-fields of the United States. The method
is a modern adaptation of a practice employed from very early times
in China, free-falling tools attached to a flexible rope being used
in place of a solid iron rod. The actual drilling tool, which is of
great weight, is suspended from a cable, and worked by steam-power in
such a way as to give a rapid succession of blows of such force as
to cut out a circular hole through the hardest of rocks. The outfit
consists essentially of a very high derrick, a large drum on which
the cable is wound, and a specially-designed engine worked by steam,
the boiler in which the latter is generated being usually placed
on a separate carriage. A second and smaller drum is provided for
a fine wire rope, which is used with various forms of sand-pump for
cleaning out the loose sand or sludge formed by the drilling tool.
[Illustration: A STEAM BORING RIG.]
[Illustration: A HAND BORING RIG.]
These steam-rigs necessitate the employment of skilled drillers,
and are, moreover, with difficulty kept in proper repair in
out-of-the-way localities. Their initial cost is high; they are
extremely cumbersome to drag from one site to another over the
soft surface of the desert, and they consume a large quantity
of fuel. These drawbacks are, however, partly, if not entirely,
counterbalanced by the rapidity with which the work can be carried
out, the average rate of progress under the conditions met with
in the oasis being 5 to 7 metres per ‘shift’ of eight or ten
hours. In the water-sandstones I have known Mr. B. F. Whiting, who
was recently my drilling superintendent in the oasis, carry a bore
down as much as 20 or 25 metres in a single shift. Breakdowns are, of
course, not infrequent with this system of boring, but the American
drillers are remarkably proficient in the recovery of lost tools.
CHAPTER XIV
THE CONTEST BETWEEN MAN AND WIND-BORNE SAND
The Winds — Wind and Sand as Agents of Denudation — The Combat
of the Inhabitants with Sand-laden Winds — The Dune-Belts —
Origin of the Sand — Composition of Dune-Sand — The Forms of
Dunes — Dimensions and Rate of Movement — Irresistibility of
Blown Sand — Protection afforded by Topographical Features —
Effect of Artificial Obstructions on the Formation of Dunes —
Fixing of Dunes by Vegetation and Moisture — Storm-Walls and
Fences — The Dunes of Gennâh — Wind-borne Sand beneficial
in the South of the Oasis — Formation of Terraces of Wind-borne
Materials — Encroachment of Dunes in the South of the Oasis.
No one who has sojourned in Kharga long enough to compare it with
other parts of Egypt will feel inclined to dispute the statement that
the depression is one of the most windy places in the country. Only
one day in ten or eleven is calm, though if the wind has been
blowing fairly steadily during the day it generally drops at
night. Five times out of six its direction is from the north, and
when unaccompanied by sand the wind acts as a welcome moderator of
the temperature.
In a desert region, owing to the surface being unprotected
by vegetation, there is nearly always an abundance of weathered
material loosely exposed on the surface, the lighter portions of
which are quickly swept up and carried along as soon as the wind
attains even a moderate velocity. On the actual dunes even a light
breeze is sufficient to set the surface-layers in motion, while on
the open plain the wind becomes visibly charged with sand directly it
attains the velocity of a moderate breeze. The frequency with which
the wind blows has already been mentioned, and when we add that on
one day in three it attains a velocity sufficient to enable it to
easily carry sand in suspension, its power as a transporting agent
can readily be conceived. Not only does the wind carry the sand
along from one place to another, dumping it behind or in front of
every obstacle it may meet, but the combination of sand and wind
forms a denuding force of no mean power, capable of planing and
grooving the exposed surfaces of the hardest of rocks.
Now, although opinions may differ as to the part played in
the past by wind and sand in the shaping and formation of the
oases-depressions of the Libyan Desert, there can be no question
of the effects they are producing at the present day. Wind-borne
sand is indeed the curse of the oasis, and although its evil
effects may be mitigated or altogether staved off for a time,
the longer this force of Nature is opposed by man the greater and
more overwhelming is its final victory. If a full account of the
human occupation of the oases could be written, it would be very
largely the history of an incessant combat between man and Nature;
and although man may for a time gain the upper hand, and even make
the sand-laden winds to some extent serve his purposes, he is in
the end generally forced to abandon those places in which he has
been at such pains to establish himself.
In the Libyan Desert, both on the plateaux and in the depressions,
blown sand has a marked tendency to collect into dunes occupying
definite north and south belts of country, lying parallel to the
direction of the prevailing winds. This peculiar and fortunate
disposition depends on a number of circumstances, such as the
mean direction of the wind, the points of greatest supply of
the material, and on other causes which are not perhaps as yet
thoroughly understood.
In Kharga Oasis the best marked and most important belt lies somewhat
to the west of the central axis of the depression. At the north end,
in the neighbourhood of Um el Dabâdib, it consists of a number of
isolated but parallel lines of dunes, which southwards pass over
and round the hill-massif of Jebel Tarif, eventually uniting and
forming a more compact belt of sand, with an average width of 8 or
10 kilometres, which continues right through the depression into the
desert to the south. This line of sand sets a limit to the extension
of cultivation to the west. A second belt comes from the plateau to
the north of Qasr Lebekha, passes immediately to the east of Jebel
Têr and the village of Kharga, and continues southwards until it
spreads out and is arrested, more or less by artificial means, in
the vicinity of Gennâh. Other smaller and less defined belts exist
to the south of Ain el Tawîl, to the east of Headquarters, and near
the foot of, and parallel to, the eastern wall of the depression.
[Illustration: A BELT OF DUNES NEAR QASR LEBEKHA.]
Although it has been stated by more than one writer that the great
sand accumulations of the Libyan Desert originate in the denudation
of the Nubian Sandstone which occupies large areas to the south of
the oases, I have never myself met with any evidence in support of
such a view. In my opinion the bulk of the sand must be regarded as
originating in the arenaceous deposits of post-Middle Eocene age,
which largely occupy and are exposed on the surface of the country
between the Mediterranean Sea and latitude 29° N. We know from
personal observation that some of the great sand-belts, which cross
the intervening limestone plateau to the southern oases, commence in
this region, and the supply of sand made available by the denudation
of the beds in question is inexhaustible. During the passage of
this sand across the great desert tableland the individual grains of
silica doubtless become much rounded and reduced by attrition, though
the total loss is probably more than counterbalanced by the very
considerable additions received in the form of calcareous grains,
derived from the limestones forming the surface of the high desert.
An examination of the dunes of Kharga Oasis at once shows that
the sand is not by any means composed solely of siliceous grains,
but that there is a considerable proportion of white granules of
limestone. A number of samples collected at random from the dunes
in the central part of the depression were all found to contain
a visible proportion of calcareous grains, and one of these,
collected from the big dune to the south-east of Headquarters,
was qualitatively examined for me by Mr. Garsed, and shown to
contain 7·7 per cent. of calcium carbonate. It would be difficult
to account for the presence of these calcareous grains on the
assumption that the sand is derived from the Nubian Sandstone,
though the denudation of the latter in and to the south of the
oases must give rise to a very large amount of siliceous sand,
which goes to swell the bulk of the dunes which have invaded this
country from beyond the limestone plateau to the north.
The dominant form of dune in the oasis is of crescentic or horse-shoe
shape, a form specially typical of desert regions where there
are prevailing winds in any one direction. These ‘barchans,’
as they are called, which are always disposed with the concave,
steeply-inclined sides facing southwards, are found of every size,
and exhibit many variations of the simple crescentic pattern. In
many parts of the oasis the sand-belts are made up of a number of
isolated and promiscuously disposed barchans; in others the dunes
have joined together into a compact mass, in which the typical
shape of the individual barchan is more or less obliterated.
Solitary barchans, being well-defined isolated masses, lend
themselves to observation better than the large and continuous
belts of sand. They occur of all sizes, from little baby crescents,
a metre or two across, to enormous masses 30 or 40 metres high and
200 to 300 metres in breadth. In all cases, except when their steady
march southwards has been temporarily interrupted by southerly
winds, the southern face, flanked by the horns of the crescent,
is a straight slope of from 30 to 33 degrees, its inclination is,
in fact, the angle of rest of loose dry sand, and it is formed
of the sand which is continually blown up the opposite slope and
dropped over the crest.
In a moderate breeze the whole barchan progresses steadily in a
southerly direction without loss or gain of sand; in stronger winds,
while still continuing its course, the dune may at the same time
be either losing or gaining in actual bulk. The rate at which the
barchans travel varies with their size. The larger the dune the
greater the amount of material to be moved, so that, as a general
rule, small barchans progress much more rapidly than large ones. The
actual rate may vary from 10 to 20 metres per annum, the average
being about 17. For instance, the big isolated dune on the road
between Headquarters and Kharga village moved 11 metres southwards
between December 8, 1907, and December 8, 1908, while during the same
period a small dune in the Bellaida district travelled 21 metres in
the same direction. The dimensions of these two dunes is as follows:
+------------------------------------+-------------+----------+
| | Kharga Road | Bellaida |
| | Dune. | Dune. |
+------------------------------------+-------------+----------+
| | Metres. | Metres. |
| Vertical height of centre of crest | 17 | 10·5 |
| Maximum breadth (east and west) | 259 | 160 |
| Maximum length (north and south) | 230 | 70 |
+------------------------------------+-------------+----------+
These are merely instances from dunes which I have had under
observation for a number of months, full details of which I hope
shortly to publish.
Approached on a bright sunny day from the south side, the angle of
slope within the crescent of a barchan is most deceptive. Nine out
of ten persons will confidently state that the face of the dune
cannot be less than 60 or 70 degrees from the horizontal, though,
as a matter of fact, it never exceeds by more than two or three
degrees a third of a right angle. Unless held together by vegetation
or compacted by moisture, it cannot exceed the angle of rest of dry
blown sand, which is about 32 degrees. In normal weather this face
of a barchan is a straight, unrippled, even slope of loose sand from
top to bottom; when a light or gentle breeze is blowing from the
north, the dune can be seen ‘smoking’ at the top of the crest,
the sand being blown up the much more gentle and markedly rippled
northerly slope, and dropped over the crest on to the steep, smooth,
southerly face. The bulk of this sand in a light breeze falls on the
upper part of the slope, equilibrium being adjusted from time to time
by a downward sliding of the superficial layers. A cross-section of
the dune, from north to south, would indeed show it to be composed
of well-stratified layers of sand, dipping steadily southwards at
a little over 30 degrees.
In this district I have never observed southerly winds hold for a
sufficient length of time to do more than slightly modify the general
form of a barchan, though during their continuance the progress of
the dune is arrested, the outline of the crest becomes considerably
altered, ripple-marks appear on the steep southerly face, and an
apron of sand of greater or lesser dimensions forms at its foot.
The irresistibility of drift sand is well seen where isolated
hills lie in the path of the dunes. When such hills are narrow,
and elongated in a north and south direction, they generally act
as a wedge, divide the wind, and force any sand it may be carrying
to pass on either side. When, however, a hill has northerly flanks
of any considerable width, it will only form a temporary check to
the southward passage of the sand. The progress of the latter may
be arrested for a while, until hollows have been filled in and the
general slopes reduced; but eventually the sand will pass up along
the lines of least resistance to the summit. This is beautifully
illustrated at Jebel Tarif, the great isolated, flat-topped,
hill-massif lying between Um el Dabâdib and Kharga village,
standing over 300 metres, or 1,000 feet, above the surrounding
plain. Instead of being diverted by this obstacle, the sand, coming
from the plateau to the north and north-west of Um el Dabâdib,
surmounts the slopes, and continues in its normal direction across
the flat-topped summit. The latter has been cut up into numberless
parallel north- and south-disposed ridges, separated by deep troughs,
which are now to a considerable extent filled with sand. Active
erosion must, therefore, at the present day be confined to the upper
portions of the slopes of the valleys and to the intervening ridges.
Naturally in such a region the inhabitants have been quick to take
advantage of any protection afforded by topographical features, and
it is not surprising to find that the most important of the ancient
monuments, as well as the greatest area of modernly cultivated land,
lie in a comparatively sheltered position to the south of Jebel
Têr. Even there, however, trouble is constantly experienced on the
east side, owing to the tendency of the belt of sand-dunes, which
comes from the vicinity of Qasr Lebekha, to spread laterally. Along
the east side of the village the dunes are close up against the
outlying houses, and the sand continually surmounts and pours over
the walls which from time to time are erected by the natives to
act as barricades.
Sheltered places of the above description are rare, the majority of
the smaller settlements being situated on the open plain, where the
only precaution which can be taken is to select the sites for wells
as far away as possible from the well-defined sand-belts. But in
windy weather the sand-blast is not confined to the neighbourhood of
the dunes; the wind rages across the open plains, carrying dense
clouds of sand in suspension, and devastating the works of man
wherever the latter offer the slightest obstacle to its progress.
[Illustration: SAND EROSION ON SUMMIT OF JEBEL TARIF.]
In order to protect his crops from the fierce onslaught of wind-borne
sand the native is compelled to erect fences and barricades along the
northern boundaries of his fields. These serve his purpose for the
time being, the sand which would otherwise have cut and beaten down
the growing crops being deposited on either side of the fence, where
the velocity of the wind is checked. The arrested sand accumulates
with increasing rapidity as the size of the obstruction becomes
greater, a veritable dune, constituting a really efficient protection
to the cultivated lands, being formed over the site of the original
small and insignificant hedge. Unfortunately, this sand continues
to collect, and although the cultivator may have satisfactorily
insured himself against the frequent damage caused to his crops by
their exposure to wind-driven sand, he is now confronted with the
still more serious prospect of having his lands overwhelmed by the
ever-increasing dunes, which have grown to considerable proportions
as the result of his efforts to protect himself.
Fortunately for the occupiers of these outlying settlements, the
progress of such dunes, formed more or less artificially on the
northerly sides of the cultivated tracts, is not at the same rate as
that of isolated dunes moving across the open desert plain. Owing
to the presence of a certain amount of moisture in the superficial
layers of the ground in the neighbourhood of the wells and the
cultivated lands, plants of various kinds are enabled to thrive,
with the result that the dunes become to some extent ‘fixed’ by
wild vegetation. The most valuable plant in this connection is the
tamarisk, which by means of immensely long roots continues to thrive
and keep its head above growing dunes with remarkable facility. To
a certain extent, moreover, the moisture from the soil itself
rises by capillarity into the base of the sand, and assists the
vegetation in binding it into a compact mass, which is not liable
to movement in the same degree as dry sand. The rate of progress
of such dunes may therefore be reduced to a considerable extent,
but the movement can never be altogether stopped. As we have seen
in the case of the hamlet of Meheriq, the sand eventually gets the
upper hand, blotting out the arable lands, burying the palm-groves,
and forcing man to abandon his habitations.
In the neighbourhood of the Corporation’s Headquarters a
considerable area of the floor of the depression has been brought
under cultivation during the last three years. This tract is exposed
on every side, there being no protection whatever in the shape of
natural features. Although occasional sandstorms are experienced
from the south, and even from the east and west sides, practically
the whole of the trouble encountered comes from northerly sandstorms
and sand-laden winds. It was found quite impossible to raise crops
unless the fields were protected by storm-walls or fences, the young
plants being cut down as if by a scythe. So long as the reclamation
of land proceeded from south to north at a fairly rapid rate, the
accumulation of sand against these fences was of little moment,
being, indeed, rather welcome than otherwise, as the sand was found
to be of considerable value when spread out and ploughed into the
heavy clay soil with which this area is superficially covered. When,
however, a storm-wall remains for several consecutive months
exposed to the open desert to the north, the accumulation of sand
becomes a more serious matter, and care has to be taken to avoid
the formation of dunes, which it might be afterwards difficult to
get rid of. A fairly satisfactory mode of procedure is the planting
of narrow belts of ‘sesban,’ or other quickly-growing shrub,
along the northern limits of the newly reclaimed lands; a hedge of
this description forms an efficient shelter to the fields, while at
the same time it allows a good deal of the sand to filter through
and become absorbed by the soil.
[Illustration: THE CORPORATION’S HOMESTEAD (HEADQUARTERS).]
Most of the dunes in the Gennâh district are more or less covered
with tamarisk and other wild vegetation, but that their progression
southwards has only been retarded, and not prevented, is evident
from an examination of the country. Large areas of land have been
abandoned owing to the invasion of the dunes, and the magnificent
wells of Gennâh are threatened with destruction within a very short
term of years, unless special measures are adopted to cope with
the advance of the sand. The available land in the vicinity of the
village has long been insufficient to utilize the water discharged
by these wells, which has in consequence to be led by a channel of
several kilometres in length to lower ground south-east of the Gorn
el Gennâh. This channel is being constantly pushed to the south,
and as the ground rises in that direction, it may eventually become
impossible to maintain the conduit at a sufficiently low level to
carry the water of the wells to this outlying district.
The southern portion of the oasis is the only area where sand and
wind can be said to be of any actual benefit to the inhabitants,
but in this area, owing to the broad plains of alluvial clay,
the suspended material consists to a very great extent of fine
argillaceous particles. At many of the wells in the Dakhakhin and
Beris districts the cultivators encourage the gradual deposition
on their fields of the sand and clay-dust borne by the northerly
winds. The mixture forms an excellent loam, and an annual dressing
of the material is regarded as desirable, and even necessary, on
account of its value as a fertilizer. The result of this gradual
deposition of wind-borne material has been that the cultivated
terraces have in many cases attained to such elevations that the
discharges of the wells have suffered very considerable diminution,
owing to the increased height of the outlets.
To the west of the villages of Maks and Beris the great belt of sand
has already enveloped a number of wells, and appears to be still
encroaching—as the individual dunes follow their normal course in
a direction slightly east of south—on the area occupied by the
existing cultivated lands. Fortunately there are still extensive
tracts of cultivable land comparatively free from accumulations
of drift sand, and doubtless the inhabitants, when driven by the
irresistible forces of Nature from the localities they now occupy,
will again, as they have so frequently been compelled to do in the
past, migrate to pastures new.
CHAPTER XV
SOME ECONOMICAL ASPECTS OF THE OASIS
The Staple Crops of the Oasis — Rice the Summer Crop in Northern
Kharga — The Value of Rice in the Reclamation of Land — The
Date Harvest — Conditions under which the Date-Palm flourishes
— Varieties — Propagation — The Doum-Palm — Lucerne — Its
Value in Land-Reclamation — The Vine — Oranges and Other Fruits
— The Wadi Molûk — Earthy Minerals — The Ancient Alum Mines
— The Phosphatic Deposits.
The staple crops of the oasis are dates, rice, wheat, and barley,
while for fodder large quantities of lucerne are grown. It seems
at first sight a curious anomaly that in an arid region, where
water is so scarce and precious a commodity, rice should be grown
as the summer crop. Few, if any, plants require such an abundance
of water as rice, which from the time of sowing to that of reaping
has to be continually irrigated by fresh water, the fields being,
indeed, during the whole period that the crop is on the ground, in a
constant state of saturation. Rice does not thrive in stagnant water,
and it is noticeable that the best crops in the oasis are raised on
lands which have a decided slope, and over which fresh water can
be kept constantly running. The proper irrigation of a rice-field
is a matter of no small difficulty, and the ingenious manner in
which the oasis cultivator lays out his irrigating channels and
subdivides them by means of notched weirs, so as to insure every
portion of the crop getting a continuous supply of fresh water,
is well worthy of close examination.
In the Nile Delta, according to Sir William Willcocks,[13] rice
requires about twice as much water as the other commonly-grown crops,
but in the oases I do not think I am mistaken in saying that it
needs three times as much as any other grain. Rice appears to have
been grown from time immemorial, and certainly at the present day
the inhabitants would as soon think of giving up their date-trees
as of replacing it by any other crop. Now, however, that facilities
exist for the export of farm-produce to the Nile Valley markets,
it will be interesting to observe whether rice will to any extent
be replaced by more valuable crops.
In Upper Egypt the summer crop is largely durra millet (sorghum),
but this plant does not thrive in the oasis, though whether on
account of an uncongenial soil or owing to unsuitable climatic
conditions I am unable to say. It has frequently been tried—in
fact, small areas are annually planted, but never produce crops—at
any rate, in the northern part of Kharga—in any sense comparable
with those of the Nile Valley. The very fact that durra cannot be
satisfactorily grown suggests a probable reason why rice, the least
valuable of the Egyptian cereals, and the one requiring most water,
is so universally grown in Northern Kharga. Rice, as is well known,
will grow on land containing a proportion of salts which would be
injurious, or even fatal, to the majority of crops, and will at
the same time exercise a beneficial and cleansing effect on such
land. The growing of rice may therefore have come about through the
actual necessity for a periodical cleansing of land, which would
otherwise have become salted to a sufficient extent to adversely
affect other crops grown on the same ground. At the present day,
barley and wheat alternate with rice.
The thorough and prolonged soaking to which land is subject when
under rice is in itself of considerable value to succeeding crops,
and in the reclamation of heavy clay-lands in the Headquarters
district my experience has been that as a first crop there is
nothing to equal this cereal. In many cases, indeed, it was found
to be the only crop which could be at all satisfactorily raised on
new lands with only a moderate application of manure. A good tilth,
moreover, is far more rapidly obtained than when other crops are
grown, the difference in the second and third years between lands
which have and have not had rice on them being most marked.
I was much surprised to find that rice is not grown in the southern
districts of the oasis, with the exception of a couple of small areas
near Dakhakhin. Extended inquiries failed to elicit satisfactory
reasons for this remarkable difference from the practice followed
in the north, the universal reply to my questions being that they,
the inhabitants, in not growing rice, were merely following the
custom of their ancestors! I noticed, however, that durra was grown
on a much larger scale than in the north of the oasis, and that
the crops in some cases reached a fairly good standard. It seems
probable, therefore, that in this part of the depression the soil is
of higher average quality, so that the land, renovated by the annual
deposition of a fresh layer of wind-borne sand and clay-dust in the
manner already described, does not need a periodical cleansing by
rice. This, at least, is the only satisfactory explanation which
has occurred to me.
The harvesting of the date-crop in September and October is the
most important event of the year in Kharga Oasis. A large portion
of the crop is exported to the Nile Valley, the Bedawin becoming
traders for the time being, and transporting the produce across the
desert by means of camels. There are over 60,000 adult date-palms,
the chief palm-groves being at Kharga, Gennâh, and Bulaq in
the north, and at Beris in the south. The selling-price in the
oasis fluctuates to some extent, but averages twenty piastres
a ‘weba’ of between 60 and 70 pounds, the weight of a weba
varying considerably according to the moistness of the fruit and
the astuteness of the man entrusted with the measuring. The price
works out roughly at 4 pounds for threepence.
In a book[14] entitled “The Great Sahara,” published nearly
fifty years ago, Canon Tristram gives a very full account of
the cultivation of the date-palm in North Africa. The date-palm
(_Phœnix dactilifera_) is a tree specially characteristic of the
Sahara, where the climate is marked by deficiency of rainfall and by
considerable variations of temperature. Although it flourishes best
in rainless regions, the date-palm will not fruit unless its roots
are well watered; it must, indeed, as the native proverb puts it,
‘have its head in the fire and its roots in water.’
In Egypt there are about fifty varieties of date-palm the chief kinds
in Kharga Oasis being the Saîdi, Tamar, Fâlig, and Hamrâwi. The
Saîdi dates of the oases are generally considered to be superior
in flavour to almost any other Egyptian variety, and have in
consequence a ready sale in the Nile Valley. The other varieties
are not exported to any great extent, except, perhaps, the Fâlig;
the Tamar, while producing a heavier crop than the other kinds,
yields fruit of comparatively poor quality, which is on that
account almost entirely used for home consumption. The Hamrâwi
trees are very limited in number, but produce fruit of large size
and excellent flavour; Hamrâwi dates are, however, I believe,
regarded as having bad keeping properties.
Dates are met with of almost every variety of colour except pure
black or white. All the different kinds ripen at or about the same
time—in the early part of September. A tree will bear from eight
to ten bunches, each carrying from 12 to 20 pounds of fruit, so
that in full bearing it will yield from 100 to 200 pounds of dates
annually. The fruit exported from the oases, being entirely disposed
of in the native markets of the Nile Valley, is packed and sewn up
without any special care in palm-leaf baskets. For local use small
quantities of selected fruit are frequently preserved in a moist
state in earthenware jars.
Date-stones cast on the ground and accidentally buried under an
inch or two of soil will germinate freely, but the resulting plants
are of little use. Not one in a hundred will turn out of the same
variety as its parent, so that plants raised from seed must in the
great majority of cases be regarded as bastards, of no value as
fruit-producers. In Kharga all new trees are raised from slipped
plants—that is to say, from the young shoots which spring up
at the butts of the parent trees. These are detached and planted
out separately on new ground. The greatest care has to be taken to
protect them from hot winds and sandstorms, and they must be watered
daily for a number of weeks after being planted. Growth is very
slow for the first two years, and even under the most favourable
conditions the trees will not commence to bear fruit for five or
six years. Date-palms come into full bearing when from twenty to
twenty-five years old, and may live to a century or more. Every
year the lowest ring of branches is cut off, so that the age of a
tree can be fairly accurately ascertained by counting the rings
of notches on the stem. The wild, unkempt, weather-beaten trees
occasionally met with in outlying, uninhabited portions of the oasis
have a very different appearance from the trim, erect palms of the
cultivated areas.
In the oases and in other parts of Egypt a fermented liquor called
‘lagmi,’ with a peculiar insipid taste, is obtained by making
a deep incision in the top of the date-palm, the liquid oozing
out and being collected in a vessel, generally made of the rind
of a gourd. As much as 10 quarts can be obtained in a day, and
the tree may be bled once or twice a month without sustaining any
harm; the operation may, in fact, prove of considerable benefit to
a sickly palm. A very strong spirit—date-brandy—is also made
from the fruit.
Tristram records that the heart or cabbage of a date-palm, which
in taste is said to resemble the sweet potato, is eaten by the
natives when a tree falls or is blown down. The uses to which the
leaves, fibre, and wood of the date-palm are put are innumerable,
and include the manufacture of such diverse articles as baskets,
mats, ropes, and saddles.
The doum-palm, or gingerbread-tree, flourishes in a semi-wild state
in many parts of the oasis, more especially in the tract of country
lying between Gennâh and Bulaq. The fruit is brown and mealy,
and, in localities where the trees are properly tended, is said
to be very nutritious, and to resemble gingerbread in taste and
colour. In some parts of the Sahara the spongy internal portion of
the nut forms an important article of food, and when mixed with an
infusion of dates constitutes a cooling drink much valued for use
in cases of febrile disorders.
[Illustration: DOUM-PALMS AT AIN GIRM MESHIM.]
Although pasture or grazing lands can hardly be said to exist in
the Western sense of the term, lucerne is very commonly grown in
Kharga to provide a supply of green fodder for cattle. The plant
seems to be peculiarly adapted to the local conditions, and is
often kept on the ground for long periods, the crop providing very
frequent cuttings and improving from year to year. It is seldom or
never grazed direct, probably for the reason that cattle are apt
to pull the plants out by the roots, the ground on which it best
thrives being very loose and sandy. In the reclamation of new lands,
where the soil is deficient in organic matter and nitrogen, this
leguminous plant has been found to be of very great value. Excellent
results were obtained at Headquarters on desert surfaces which
had never previously borne vegetation. On the more sandy areas
the plant quickly established itself, becoming in the second year
an even and strongly-growing crop from 18 inches to 2 feet high,
yielding heavy cuttings every few weeks. For benefiting a poor soil
by the introduction of nitrogen from the atmosphere probably nothing
could be found to excel lucerne, which, judging by the numerous and
well-marked nodules formed on the roots, acts as a most efficient
host-plant for nitrogen-fixing bacteria. My attention was first
drawn to these nodules by Mr. D. Milne, who was formerly in charge
of the agricultural work at Headquarters, and both he and my present
assistant, Mohammed Said, an Egyptian agriculturist of wide practical
experience, have formed a very high opinion of the utility of lucerne
in the reclamation and fertilization of raw and new desert soils.
In ancient days the vine was extensively cultivated in the oases,
and under the Romans there appears to have been a considerable trade
in wine. At the present day excellent oranges, as well as apricots,
mulberries, and olives, are grown in both Kharga and Dakhla, but
only in comparatively small quantities, though the soil and climate
appear to be eminently suited to the cultivation of fruit-trees.
Cotton cannot be said to be cultivated in the oases, as the very
occasional plots one meets with are evidence that its culture is not
understood by the natives, who aim at the production of wood rather
than fibre. Experiments made at Headquarters, however, show that
many Nile Valley crops not hitherto grown in Kharga, such as cotton,
sugar-cane, and beans, can be successfully raised without difficulty.
There exists in the possession of His Excellency Johnson Pasha,
formerly of the Egyptian Ministry of Justice, a curious old Arabic
document, purporting to describe the so-called Wadi el Molûk, or
Valley of the Kings, a depression or valley in which, according to
tradition, large quantities of gold, silver, and other precious
metals exist. The place is described in true Oriental fashion,
and the manuscript relates in detail how the route, starting from
an old monastery in the neighbourhood of Esna, proceeds. According
to the information given, the Wadi el Molûk would appear to lie
somewhere within the desert triangle between the points Esna, Aswân,
and Beris, but although a number of more or less serious attempts
have been made to discover its whereabouts, this El Dorado has not
yet been located. Judging by the geological conditions—so far as
they are known in the area in question—one might, with equally
good chances of success, search for metalliferous deposits of gold
and silver in the Weald of the South of England.
Earthy minerals exist in the oasis of Kharga, and appear to have
been extensively mined by the ancients in some localities. Deposits
of ochre occur near several of the wells to the east and south-east
of Kharga village, notably to the west of Ain Aid, to the west of
Ain Khalîl, and to the north of Ain Girgâwi. The best occurrences
are to the south of the Gorn el Gennâh, in which district the
ferruginous waters of certain wells have deposited thick banks of
ochre along their channels.
The sulphates of aluminium and magnesium are widely distributed
in the oasis, though the deposits are seldom of sufficient extent
to repay extraction. They occur as thin bands in the shales and
sandstones of the surface-water series, seldom exceeding a few
centimetres in thickness, and being generally of very limited
horizontal extent. The alum, which is often found in beautiful
fibrous or hair-like crystalline masses, is frequently of a delicate
rose tint, and analysis shows the colour to be due to the presence
of small quantities of cobalt. Epsomite (Epsom salts or hydrous
sulphate of magnesia) is also found in fibrous crystalline seams,
a remarkably pure deposit, containing several hundred tons, having
been quite recently located a few kilometres west of Headquarters.
In the foot-hills to the north of Bellaida, at the base of the
eastern slopes of Jebel Tarif, and in the hills immediately to the
west of Qasr Lebekha, ancient mines of the most extensive description
are to be seen. The rocks in these localities consist of variegated
sandstones and grits, many of the beds being so dark and ferruginous
that the hills, as a whole, have a blackened and almost volcanic
appearance. They are literally honeycombed with ancient workings,
many of which, both in the form of large chambers and narrow tunnels,
penetrate for long distances underground. Huge dump-heaps mark
the entrances of the workings, and bear witness to the enormous
quantities of ‘country’ rock removed in the winning of the
useful mineral. The rude shelters built by the miners are to be
seen in the immediate vicinity, and in many cases are still intact.
[Illustration: A WADI IN JEBEL TARIF.]
[Illustration: A RIVER OF SAND NEAR UM EL DABADIB.]
The extent and magnitude of the underground workings prove that
whatever the mineral mined, it was a substance of considerable value
in those days; and an examination of the blind terminations of the
tunnels occasionally reveals the presence of very thin seams of
aluminium sulphate, which, in the absence of indications of other
useful minerals, we must conclude was the substance sought. The
bands of alum were evidently followed until they thinned out to a
fraction of an inch, or disappeared altogether.
A reference to the geological sequence will show the stratigraphical
position of the phosphatic series of the oasis, consisting of
hard bands composed of fish-remains, coprolites, and phosphatic
nodules. The beds have a wide extension in Northern Kharga, and are
especially well developed on the flanks of Jebel Tarwan and Jebel
Têr, in the centre of the depression. As a rule, they consist of
an upper brown-coloured series, individual beds of which in places
have a thickness of 2 or 3 metres, and a lower division consisting
of three or four thin, hard, and lighter-coloured bands, in which
the phosphatic nodules are often cemented by iron pyrites. The
upper bands may contain anything up to 60 per cent. of tricalcium
phosphate, so that the deposit may be regarded as of considerable
potential value.
CHAPTER XVI
SOME NOTES ON SPORT AND NATURAL HISTORY
The Libyan Desert as a Sporting Region — The Dorcas Gazelle —
Snipe — Wild-Fowl — The Local Sportsmen — An all-night Sitting
— Quail — Sand-Grouse — Rock-Pigeons — Turtle-Doves —
Various — Striped Hyæna — Jackals — Three Species of Fox
— The Desert Fox — The True Fennec.
Sportsmen who reckon the success and pleasures of a shooting
expedition only by the contents of the resulting bag are advised to
give a wide berth to the Libyan Desert, as in that arid region—with
the exception of one restricted area far removed from the oasis under
description—no game is to be found which cannot be obtained far
more easily, and in much greater quantities, in the cultivated plains
of the Nile Valley and on the adjoining desert margins. On the other
hand, the sportsman who does not regard too seriously the actual
head of game brought to bag, and who has no objection to hard work,
will find in the oases undoubted attractions in the way of rough
sport. Provided with a few camels to carry the necessary impedimenta,
so as to be rendered independent and able to wander about at will,
a very enjoyable time can be spent exploring the various isolated
portions of the depression where gazelles abound, and visiting the
numerous outlying wells where wild-fowl, snipe, quail, sand-grouse,
and rock-pigeons are to be met with in fair quantities.
The little Dorcas gazelle ranges over the whole of the Libyan
Desert. On the plateau, owing to the extreme scarcity and scantiness
of vegetation, gazelles seldom remain in the same locality for any
length of time, and even when met with can rarely be approached,
owing to the open nature of the country. In the more fertile
oases-depressions they are to be seen in far greater numbers,
especially in the outlying portions where large tracts are covered
with coarse grasses, tamarisk, and other kinds of scrub. After
nightfall they frequently descend to the cultivated lands to browse
on the crops, almost invariably retiring to the outlying desert
areas at the first traces of dawn, though I recollect on one occasion
bringing a laggard to bag very early in the morning on the edge of
a barley-field at Um el Dabâdib. Gazelles are, in fact, seldom to
be seen, unless carefully sought for in their special haunts; one
might remain for months in the inhabited portions of the depression
and only be aware of their existence from occasionally meeting with
their spoor.
It is advisable when hunting gazelles to pitch camp at some distance
from their grazing grounds, as they are extremely wary, and not
to be approached once they have taken alarm. Extensive tracts
of uninhabited, scrub-covered desert, like those to the north of
Ain el Qasr, affording ample supplies of food, and undisturbed by
man, are the favourite haunts of these extremely shy animals. For
shooting this district an excellent camping-ground will be found on
the edge of the scrub in the neighbourhood of Qasr Gyb, an ancient
ruin conspicuously perched on the summit of a conical hillock,
about 20 kilometres north of Meheriq. The dead parts of the scrub
supply an abundance of fuel, and good water is obtainable by
clearing out a section of the ancient underground aqueduct lying a
short distance to the south. From the shelter of any of the higher
clumps of vegetation one can, with the aid of field-glasses, keep a
careful look-out over the surrounding scrub-covered country, and,
once gazelles have been located, getting within range is merely a
matter of patience and careful stalking. After sighting the quarry,
it is best to proceed alone, as natives have an exasperating way of
exposing themselves at the most critical moments. On my last visit
to the north of the oasis there were a good many gazelles about,
including a herd of some seven or eight; it was, however, quite
impossible to get within 500 yards of these, but I had better luck
with a solitary couple a few kilometres to the north of the old ruin,
both of which I succeeded in bagging.
The Dorcas gazelle is one of the smallest and fleetest of the
antelopes. When full grown, the buck stands about 22 inches high
at the shoulder, the horns in my best head—not, however, shot in
Kharga—measuring exactly 13 inches. Properly cooked, its flesh
is excellent, and certainly superior to the average Egyptian mutton.
For snipe the best time is from December to February, though I
have shot odd birds as early as October and as late as April. Both
the full and the jack snipe are to be met with, their favourite
feeding-grounds being the rice-stubbles immediately after the crops
have been harvested, and before the ground has had time to get hard
and dry. In the cold weather, however, almost any wet patch—and
there are numerous small bogs at the lower ends of the paddy-fields
and alongside leaky irrigation channels—will yield one or two
couple. Formerly there was a very useful bit of ground at Ain el
Tawîl, but the best place of all is close to the village of Gennâh,
where a reedy bog of considerable size at times positively swarms
with snipe. This place is rather difficult to shoot, and I used to
consider I had done well if four or five couple were gathered.
Pools of various size, formed by drainage waters from the cultivated
lands, are found scattered throughout the oasis, and in the early
morning or late evening hours quite a respectable bag of wild-fowl
can sometimes, with a little luck, be secured. I say sometimes
advisedly, as where duck are concerned one has to compete with
the local sportsmen, whose name is legion. Mallard, teal, and
shoveller ducks are the most common, though several of the other
species commonly found in the Nile Valley are also to be met with
in the oasis.
The keenness of the Kharga sportsmen is well illustrated by the
following incident: Encamped on one occasion for a week or two near
the village, I was in the habit of pottering about of an evening with
my gun, visiting the two or three pools within easy walking distance
of the tents; but although there were a good many wild-fowl about,
these had been worried to such an extent that they only remained
on the ponds during the darkest hours of the night, preferring,
indeed, to pass the day in solitude in the open desert than to
turn themselves into targets for the never-ending practice of the
local Nimrods. Thinking to get the better of both duck and natives,
I made arrangements to visit a pool about three miles distant from
the village, starting at an hour early enough to enable me to take
up a good stand before daybreak. Fortified by biscuits and hot cocoa,
I and my faithful retainer, Mohammed Abu Salem, left camp one chilly
morning about three, riding the best part of the way on camels,
over the roughest country imaginable. Half a mile from the pool we
dismounted, and I proceeded alone on foot across cultivated lands,
on which, to my astonishment, ploughing was already in progress,
though it was still dark, wanting a full hour to dawn. Slowly
and with some difficulty I made my way towards the thin streak
of light that I knew marked the position of the pool, which in my
mind’s eye I already pictured as covered with duck. Presently,
to my surprise and disgust, a shot rang out; but this was nothing
to my astonishment a few moments later, when, just as I was getting
up to the water, a regular broadside was discharged. There seemed
to be gunners all over the place, and my only concern now was
to get out of their way as speedily as possible; so, ensconcing
myself behind a small sand-hill, I lighted a pipe and awaited
further developments. By careful manœuvring I was able to watch in
moderate safety the glassy surface of the pond, and did not have to
wait long before I heard a rattle of wings, followed by the swoop
on to the water. No sooner had the birds alighted than they were
greeted with a fusillade from all sides of the pool, after which
silence once more reigned supreme. This performance was repeated
every time duck or coot made their appearance, and few escaped the
effects of the deadly cross-fire to which they were subjected.
When daylight appeared I counted over a dozen gunners squatting
round the pond, although the latter measured no more than 120 to
130 yards across its widest part. They were armed with every sort
of weapon, from the latest thing in cheap European breech-loaders
to the most antiquated form of flint-lock, the barrel of the latter
type of gun being usually of great length, and not unlike a piece of
gas-pipe. As soon as daylight was sufficiently advanced, the natives
proceeded to gather the slain, the bulk of the bag being made up of
coots, which at night have a habit of deserting the depths of the
rice-fields for a swim and change of food on the open pools. Each
man seized the birds he considered had fallen to his gun, and I
was struck by the small amount of squabbling which took place over
the division of the spoil, most of the bickering having reference
to complaints of being peppered, though the wonder was that no one
had been killed, or even seriously hurt. As soon as everything was
satisfactorily adjusted the majority of the men, having salaamed
and expressed surprise at my presence, made off towards the village,
only a few of the keener spirits remaining on the chance of further
sport. To my delight, a flight of duck shortly afterwards put in
an appearance, and I was able to score by bagging a couple as they
passed suspiciously over the pond. The laugh was now on my side,
as I need hardly say that the native never risks wasting his powder
and shot on birds on the wing, and after some mutual banter they
departed, leaving me in possession of the field.
Quantities of quail pass through the oasis on their annual migration
from north to south and on their return journey in the opposite
direction. The best bags can be made in the spring, when the corn
is commencing to ripen, but sport is usually rendered difficult
owing to the number of natives at work in the fields. The local
sportsmen do not seem to consider quail worthy of their attention,
probably because the birds so seldom show themselves except when on
the wing. A good many are, however, secured by the peasants in traps.
Sand-grouse are to be met with in many parts of the depression, more
especially near the outlying sparsely cultivated spots, the commonest
variety found being one of the pin-tailed species. The sandy country
round Gennâh is perhaps the best district. Rock-pigeons frequent the
cultivated lands of Bellaida, to the north of the village of Kharga,
and have their homes in the rocky fastnesses of Jebel Têr and Jebel
Tarif, breeding in perfect security in the fissures which traverse
the limestone rocks of those hills. Turtle-doves are found in the
more wooded portions of the oasis, their favourite haunts being
the old spreading acacias which line the water-channels and mark
the sources of the ancient wells. Although not as a rule regarded
as coming into the category of game-birds, turtle-doves are by no
means to be despised when one has failed to replenish the larder from
ordinary sources. When disturbed in their favourite haunts, the birds
fly rapidly from tree to tree, and shooting has to be both straight
and quick if anything of a bag is to be made. In addition to these
an occasional plover or water-hen may be met with and be considered
as worthy of record in the ‘various’ column of the game diary.
In the Nile Valley the striped hyæna has often afforded me a day’s
amusement if not actual sport, but this animal is certainly not a
resident in the oasis, though on rare occasions an individual crosses
the plateau and remains for a few days within the depression. Jackals
are common, though not nearly so numerous as in the neighbouring
oasis of Dakhla. At night they prowl about the outskirts of the
villages, and the din that a single couple can make must be heard
to be believed. The cry is most weird, consisting of a succession
of long melancholy wails, each one a little higher pitched than the
preceding, followed finally by a quick succession of sharp yelps
or barks.
Of foxes there appear to be three species in Egypt, the largest
and best known being a variety of the common fox (_Canis vulpes_,
subsp. _ægyptiaca_). Although this animal frequently makes its
home on the margins of the bordering deserts, it is never found
at any great distance from the villages of the Nile Valley, to
which it invariably descends at dusk, returning to its lair in the
early morning after spending the night roaming the cultivated
lands in search of food. The smaller desert fox, or fennec
(_Canis famelicus_), is found not only on the desert margins, but
throughout the interior plateaux and depressions. A true denizen
of the desert, this animal seldom approaches the abodes of man,
and probably never penetrates into the cultivated lands on either
side of the Nile. Thirdly, there is the diminutive little fox, the
true fennec (_Canis zerda_), which, although found throughout the
interior of the Libyan Desert tableland, is especially abundant in
the oases-depressions.
Of this beautiful species the late Dr. Anderson, in his ‘Zoology
of Egypt,’ wrote: “There is no authentic record of the Fennec
having been discovered in a wild state by any European traveller. All
the specimens which have been brought home have been obtained from
Arabs.” This fox is, it is true, a very shy animal, so much so
that during the course of many years’ work in almost every part
of the Libyan Desert I never had the good fortune to observe one in
its natural haunts, though its burrows were often met with, and my
men at night occasionally succeeded in securing specimens in traps.
During the last year or two, however, while resident in Kharga
Oasis, I have been more fortunate, having frequently observed
these interesting little animals sitting near the entrances
to their burrows or sniffing about in search of food on areas
sparsely dotted with desert vegetation. Several pairs had burrows
within a few kilometres of my headquarters, and were, I believe,
responsible for fowls that disappeared from time to time from our
farm-yard. Mr. P. von Adametz kept one of these tiny foxes in the
mess for some time, but this particular animal, which had been
caught in the neighbourhood of Meheriq, was evidently too old to
become tame. Fennecs probably subsist mainly on desert gerbils and
jerboas, which are always to be found in large numbers in those
portions of the desert where vegetation is at all plentiful.
LITERATURE ON THE OASIS OF KHARGA
PONCET, M.
1709. “A Voyage to Æthiopia, made in the Years 1698, 1699, and
1700.” (Translated from the French.) Printed for W.
Lewis at the Dolphin, next Tom’s Coffee House, in Russel
Street, Covent Garden, London, 1709.
BROWNE, W. G.
1806. “Travels in Africa, Egypt, and Syria, from the Year 1792
to 1798.” Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, London, 1806.
CAILLIAUD, F.
1822. “Travels in the Oasis of Thebes, and in the Deserts
situated East and West of the Thebaid, in the Years 1815,
1816, 1817, and 1818.” (Translated from the French, and
published in New Voyages and Travels, vol. vii.) Sir
Richard Phillips and Co., London, 1822.
DROVETTI, M. THE CHEVALIER.
1822. “Itinerary of an Excursion to the Valley of Dakel,” by M.
the Chevalier Drovetti, French Consul-General in Egypt,
about the latter end of 1818, with a previous Itinerary
from Syout to Dongolah and Darfour. In New Voyages and
Travels, vol. vii. Sir Richard Phillips and Co., London,
1822.
EDMONSTONE, SIR ARCHIBALD, BART.
1822. “A Journey to Two of the Oases of Upper Egypt.” John
Murray, London, 1822.
CAILLIAUD, F.
1826. “Voyage a Méroé, au Fleuve Blanc, au delà de Fâzogl dans
le Midi du Royaume de Sennâr, a Syouah et dans cinq
autres Oasis; fait dans les années 1819, 1820, 1821, et
1822.” L’imprimerie Royale, Paris, 1826.
WILKINSON, I. G.
1835. “Topography of Thebes and General View of Egypt.” John
Murray, London, 1835.
HOSKINS, G. A.
1837. “Visit to the Great Oasis of the Libyan Desert.” Longman,
Rees, Orme and Co., London, 1837.
SCHWEINFURTH, DR. G.
1875. “Notizen zur Kenntniss der Oase El-Chargeh” (I.
Alterthümer). Petermann’s Mittheilungen, 21 Band, 1875.
Justus Perthes, Gotha, 1875.
ROHLFS, GERHARD.
1875. “Drei Monate in der Libyschen Wüste.” Mit Beiträgen von
P. Ascherson, W. Jordan, und K. Zittel. Theodor Fischer,
Cassel, 1875.
JORDAN, DR. W.
1876. “Physische Geographie und Meteorologie der Libyschen
Wüste.” Rohlfs’schen Expedition. Theodor Fischer, Cassel,
1876.
BRUGSCH, DR. HEINRICH.
1878. “Reise nach dem grossen Oase el Khargeh in der Libyschen
Wüste.”
“A History of Egypt under the Pharaohs.” John Murray,
London, 1881.
ZITTEL, K. VON.
1883. “Beiträge zur Geologie und Palæontologie der Libyschen
Wüste.” Rohlfs’schen Expedition. Theodor Fischer, Cassel,
1883.
LYONS, CAPTAIN H. G.
1894. “Notes sur le Géographie Physique des Oasis de Khargueh et
de Dakhel.” Bull. Soc. Khéd. de Géogr., iv. série, No. 4,
1894.
“On the Stratigraphy and Physiography of the Libyan Desert
of Egypt.” Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society,
vol. 1., London, 1894.
BARRON, BEADNELL, LUCAS, AND HUME, MESSRS.
1900. “The Phosphate Deposits of Egypt.” Survey Department,
Cairo, 1900 and 1905.
BALL, DR. JOHN.
1900. “Kharga Oasis: its Topography and Geology.” Survey
Department, Cairo, 1900.
GUEST, A R.
1900. “The Oases of the Mudirieh of Assyut.” The Geographical
Journal, vol. xvi., London, 1900.
BEADNELL, H. J. LLEWELLYN.
1904. “The Oases and the Geology of Egypt,” in “The Nile in
1904,” by Sir William Willcocks. E. and F. N. Spon,
London, 1904.
SAYCE, PROFESSOR A. H.
1905. “History of the Egyptian Oases.” The Egyptian Gazette,
April 6, 1905.
BEADNELL, H. J. LLEWELLYN.
1908. “Flowing Wells and Sub-Surface Water in Kharga Oasis.”
Geological Magazine, N.S., Decade V., vol. v.,
February—March, 1908.
LYONS, CAPTAIN H. G.
1908. “Some Unsolved Problems of the Nile Basin.” The Cairo
Scientific Journal, vol. ii., No. 18, March, 1908.
HUME, DR. W. F.
1908. “The South-Western Desert of Egypt.” The Cairo Scientific
Journal, vol. ii., Nos. 23 and 24, August—September, 1908.
BEADNELL, H. J. LLEWELLYN.
1909. “The Mutual Interference of Artesian Wells.” Geological
Magazine, N.S., Decade V., vol. vi., January, 1909.
“The Relations of the Nubian Sandstone and the Crystalline
Rocks south of the Oasis of Kharga.” Quarterly Journal of
the Geological Society, vol. lxv., London, 1909.
INDEX
Ababdeh Arabs, 106
Abraham, Sara, and Isaac, 104
Abrasion of Rocks (see Denudation)
Absorption Tests, 151, 152
Abstemiousness of Camels, 15
Abu Bayan, Jebel, 45
Abulfida Ismail, 109
Abu Mohariq Dunes, 4, 43
Abu Sighawâl, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 34, 39
Abydus, 108
Abyssinia, 6, 13, 88, 92, 125, 159
Acacia-Trees, 69, 76, 77, 92, 187, 190, 231
Adam and Eve, 104
Adametz, P. von, 233
Æthiopia (see Abyssinia)
Age of Ancient Lakes, 120
Age of Wells, 71, 72, 80
Agriculture, 67, 157, 171, 212-220
Agûl el Douma, 76
Ain (Aiyûn), 69
Ain Aid, 221
Ali Morad, 59
Amûr, 17, 21, 36, 37, 38, 55, 99, 165, 166, 171, 173
Bella, 83
Bellal, 59
Bergis, 80, 81
Dakhakhin, 78, 79, 80
Dizé, 15
Estakherab, 59, 71, 72, 139, 210
Foq el Doum, 81
Girgâwi, 221
Girm Meshîm, 57, 75, 76, 114, 115
Hamûr, 173
Harrân, 59, 114
Jaja, 77
Johar, 81, 85
Khalîl, 221
Khenâfish, 36, 106
Mabrûka, 85
Magarin, 59, 71, 72, 210
Mahmud, 59, 115
Mohammed Delaib, 142
Mustapha Kashef, 101
Tabashîr, 106
Zaaf, 59
Zaha el Din, 85
Zaiyan, 59
el Burg, 59, 106
Burrda, 84
Douma, 76, 114
Ghazâl, 28, 59, 69, 110, 114, 115, 142
Ghuâta, 59
Hais, 38
Hushi, 81
Karm, 85
Qasr (near Maks), 85
Qasr (N. of Meheriq), 15, 59, 114, 115, 226
Sabbagh, 59
Tawîl, 59, 60, 70, 227
Terfai (N.), 115
Terfai (S.), 85
Akhmîm, 106
Alexandria, 68, 105, 106
Alluvial Clays, 76, 81, 83
Altitudes, 10, 27, 57, 58, 59, 60, 72, 116, 117, 136, 142, 144
Alum, 21, 125, 221, 222, 223
Al Vahat, 108
Amenebis, 99
American Methods of Drilling, 134, 196, 197
Excavation in Necropolis, 87
Ammonians, 88, 89, 90
Ammon of Hibis, 99
Amun (Ammon-Ra), 92, 100, 105
Amûr (see Ain Amûr)
Ancient Lakes, 110, 122
Roads, 38,
Anderson, J., 232
Andrews, C. W., 118
Aneroid Determinations (see Barometric Observations)
Animals, Wild, 14, 108, 224, 233
Annexation of Oases, 66
Anticlinal Folds, 129, 147
Antiquities, 6, 7, 86-109
Antoninus Pius, 98, 99
Apted, F. E., 59
Aqueducts, 8, 9, 71, 100, 101, 117, 118, 131, 167-185
Arabian Geographers, 108
Arabic Inscriptions, 104
Arbaîn (Derb el), 13, 16, 33, 34
Arcadius, 105
Area of Libyan Desert, 2
Arianism, 105
Army of Cambyses, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92
Artesian Basins, Conditions required in, 124
Artesian-Water Sandstone, 49, 121, 125, 126, 131, 138, 151, 152, 162
Arûs el Buqar, 4
Ascent of Passes, 27, 30, 36, 37
Ascherson, P., 20, 89
Ash-Grey Shales, 48
Assiut, 27, 28, 33, 34, 37, 43, 44, 91
Athanasius, 94, 105
Auasis, 108
Augila, 90
Australian Wells, 140, 143, 161
Average Discharge of Wells, 135, 140
Avidius Heliodorus, 99
Baglûli, El, 32
Baguat, El, 103
Baharia Oasis, 3, 8, 17, 23, 38, 51, 53, 96
Bahnessa, 5
Baker, H. H., 113
Baldwin-Wiseman, W. R., 154
Ball, J., 23, 24, 39, 56, 58, 60, 87, 98, 101, 103, 165, 171, 236
Banishment to Oasis, 94
Barchans, 31, 202-205
Barley, 62, 66, 212, 214, 225
Barometric Observations, 58
Barron, T., v, 236
Basilides, 96
Baskets, 68, 74, 193
Beadnell, H. J. L., 236
Beans, 220
Bedawin, 2, 31, 40, 62, 76, 158, 215, 233
Belat, 17, 38
Bellaida, 101, 102, 106, 114, 203, 222, 231
Beniâdi, 16, 17
Berber Race, 66
Beris, 15, 16, 25, 32, 34, 46, 60, 80, 81, 85, 110, 115, 158, 165,
210, 211, 215, 218
Bir (Abiyâr), 69
Bir Ain el Gôs, 59, 69
el Dinaria, 136
Mansûra, 69
Murr, 43
Qattara, 59
Birds, 14, 227, 231
Bisharin Arabs, 106
Blemmyes, 106
Blockhouses, 82
Bones, Subfossil, 118
Bore No. 1—58, 59, 137
4—146
5—144, 145
6—144, 145
14—148, 152
16—152
18—152
22—59
31—152
33—127
36—142
38—142
39—152
42—142, 146, 156
43—127
44—59, 142, 152
Bores for Forts, etc., 168, 169
Boring Machinery (see Machinery)
Boring Operations, 69, 131-134, 143, 151, 186-197
Botîkh, El, 30, 35
Brevedent, Father C. F. X. de, 13
Bricks, Size of Sun-dried, 101
Bronze on Temple Doors, 92
Browne, W. G., 15, 234
Brugsch, H., 22, 86, 98, 235
Bubbling Springs, 47
Bulaq, 15, 32, 73, 74, 75, 215
Buraig, El, 31
Burg Hamâm (see Dovecots)
Byzantine Period, 99, 102
Cailliaud, F., 16, 17, 22, 34, 58, 86, 234, 235
Cairo Observatory, 58
Calcareous Tufa, 26, 48, 52, 53, 112
Caliphs, 103
Cambyses, 88, 89, 90
Camels, 14, 15, 26, 33, 34, 37, 42, 44, 215, 224
Capacity of Rocks as Water-Carriers, 132
Caravan Routes (see Roads)
Caravans, 24, 26, 27, 33, 34, 37, 41, 44
Carcasses of Camels, 14
Casing of Wells, 78, 79, 128, 135, 137, 141, 186, 187, 189
Cause of Rise of Water in Wells, 162, 163
Cause of Salts in Water, 130
Caving of Strata, 134, 135, 189
Cementing Material in Sandstone, 132, 134
Cemeteries, 100, 102
Centroclinal Folds, 56
Channels (see Irrigating Channels)
Character of Desert Roads, 39
Character of Inhabitants (see Inhabitants)
China, Well-Sinking in, 19, 196
Christ, 104
Christian Customs, 106
Christian Necropolis (see Necropolis)
Christian Period, 21, 87, 103-106
Chronology, Ancient, 88
Clay Hummocks, 111, 113
Clay Plains, 76, 81, 133
Cleaning out Aqueducts, 171, 172
Cleaning out Wells (see Repairing)
Climate, 52, 53, 67, 107, 108, 120, 171, 172, 220
Closing of Wells, 135, 148
Cnoeus Virgilius Capito, 95
Cobalt, 222
Coffin Masks, 102
Collecting Pits, 126, 127
Colonization by Romans, 167, 170
Coloquintida, 14
Coloured Designs on Tombs, 104
Colours of Dates, 216
Columbaria, 106, 116
Composition of Waters, 6, 72, 130, 131, 137
Concretions, 30, 35
Confining Strata (see Impervious)
Constantius, 105
Contest between Man and Sand, 199, 200, 206, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211
Contraband Trade, 76
Contrast of Desert and Cultivated Lands, 1, 18
Coots, 230
Coptic Church, 103
Coptic Period, 7, 103
Corn-Mill, 69, 119
Corporation of Western Egypt, Ltd., 38, 39, 65, 113, 208
Cost of Dates, 215
Cost of Drilling Wells, 196, 197
Cotton, 14, 220
Craig, J. I., 159
Crescentic Dunes (see Barchans)
Cretaceous System, 22, 48, 55, 112, 124, 166
Crops, 14, 62, 130, 212-220
Cross-Country Travelling, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44
Crystalline Rocks, 49, 124, 161, 164
Cubit (Unit of length), 107
Cultivated Lands, 10, 46, 61-85, 212-220
Cultivated Lands, Formation of, 78-83, 122, 210
Cultivation of Date-Palm, 216-218
Cultivation of Rice, 212-215
Cyrene, 21, 97
Cyril of Alexandria, 106
Daila, El, 4
Dakhakhin, 76, 77, 80, 210, 214
Dakhla Oasis, 3, 4, 16, 17, 23, 25, 27, 36, 51, 89, 90, 136, 189,
195, 229, 232
Danian Formation, 48, 166
Darcy, H., 154
Darfur, 2, 33, 34, 125, 159
Darius, 7, 92
Date-Brandy, 218
Date-Crop, 62, 215
Date-Palms, 216-218
Decline of Well-Flows, 79, 135, 140, 148, 188
Deepest Borings in Oasis, 132, 157
Deflation, 52
Denudation, 35, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 83, 111, 126, 199, 206
Deposits, Table of Geological, 48
Depressions, Formation of, 5, 47, 50, 52, 53, 54
Depth of Wells, 8, 107, 129, 132
Dêr el Ghennîma, 16, 100, 101, 128, 129, 147, 169
Derb el Arbaîn, 13, 16, 33, 34
Derb el Ghubbâri, 36
Derb el Refûf, 26, 28, 30, 31, 39
Derb el Tawîl, 16, 17, 37
Derut, 43
Dervish Raids, 82
Descent of Passes, 27, 36
Desert Roads, Nature of, 39
Desert Types, 31, 35, 42
Development of Artesian Basins (see Exploitation)
Development of Strata, Unequal, 50, 51, 55
Dials, 107
Dilail el Kelb, 32
Dimensions of Oasis, 45
Diminution of Flows of Wells (see Decline)
Dip of Strata, 55, 56, 161, 166
Discharges of Wells, 57, 63, 81, 127, 129, 134, 135, 136, 139, 149,
150, 160, 186
Discharge of Um el Dabâdib tunnel, 172
Disintegration (see Denudation)
Disposition of Ancient Monuments, 117
Divers, 193, 194, 195
Domesticated Animals, 118
Dongola, 13, 16
Donkeys, 68
Dorcas Gazelle, 174, 225-227
Doum-Palms, 68, 73, 74, 77, 82, 84, 187, 190, 218, 219
Dovecots, 107
Doves, 231
Drilling (see Boring)
Driving Well-Casing, 189, 196
Dronka, 28
Drovetti, Chevalier, 16, 234
Drugs, 14
Dubîya, El, 32
Duck (see Wild-Fowl)
Dunes (see Sand-Dunes)
Dungun, 33
Durability of Wooden Casing, 187
Durra Millet, 213, 215
Dush, 16, 26, 33, 84, 85, 97, 106, 115
Dust-Winds, 13, 49, 52, 67, 70, 79, 81, 82, 84, 198-211
Early History, 6, 12-24, 87
Earth-Movements (see Folding)
Earthy Minerals (see Minerals)
Economical Aspects, 212-223
Edfu, 22, 28, 33, 93
Edmonstone, Sir A., 17, 100, 234
Effect of closing Wells, 148, 149
Effect of Salty Waters on Crops, 130
Egyptian Government, 9, 20, 59, 62, 63, 64, 82, 137, 159, 188, 220
Egyptian Kings, 87, 88
El Baglûli, 32
El Baguat, 103
El Botîkh, 30
El Buraig, 31
El Daila, 4
El Dêr (see Dêr el Ghennîma)
El Dubîya, 32
El Elwania, 30, 32
El Ghart, 31
El Ghennaim, 28
El Ghuâta (see Qasr el Ghuâta)
El Ghubbâri, 36
El Hais, 38
El Hamera, 32
El Ishab, 32
El Mafâriq, 32
El Masaad, 30
El Mishâbit, 30
El Mograbi, 30
El Nakhail, 33, 85
El Qara, 38
El Qusîya, 32, 43
El Ramlia, 15, 26, 28
El Refûf, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31
El Sherîf el Edrissi, 108
El Shugera, 28, 29, 39, 42
El Suâga, 31
El Tundaba, 29, 31, 39
El Yabsa, 26, 28
El Zizagat, 31
Elevation of Well-Outlets, 78, 79
Embalming, 104, 105
Emigration, 193
Encroachment of Dunes (see Sand-Dunes)
Eocene System, 22, 35, 48, 50, 54, 55, 112, 201
Epsom Salts (Epsomite), 125, 222
Erosion (see Denudation)
Errors in Measurement of Well-Discharges, 65, 66
Eruptive Rocks (see Crystalline Rocks)
Escarpments of Oasis, 26, 45, 51
Esna, 16, 27, 28, 33, 34, 121
Esna Shales, 48, 51
Ethiopia (see Abyssinia)
Euergetes, 93
Evaporation, 71, 164
Excavation of Ancient Sites, 86
Excavation of Conduits, 169
Exile to Oasis (see Banishment)
Exogyra Beds, 48, 51, 54, 166
Expedition against Oases (see Cambyses)
Experiments on Wells, 127, 136, 144-149, 151, 155
Exploitation of Artesian Basins, 135, 140, 142, 143, 150
Exploration of Underground Aqueducts, 173-175, 179-184
Extinct Lakes, 110-122
Ezula, 14
Fâlig Dates, 216
Fallow Lands, 10
Famous Wells, 71
Farafra Oasis, 3, 4, 17, 23, 38, 43, 44, 54, 90, 91
Farshut, 16, 28, 30, 32, 33, 38, 58
Faults, 55, 56, 116
Fayûm, 5
Fellahin, 43, 66
Fennecs, 232, 233
Ferruginous Sandstone, 36, 130, 222
Ferruginous Waters (see Ochreous Waters)
Fertilizers, 79, 210, 214
Fevers, 10, 19, 42, 108, 219
Fezzan, 2
Fissures, 8, 116, 127, 131, 134, 148, 149, 150, 153, 162, 166, 175,
180
Flexures (see Folding)
Flint Implements, 6, 7, 29, 87, 119
Flooding by Wells, 120, 121
Flowing Wells, 124, 139-153, 186
Flowing Wells from Surface-water Sandstone, 127-130
Flowing Wells of Arid Regions, 161
Flowing Wells, Relation to Ground-Level, 128
Flow of Water through Coarse and Fine Sands, 155
Flow of Water through Sandstone, 127, 149, 150, 153, 154, 155, 162,
163
Fodder, Green, 212
Folding, 22, 51, 53-57, 129, 147
Food-Supplies, 62
Formation of Depressions (see Depressions)
Formation of Terraces, 78, 79, 81
Former Prosperity of Oasis, 10, 94, 107, 108, 109
Fortified Monasteries (see Monasteries)
Forts, 26, 30, 94, 100, 101, 156, 167, 168, 172
Fossils, 30, 52, 57, 107, 113, 116, 118, 132
Foxes, 232
French Engineers, 188
French Government, 16
Fresh-Water Shells, 53, 116, 118
Fruit of Date- and Doum-Palms, 62, 73, 216-219
Fruit-Trees, 78, 172, 220
Gala, 57
Galba, Emperor, 95
Garat el Melh, 31
Garat Radwan, 31
Gardens, 19, 67, 69, 84, 172
Garrisons, 14, 82, 94, 108
Garsed, W., 130, 137, 202
Gases in Artesian Waters, 72, 77, 137, 155
Gauges used in Measurement of Wells, 64
Gazelle, 174, 225-227
Gennâh, 46, 71, 72, 114, 138, 201, 209, 210, 215, 218, 227, 231
Geographers, Arabian, 108
Geological Sequence, 47
Geological Society of London, 23
Geological Survey of Egypt, 23
Geology, 20, 45-60, 125-134, 221, 223
Gerbils, 233
German Expedition, 20
Gertuma, 56
Geysers, 81
Gharaq, 5
Ghart, El, 31
Ghattasin (see Divers)
Ghennaim El, 28
Ghennîma (see Dêr and Jebel el Ghennîma)
Ghuâta (see Qasr el Ghuâta)
Ghubbâri, Derb el, 36
Gingerbread Tree (see Doum-Palms)
Girga, 27, 30, 32
Girm Meshîm, 57, 75, 76, 114, 115
Gorn el Gennâh, 18, 46, 56, 60, 71, 106, 116, 117, 210, 221
Gorringe, L., 23, 27
Government Survey (see Egyptian Government)
Græco-Roman Period, 93, 118
Grazing Lands, 219
Greek Inscriptions, 97, 99, 104
Gregory, J. W., 161
Grey Shales (see Impermeable Grey Shales)
Grinding-Stones, 119
Guest, A. R., 236
Guhêna, 29
Gyb (see Qasr Gyb)
Hadrian, Emperor, 98
Hagar Hawara, 32
Hagi Ali, 13
Hais, Ain el, 38
Hamera, El, 32
Hamlets (see Settlements)
Hamrâwi Dates, 216
Hamûr, Ain, 173
Hand-boring Rigs, 191, 192, 193, 196
Hardness of Rocks, 50, 54
Harvesting, 215, 217, 227
Hassan Effendi, 189
Hazen, A., 154
Headquarters of Corporation of Western Egypt, Ltd., 39, 59, 113,
115, 126, 127, 128, 130, 133, 138, 142, 202, 203, 208, 214, 219,
220, 225, 233
Hedges, 67
Hegîra, 108
Height of Ancient Lakes, 112, 115, 116, 117
Lacustrine Deposits, 115, 116
Helaoue, 13, 14
Herbs, 14, 15
Herodotus, 19, 88, 89, 90, 107
Hesperides, Gardens of the, 19
Hibis, Temple of, 7, 22, 59, 92, 93, 94, 98, 101, 103
High-Level Springs, 165
Hills, and Hill-Massifs, 46
Hindaw, 195
Historic Period, 7, 86-109, 119
Holding Capacity of Water Strata, 151, 152
Hollow Walls, 98
Honorius, 106
Horizontality of Strata, 54
Horus, 22
Hoskins, G. A., 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 86, 91, 95, 97, 99, 100, 104,
105, 109, 235
Hot Springs (see Temperature)
Hume, W. F., 54, 236
Hummocks, Clay, 111, 112
Hyæna, Striped, 37
Hydraulic and Hydrostatic Pressure (see Pressure)
Igneous Rocks (see Crystalline Rocks)
Impermeable Grey Shales, 48, 49, 126, 131, 133, 164
Impervious Strata, 121, 124, 126, 134, 166
Implements (see Flint Implements)
Implements for Repairing Wells, 193-194
Implements used by Early Well-borers, 186
Inclination of Strata (see Dip)
Infiltration into Sandstones, 6
Influence of Wells, 72, 135, 144-148, 162
Inhabitants of Kharga, 67, 68
Inscriptions, 12, 19, 22, 93-99, 104
Interference of Wells (see Influence)
Intermittent Flow of Wells, 77, 81, 155
Iron Pyrites (see Pyrites)
Irresistibility of Sand, 205, 211
Irrigation, 127, 135, 168, 212, 213
Irrigating Channels, 69, 71, 75, 77, 120, 168, 169, 227
Irrigation Methods, 9-11, 107, 212-213
Ishab, El, 32
Isis and Serapis, 97
Islands of the Blessed, 19, 88, 107
Ismail Abulfida, 109
Isopotential Lines, 142
Jackals, 232
Jacob, 105
Jacutus, 109
Jaja, 16, 26, 32, 33, 76, 77
Jebel Abu Bayan, 45
Jebel Ghennîma, 26, 30, 46, 100, 111, 133
Jebel Lebekha (see Qasr Lebekha)
Jebel Tarif, 36, 46, 55, 56, 60, 102, 126, 171, 200, 205, 222, 231
Jebel Tarwan, 56, 114, 223
Jebel Têr, 46, 55, 56, 60, 66, 70, 102, 103, 114, 126, 171, 201,
206, 223, 231
Jebel Um el Ghennaim, 26, 46
Jellab, Nagab el, 30
Jerboas, 233
Johnson Pasha, 220
Jordan, W., 20, 58, 235
Joseph, 105
Julius Demetrius, 95
Junction of Artesian-Water Sandstone with Overlying Shales, 133
Jupiter Ammon, 88, 89, 90, 91
Juvenal, 94
Kareez (see Aqueducts)
Karnak, 28, 30, 32
Kawâmil, 27, 28, 29
Kenem, 93
Kharafish Type of Desert, 35
Kharga Village, 21, 25, 46, 58, 66-70, 215, 228
Khartum, 159
Khenâfish, Ain, 36, 106
Kilns, Brick and Pottery, 102
King, F. H., 154
Kneph, 100
Knibbs, G. H., 143, 154, 162, 163
Koptos, 22
Kordofan, 2, 159
Kufra Oasis, 3, 4
Kurkur Oasis, 33, 109
Kysis, 97
Lacustrine Deposits, 48, 49, 52, 110-122
Lagmi, A Date-Palm Liquor, 218
Lakes, Ancient, 110-122
Land Reclamation, 10, 172, 214, 219, 220
Lebekha (see Qasr Lebekha)
Lefèvre, M., 188
Length of Underground Aqueducts, Total, 179
Letronne, M., 95
Level of Sub-surface Water, 126, 127
Level of Ain Amûr, Beris Spring, and Nakhail, 165, 166
Levels (see Altitudes)
Libyan Desert, Limits, Area, etc., 1-5
Libyan Formation (see Eocene)
Libyan Races, 66
Lignite, 132
Limits of Ancient Lakes, 112, 114
Limits of Oasis, 85
Local Pressure, 129, 130, 163, 164
Longitudinal Flexure, 55, 116
Loss of Cambyses’ Army, 88-92
Lucas, A., 137, 236
Lucerne, 212, 219
Lyons, H. G., 22, 160, 235, 236
Lythgoe, A. M., 86
Machinery for Boring, 8, 9, 188, 191-193, 196, 197
Mafâriq, El, 32
Magmatic Waters, 161
Magnesia, Sulphate of, 125, 221
Maks, 15, 82, 83, 84, 115, 211
Manfalut, 13, 38, 43
Man-Holes, or Air-shafts, of Underground Tunnels, 9, 173-185
Manufacture of Casing, 187, 190
Manufactures, 68, 107, 218
Manures (see Fertilizers)
Maps (see Surveying)
Marcus Ruffinus Lupus, 97
Marine Deposits, 50
Masaâd, El, 30
Masks, Coffin, 102
Mats, 68, 74
Maximus, 96
Measurement of Wells, 63-65
Mediterranean Sea, 201
Meheriq, 28, 39, 70, 101, 106, 114, 115, 142, 171, 208, 226, 233
Melh, Garat el, 31
Mellawi, 91
Memphis, 90
Menes, 87
Meteoric Waters, 161, 163
Methods of Sinking Wells (see Boring)
Middle Ages, 93
Migration of Villagers, 70
Milne, D., 220
Minerals, 125, 157, 220-223
Mines, Ancient, 222, 223
Miocene System, 4
Mishâbit, El, 30
Mogara, 4
Mograbi, El, 30
Mohammed Abu Salem, 228
Mohammedan Conquest, 7, 9, 103, 108
Mohammed Said, 220
Mohariq (see Abu Mohariq)
Monasteries, 100, 101, 105, 167, 168
Monoclinal Fold, 56
Monuments, Earliest, 7
Mosquitoes, 10
Mouaslet el Kharga, 38, 39
Movement of Dune-Sand, 199, 203, 204
Mud-Volcanoes, 81
Mummies and Mummy-Cases, 102, 104
Murr, Bir, 43
Mut, 100
Nadûra, 22, 56, 93, 98
Nagab Bulaq, 26, 33
Nagab el Jellab, 30
Nakhail, El, 33, 85, 166
Natural History, 224-233
Nature of Desert Roads, 39-44
Necropolis, Christian, 21, 87, 103-105, 116
Nektanebos, 92
Neolithic Implements, 7, 29, 119
Nestorius, Bishop, 94, 106
Nile Delta, 213
Nile River, 6, 158, 159, 160, 164
Nitrogen (see Gases)
Noah, 104
Notables of Oasis captured by Dervishes, 82
Nubia, 6, 66, 124
Nubian Sandstone, 48, 51, 92, 124, 151, 152, 159, 201
Nummulitic Limestones, 54
Oasis, Derivation of Term, 3, 21
Observations on Wells (see Experiments)
Ochreous Waters, 72, 130, 137
Ochre (Oxide of Iron), 72, 73, 125, 138, 221
Olympiodorus, 107, 186
Omda of Kharga, 63, 64, 65, 66, 68, 171
Origin of Lakes, 120-122
Origin of Oases-Depressions (see Depressions)
Origin of Underground Waters, 6, 125, 154-166
Osiris, 22
Otu, 21, 22
Outcrop of Water-bearing Beds, 124, 164
Output of Wells (see Discharges)
Ownership of Wells, 10, 11, 47
Paganism, 105
Palæolithic Implements, 6, 119
Palm Leaves and Fibre, 68
Palm Trees, 63, 66, 67, 74, 77, 81, 84
Panopolis, 106
Parthey, 90
Passage Beds (see Esna Shales)
Passes, 26, 27, 36
Past Accumulations of Water, 160
Patterson, R. S., 65, 158
Paul, 104
Peasantry of Oasis, 66, 213, 230
Pelusium, 88
Percolation from Nile into Nubian Sandstone, 160
Persian Period, 7, 22, 86-93, 167
Persian Water-Wheels (see Saqia)
Phosphatic Deposits, 48, 223
Physiognomic Types, 66
Pick-Marks, Ancient, 181
Pierpont Morgan, 87
Pigeons, 106, 107, 231
Plants, Fossil (see Fossils)
Plateau, Limestone, 48, 54
Pleistocene Deposits, 48, 53, 118, 120
Plinius Capito, 99
Plover, 231
Plutonic Rocks (see Crystalline Rocks)
Plutonic Waters, 161
Poncet, M., 13, 14, 15, 109, 234
Population, 61, 66, 67
Porosity of Nubian Sandstone, 151, 152
Porosity of Strata, 124, 132, 149, 150, 151, 155
Pottery, 29, 31, 102, 113, 118, 119, 120
Prehistoric Period, 6, 8, 29, 87, 112, 113, 120
Pressure of Gases, 77, 155
Pressure of Water, 77, 121, 130, 134, 136, 140, 141, 142, 149, 150,
155, 162, 163, 164
Primitive Character of Kharga Village, 68
Proclamations inscribed on Monuments, 95
Prosperity, Former, 10, 94, 107, 108, 109
Protection of Conduits, 169
Protection of Cultivated Lands, 69, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209
Psammetikh, 88
Ptolemaic Remains, 7, 93, 99, 118
Pumping, 123, 127, 128, 157
Purple Shales, 48, 126, 128
Pyrites, 137, 223
Qara, El, 38
Qasr Ain Mustapha Kashef, 101
Qasr Dakhl, 4, 38
Qasr Dush, 85, 97
Qasr el Ghuâta, 73, 93
Qasr Farafra, 44
Qasr Gyb, 131, 170, 226
Qasr Lebekha, 8, 100, 101, 126, 131, 170, 200, 206, 222
Qasr Zaiyan, 59, 60, 73, 98, 99, 117
Qirat, Value of the, 64, 65, 138
Quail, 230
Queensland, Artesian Wells of, 140
Quicksands, 134
Qusîya, El, 43
Radwan, Garat, 31
Railway, 10, 25, 29, 31, 38, 58, 68, 74
Rainfall, 2, 29, 40, 62, 104, 107, 161, 166, 216
Raising of Outlets of Wells (see Elevation)
Raising of Water from Wells, 170
Ramlia, El, 15, 26, 28
Rate of Boring, 192, 197
Rate of Travelling of Caravans, 44
Rate of Underground Flow (see Flow of Water)
Ratio of Calm to Windy Days, 198
Rawlinson, Canon, 88
Recent Deposits, 48
Recharging of Depleted Water-bearing Strata, 150
Reclamation (see Land Reclamation)
Reduction of Pressure, 140
Refûf, El, 26, 28, 30, 31, 39
Regulating Appliances for Wells, 9, 65, 193
Relation of Population and Water-Supply, 61, 62, 63, 193
Religion and Customs, 96, 103, 104, 105, 106
Repairing Wells, 78, 82, 83, 187, 193-196
Resistance of Strata to Flow of Water, 149, 150
Retaining Banks, 78, 80, 82, 83
Revenue, 66, 94
Reversion to Desert, 7, 70, 71, 83, 84, 208, 210, 211
Rice, 62, 66, 212-214, 227, 230
Rice in Land-Reclamation, 2, 213-215
Rigs for Boring (see Machinery)
Rizagat, 18, 28, 32
Roads, 4, 13, 25-44
Rock-Pressure, 163
Rod el Ghanam, 32
Rohlfs Expedition, 4, 20
Rohlfs, G., 20, 21, 89, 93, 100, 235
Roman Occupation, 7, 8, 9, 22, 31, 68, 93-109, 118, 157, 167, 170,
187, 226
Rotation of Crops, 10
Sala Abdulla, 173
Salt-pans, 75
Samhûd (see Wadi Samhûd)
Samples of Strata from Bores, 151, 152
Sand and Sand-Dunes:
Composition, 201, 202
Cross-Section of Dunes, 205
Damage to Cultivation, 69, 200, 207
Disposition, 200
Encroachment, 4, 70, 71, 83, 84, 206, 207, 208, 209
Erosion, 35, 52, 83, 111, 199, 206
Form, 202, 203, 204, 205
Formation of Terraces, 78, 210, 215
Held by Moisture and Vegetation, 208
Movement, Rate and Direction of, 92, 203, 207, 208, 211
Relation to Hills, etc., 199, 200, 205, 206
Sandstorms, 13, 89, 91, 208, 217
Sheltered Areas, 206
Storm-Walls and Fences, 207, 209
Origin, 201
Velocity of Wind, 199
Sanded-up Wells, 76, 85, 119, 150, 156, 157, 158, 171, 181
Saqias, 128
Saturated Sandstones, 121, 133, 148, 152
Sayce, A. H., 7, 87, 94, 98, 108, 236
Schweinfurth, G., 21, 22, 86, 94, 101, 235
Sea-Level, Relation of Floor and Plateau to, 59, 60
Sedimentary Rocks, 49, 54
Seepage 71, 159
Selection of Sites for Forts, 168
Selîma, 13, 15, 33
Senna, 14
Sensitiveness of Wells (see Influence)
Senussi Arabs, 4
Septimus Macro, 99
Serapis, Isis and, 97
Serir Type of Desert-Surface, 35
Set-ament, 22
Seth, 22
Settlements, Outlying, 69, 70, 84
Shebb, 13, 15
Sheikh Hassan Hanadi, 171, 173
Sheikh Khalid Ibn el Walîd, 74
Sheikh Mustapha (see Omda of Kharga)
Sheikhs’ Tombs, 70, 74, 84
Shells (see Fossils)
Sherîf el Edrissi, El, 108
Shugera, El, 28, 29, 39, 42
Sighawâl (see Abu Sighawâl)
Silt Deposits, 29
Silting of Wells, 9, 75
Similarity of Ancient and Modern Methods of Boring, 187, 190
Simultaneous Elevation and Denudation of Strata, 54
Siwa Oasis, 3, 4, 17, 89, 90, 91
Slaves, 33, 34
Slichter, C. S., 154
Slope of Underground Aqueducts, 178
Sohag, 27, 28, 30, 31, 39, 42
Soils, 52, 72, 214, 215, 220
Southernmost Wells of Oasis, 85
South-West Desert of Egypt, 54
Springs, 7, 8, 47, 52, 112, 116, 121, 122, 126, 165, 166
Spring Deposits, 48
St. Martin, V. de, 39, 90
Stagnation of Water in Strata, 131
Static Head, 128, 140, 141, 142, 153, 166
Steam-boring Rigs, 196, 197
Steel Casing, 189, 196
Steindorff, G., 88
Storage Reservoirs, 124, 152, 153
Strabo, 108
Streets of Kharga Village, 67
Suâga, El, 31
Sub-artesian Water, 8, 125, 161
Subsidence (see Folding)
Subterranean Water-Supply, 123-185
Subterranean Works (see Aqueducts)
Sudan, 2, 6, 33, 82, 124, 159
Sudd Region, 6, 159
Sugar-cane, 220
Sunt (see Acacias)
Surface Water, 8, 47, 76, 85, 113, 133, 189
Surface-Water Sandstone, 47, 121, 125-131, 151, 162
Surveying, 17, 20, 23, 42, 43, 58-60, 72, 176
Swamps, 4, 9, 125, 159, 164, 227
Syene, 94
Synclinal Folds, 56
Tables:
Altitudes, 59
Dunes, 204
Geological Deposits, 48
Interference of Wells, 145
Population, 62
Water Analyses, 138
Tamar Dates, 216
Tamarisks, 77, 85, 209, 225
Tahta, 28, 29
Tapping the Nile, 158
Tarif (see Jebel Tarif)
Tarwan (see Jebel Tarwan)
Tau Symbol, 104
Tawîl, Ain el, 59, 60, 70, 227
Derb el, 16, 17, 37
Taxes, 62, 63, 65
Tchonemyris, 99
Temperature, Changes of, 52
Effect on Rate of Flow of Water, 155
of Artesian Waters, 77, 109, 136, 149
of Sub-Surface Waters, 181
Temples (see Hibis, Jupiter Ammon, Qasr el Ghuâta, Qasr Dush, Qasr
Zaiyan)
Tenîda, 36, 37
Têr (see Jebel Têr)
Termination of Um el Dabâdib Aqueduct, 183
Terraces formed by Wind-borne Material, 78, 79, 80, 81, 83, 210
Thebes, 18, 88, 89, 90, 91, 105
Theodosius, 107
Thickness of Artesian-Water Sand-stones, 152
Tiberius Julius Alexander, 95
Tibesti, 2, 159
Timasius, 106
Timbering Wells, 189, 190
Topography, 45-60
Total Thickness of Strata, 48, 49, 164
Total Yield of Wells, 62, 63, 139
Trading, 62, 68, 74, 76
Traditions, Local, 158, 173
Trajan, Emperor, 97
Transportation, Agents of, 52
Travelling in the Libyan Desert, 41, 42
Trenches, 168, 169
Tripoli, 2
Tristram, H. B., 216
Tufa (see Calcareous Tufa)
Tundaba, El, 29, 31, 39
Types of Desert, 31, 35, 42
Um el Dabâdib, 8, 60, 70, 100, 101, 126, 131, 170-185, 200, 205,
206, 225
Um el Ghennaim, 26
Uncemented Sandstones, 134
Underground Exploration, 174, 175
Underground Water-Supply, 123-185
United States, 143, 196
Value of Dates, 215
Value of the Qirat, 64, 65, 138
Variation in Character of Deposits of Libyan Desert, 50, 51, 55
Variation in Discharges of Wells, 57
Variation in Level of Water-bearing Strata, 129, 141
Variation in Porosity of Sandstone, 151
Variation in Static Head, 141
Varieties of Dates, 216
Vegetation, Wild, 15, 37, 40, 76, 84, 85, 165, 166, 208, 209, 225,
233
Velocity of Desert Winds, 199
Velocity of Underground Flow (see Flow)
Ventilation of Aqueducts, 177, 181
Vespasian, Emperor, 96
Villages overwhelmed by Sand, 70
Vuta, G., 23
Wadi el Molûk, 220, 221
Wadi Halfa, 159
Wadi Samhûd, 16, 32, 38
Wah, 21
Waled Hallaf, 27, 30, 32, 34
Walls of Kharga village, 67
Waste of Water, 9
Watch-Tower, 102
Water-bearing Beds below Plateau, 123, 124, 153
Water-bearing Beds disturbed by
Faults, etc., 56
Sandstones, 6, 49, 123-185
Waterfalls at Dakhakhin, 78
Watering Camels, 27, 28
Water Stations, 9, 31
Water stored under Oasis-Depression, Amount of, 152, 153
Water used in raising Rice, Amount of, 213
Weathering (see Denudation)
Weba Measure, 215
Wheat, 62, 212, 214
White Chalk, 48, 54, 55
Whiting, B. F., 197
Wild-Fowl, 227-230
Wilkinson, I. G., 99, 100, 235
Willcocks, Sir William, 213
Wind, 13, 35, 49, 52, 78, 79, 84, 106, 111, 172, 198-211, 217
Wind-formed Deposits, 78, 79, 122
Wine, 94, 108, 220
Winlock, 87
Wooden Lining of Wells (see Casing)
Xaverius de Brevedent, 13
Yabsa, El, 26, 28
Yield of Date-Trees, 217
Yield of Wells (see Discharges)
Young, 95
Zambiles (see Baskets)
Zarâbi, 28
Zittel, K. von, 20, 235
Zizagat, El, 31
Zoology of Egypt, 233
Zosimus, 106
THE END
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1: This legend is stated by Rohlfs, on Brugsch’s
authority, to be recorded on the temple of Horus at Edfu.]
[Footnote 2: Reference to the plan showing the different roads and
passes out of the oasis-depression will facilitate the perusal of
the following pages.]
[Footnote 3: Since writing the above, I have read with much interest
a paper on the South-West Desert of Egypt, in which my friend and
former colleague, Dr. W. F. Hume, in a discussion of the formation
of the oases-depressions, refers to the importance of soft and hard
strata, and to the action of folding in exposing the former to the
agents of denudation. This is striking confirmation of the views
promulgated by me since my first acquaintance with the oases many
years ago. Of great interest and value, being new, is the suggestion
that the topography of the southern oases and surrounding desert
may be, to a considerable extent, due to denudation acting on the
country as it was in process of being elevated from the sea in
which the deposits forming it had been laid down.]
[Footnote 4: The dates given in this chapter are those assigned by
Professor Steindorff.]
[Footnote 5: Canon Rawlinson’s translation.]
[Footnote 6: That even occasional rains can effect a considerable
amount of erosion of soft materials is shown by the present state
of these domes, from which a skin of some thickness has been washed
away, leaving the surfaces bristling with the sharp fragments of
rock which were included in the original mixture of sand and clay
from which the bricks were manufactured.]
[Footnote 7: The royal cubit was the chief unit of length, and
measured 20·6 inches; 300 and 500 cubits would therefore be
equivalent to 515 and 858 feet respectively.]
[Footnote 8: The Headquarters of the Corporation of Western Egypt,
Limited (see map).]
[Footnote 9: I should like to record my indebtedness to Mr. Garsed,
who, while in the oasis, undertook, at my request, a considerable
amount of special analytical work, in addition to his regular
duties.]
[Footnote 10: ‘The Nile Flood and Rains of the Nile Basin,
1906,’ Survey Department, Cairo, 1907; ‘Some Geographical
Aspects of the Nile,’ the _Geographical Journal_, November, 1908,
vol. xxxii., No. 5.]
[Footnote 11: ‘The Dead Heart of Australia’; John Murray,
London, 1906.]
[Footnote 12: ‘The Hydraulic Aspect of the Artesian Problem,’
Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, vol. xxxvii.,
p. 30.]
[Footnote 13: ‘Egyptian Irrigation,’ second edition, E. and
F. N. Spon, Limited, London, 1899.]
[Footnote 14: ‘The Great Sahara,’ by H. B. Tristram; John
Murray, London, 1860. See also ‘Tropical Agriculture,’ by
P. L. Simmonds.]
Transcriber's note:
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