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Title: Baharia Oasis : Its topography and geology
Author: Ball, John, Beadnell, Hugh J. L.
Language: English
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SURVEY DEPARTMENT, PUBLIC WORKS MINISTRY
=EGYPT.=
* * * * *
=BAHARIA OASIS:=
=ITS TOPOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY=
BY
JOHN BALL, PH. D., A.R.S.M., ASSOC. M. INST. C.E.
AND
HUGH J. L. BEADNELL, F.G.S., F.R.G.S.
[Decoration]
CAIRO
NATIONAL PRINTING DEPARTMENT
1903
CONTENTS.
* * * * *
Pages.
PREFACE 5
CHAPTER I. — INTRODUCTION 7
„ II. — SURVEYING METHODS AND GENERAL RESULTS 11
„ III. — THE ROADS CONNECTING THE OASIS OF BAHARIA WITH
THE NILE VALLEY AND WITH OTHER OASES 17
„ IV. — TOPOGRAPHY, WITH NOTES ON THE WATER-SUPPLY,
INHABITANTS, ETC. 37
„ V. — GEOLOGY 47
„ VI. — ANTIQUITIES 73
PLATES.
PLATE I. — Map of the Oasis geologically coloured at end
„ II. — Sketch Map showing Position of the Oasis „
„ III. — Villages and Principal Sources of Water „
„ IV. — Section through Western Escarpment, 11
kilometres north of south end of Depression „
„ V. — Diagrammatic Section from hill 15 kilometres
north-east of Ain el Haiss to the
Eocene-Cretaceous junction on desert to west „
„ VI. — Section from Mandisha through Jebel Mayesra
and Conical Hill to Western Plateau „
„ VII. — Map of the Synclinal fold from Jebel Hefhuf to
its termination in the Western Plateau, 13
kilometres north-west of Ain el Haiss „
„ VIII. — Sketch sections of Eastern Scarp „
ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT.
FIG. 1. — Section across Syncline, 12½ kilometres
north-west of Ain el Haiss 66
„ 2. — Sketch shewing probable relations of Eocene
and Cretaceous in Anticline on Western Desert
Plateau, 11½ kilometres north-west of El Qasr 69
* * * * *
PREFACE
* * * * *
The geological examination of the Oases of the Libyan Desert was
commenced in 1897, when two parties were sent out to Baharia Oasis, one
under the charge of Dr. Ball, who, with Mr. G. Vuta as topographer,
started from Minia and explored the eastern half of the area, while Mr.
Beadnell with Mr. L. Gorringe as his topographer started from Maghagha
and examined the western side of the oasis. The expeditions commenced
work in October, and mapping on the scale of ¹⁄₅₀₀₀₀ the whole area
was surveyed before the end of the year. The return traverses were
made to Minia by the first party via Farafra to Assiut by the second.
The following chapters and maps set forth the results of this joint
exploration, certain gaps being filled from the data of Ascherson.
* * * * *
BAHARIA OASIS
* * * * *
CHAPTER I.
* * * * *
INTRODUCTION.
The Oasis of Baharia (or Northern Oasis), also known as the Little
Oasis, lies between the parallels 27° 48′ and 28° 30′ of north
latitude, and between the meridians 28° 35′ and 29° 10′ east
of Greenwich, being thus situated in the Libyan Desert about 180
kilometres, or four to five days’ march by camel, west of the Nile
Valley (Sketchmap, Plate II). Like the other oases of the Western
Desert (Farafra, Dakhla and Kharga) to the south, Baharia is a large
natural excavation in the great Libyan plateau; it differs, however,
from those oases, which are open on one or more sides, in being
entirely surrounded by escarpments, and the vast number of isolated
hills within the depression form an unique topographical feature. In
Baharia, as, with the exception of Dakhla, in the oases generally,
the cultivated area bears only a very small proportion to the total
oasis-area, the remainder of the floor of the natural excavation
being barren desert. The oasis contains four principal villages,
all situated in its northern portion, and it is in the neighbourhood
of these that water, and consequently vegetation, is most abundant.
The early history of Baharia is shrouded in an obscurity greater even
than that surrounding the history of Kharga. That it was inhabited
at a very early date is shown however by a stela of the reign
of Thothmes II (about B.C. 1600-1500) found there by Ascherson,
by a tomb of the 19th dynasty (B.C. 1300) and fragments of two
temples, one dating from the reign of King Apries (B.C. 588-570)
and the other from the reign of Amasis (B.C. 569-526), discovered
by Steindorff in 1900, and by the references to it in the Ptolemaic
inscriptions of the temple of Edfu. The oasis of Baharia is referred
to in the hieroglyphic inscriptions of its newly-discovered temples as
“the northern oasis of Amenhotep,” and as “the oasis Huye”;
by Strabo it is called δεύτερα “_the second_” and by
Ptolemy ὄασις μικρὰ “_the small oasis_.” The Romans
have left traces of their occupation of Baharia in an arch near the
village of El Qasr[1] and other ruins, as well as in numerous wells
and underground aqueducts, which latter are still used by the present
inhabitants. Fragmentary ruins of churches and a Coptic village attest
the fact of the occupation of the place during Christian times. At
present Baharia, along with the neighbouring oasis of Farafra to
the south, is administered as part of the Mudiria of Minia, and is
fairly prosperous, though lacking in enterprise to an even greater
extent than is shown by the two southern oases of Dakhla and Kharga.
The first European traveller to reach the oasis of Baharia appears
to have been _Belzoni_,[2] who reached it from Beni Suef on May 26th,
1819, and after spending some eleven days there returned by the same
route. Though his observations appear to have been correctly made,
the description of his travels is largely coloured by imagination,
and his map appears only to have been a rough sketch. He erroneously
confused Baharia with the oasis of Jupiter Ammon, whose temple he
imagined he had found in the remains of the Roman arch near El Qasr,
the chief village of the oasis. It is hardly necessary to remark
that the oasis of Jupiter Ammon is really that now known as Siwa,
situated some 340 kilometres west-north-west of Baharia.
The earliest connected modern account of the oasis of any value
is that of _Cailliaud_,[3] who with Letorzec visited the place in
1820 on his way from Siwa to Farafra, and during a stay of about
six weeks examined and mapped some of its principal features. He
drew attention to its antiquities and gave a careful description of
the hot springs and ancient aqueducts, besides taking a number of
observations of latitude and noting some of the topographical and
geological features, such as the occurrence of volcanic rocks in
the oasis. Cailliaud records his meeting in Baharia with Hyde, an
English traveller, who, however, does not appear to have published
any account of his wanderings.
In the winter of 1823-1824 Baharia was visited by _Pacho_ in company
with F. Muller. In an account of Pacho’s travels[4] published
after his unhappy death, there is no reference to his observations
in this oasis beyond an indication of his route on the map.
_Wilkinson_[5] visited the oasis of Baharia in 1825.
The Rohlfs’ expedition of 1874,[6] with the distinguished scientists
K. von Zittel and W. Jordan as geologist and topographer respectively,
added very considerably to our knowledge of Baharia, more especially
in the way of fixing precisely the geographical positions and levels
of its principal points. Zittel, however, did not visit this oasis,
and in consequence its geological structure was not studied, the few
references to it made in the publications of the Rohlfs’ expedition
being based on an examination of specimens collected by Ascherson.
Probably the most accurate map hitherto existing of Baharia Oasis
is that of _Ascherson_,[7] who spent nearly three months there in
1876. Ascherson, who entered the oasis by the road from the Fayum
and returned to Samalut, chiefly directed his attention to botanical
observations, but his memoir contains some valuable topographical
and geological information which supplements that of previous and
later observers in important measure; he has also the distinction
of finding the stela of the reign of Thothmes III already referred
to, and the remains of an Egyptian temple; the latter is probably
identical with one of those discovered by Steindorff in 1900.
The short memoir by _Capt. H. G. Lyons_, R.E.,[8] published in 1894,
brought together a number of observations on the geology of the Libyan
Desert generally, and his discovery of fossils, referred to _Exogyra
Overwegi_, for the first time established the Upper Cretaceous age
of the clays and sandstones forming the floor and lower part of the
scarp in the northern end of the depression.
In 1897 the Geological Survey carried out its examination, the
results of which are set forth in the following chapters.
Since the survey expedition, Baharia has been visited by
Steindorff,[9] who during his five days’ stay in the oasis made
important additions to our knowledge of its antiquities. These will
be further referred to in the chapter on the topography of the oasis.
* * * * *
[Footnote 1: This ruin was described by CAILLIAUD (_Voyage à
Méroé. etc._, vol. I, p. 183) who records that in his time (1820)
only the central arcade remained standing. Steindorff found in 1900
that even this last fragment had fallen.]
[Footnote 2: _Narrative of the Operations and Recent Discoveries
within the Pyramids, Tombs, and Excavations in Egypt and Nubia, and
of a Journey to the Coast of the Red Sea, in search of the Ancient
Berenice, and another to the oasis of Jupiter Ammon._—London,
1820, pp. 395-433.]
[Footnote 3: _Voyage à Méroé, au Fleuve Blanc, an-delà de Fàzogl
dans le midi du Royaume de Sennàr, à Syouah et dans cinq autres
Oasis._ Paris, 1826. The work consists of four volumes, accompanied
by numerous maps and plates illustrating the antiquities.]
[Footnote 4: _Relation d’un voyage dans la Marmarique, la
Cyrénaique et les Oasis d’Audjelah et de Maradèh_. Paris,
1827. (This date is probably wrong, as a reference is made in the
work, (p. VII) to the suicide of Pacho on Jan. 26th, 1829).]
[Footnote 5: _Modern Egypt and Thebes_. London, 1843, vol. II,
p. 357-371.]
[Footnote 6: See G. ROHLFS, _Drei Monate in der libyschen Wüste_,
Cassel, 1875; JORDAN, _Physische Geographie und Meteorologie der
libyschen Wüste_, Cassel, 1876; and ZITTEL, _Geologie der libyschen
Wüste_. Cassel, 1883. Jordan appears to have been the only member
of the Rohlfs’ party to actually visit Baharia. He left the other
members at Lake Sittra (N. lat. 28° 42′ 40″, long. 27° 4′
23″, E. of Green.) and entered Baharia from the N.W. of El Qasr;
after passing about 1½ days in Baharia Oasis he journeyed southwards
via Farafra to rejoin his colleagues in Dakhla.]
[Footnote 7: _Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft für Erdkunde zu Berlin_,
Band 20, Heft II, 1885. Also Dr. Schweinfurth’s summary of
Ascherson’s results in “Petermann’s Mittheilungen,” 22. Band,
1876, p. 264.]
[Footnote 8: _On the Stratigraphy and Physiography of the Libyan
Desert of Egypt. Q. J. G. S._ Nov, 1894, pp. 531-547.]
[Footnote 9: _Vorlaüfiger Bericht über seine im Winter
1899-1900 nach der Oase Siwa und nach Nubien unternommenen
Reisen_.—Königl. Sächs. Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu
Leipzig, 1900, p. 226. Steindorff entered the Oasis from Siwa, and
returned from it via the Fayum. He appears only to have visited the
northern part of Baharia.]
CHAPTER II.
* * * * *
SURVEYING METHODS AND GENERAL RESULTS.
Crossing the Libyan Desert from Maghagha and Minia respectively,
the two parties of the Geological Survey met at a joint camp close
to Zubbo, one of the chief villages of the oasis. It was desirable
to fix this meeting-point as a primary station for the subsequent
plotting of the maps. Cailliaud[10] gave the latitude of Zubbo as
28° 21′ 47″, and its longitude as 26° 43′ 46″ E. of Paris,
(equivalent to 29° 3′ 55″ E. of Greenwich). Jordan gave for
Bawitti the position N. lat. 28° 21′ 12″, long. E. of Greenwich
28° 56′ 45″. Taking the difference of latitude and longitude
between Bawitti and Zubbo as found by the Survey, viz., lat. +
55″, long. + 4′ 16″, we have as the equivalent of Jordan’s
latitude for Zubbo 28° 22′ 7″, and for his longitude 29° 1′
1″ E. of Greenwich. Thus, while there is a fair agreement between
the two authors as regards latitude, there is a difference of 2′
54″ in the values of the longitude.
The longitude is of course always the difficult matter in the
geographical determination of places not easy of access. Cailliaud’s
value rests on the method of distance and azimuths, both roughly
determined only; Jordan, on the other hand, used the absolute
though not very precise method of lunar distances measured with a
sextant. The Survey parties depended entirely on direct measurement
by means of measuring-wheels from known points in the Nile Valley;
the values obtained in this way are tabulated below[11].
I.—_Traverse from Maghagha to Zubbo._
Maghagha Railway Station, long. E. of Greenwich 30° 50′ 49″
Recorded west departure, Maghagha to Zubbo, 187·77 km. 1 56 46
-------------
Giving long. of Zubbo 28 54 3
II.—_Traverse from Minia to Zubbo._
Minia Railway Station, long. E. of Greenwich 30° 45′ 39″
Recorded west departure, Minia to Zubbo, 176·32 km. 1 47 50
-------------
Giving long. of Zubbo 28 57 49
III.—_Traverse from Zubbo to Minia, via the south end of the Oasis._
Recorded east departure, Zubbo-Minia, 174·87 km. 1° 46′ 45″
Minia Railway Station, long. E. of Greenwich 30 45 39
-------------
Giving long. of Zubbo 28 58 54
The arithmetic mean of these three determinations is 28° 56′
55″; owing, however, to the breakdown of the measuring-wheel
during the outward traverse from Maghagha, and the consequent
necessity of estimating a part of the distance traversed by the
time taken in marching, the different traverses are not equal in
value, and the longitude finally adopted by the survey, as the
best approximation after investigation of the various sources of
error in the measurements, was 28° 58′ 34″. It would thus
appear that Jordan’s position may be a little too far east,
the difference amounting to 2′ 27″, or about 3½ kilometres,
while Cailliaud’s value would place the position at a rather less
distance west of that adopted.
The survey observations confirmed the accuracy of Jordan’s latitude
(28° 22′ 7″), from which the value found by Cailliaud differs,
as already remarked, only slightly.
The surveying operations within the oasis were based on a rapid
plane-table triangulation from a measured base line within
it, details being simultaneously sketched in, on a scale of
¹⁄₅₀₀₀₀. The site chosen for the base was a level stretch
of ground extending between the camp at Zubbo and an isolated clump
of date-palms to the north-east; the length of this line was found
by repeated wheel-measurement to be 3·88 kilometres. The two parties
ran off their triangulations from this base to the surrounding hills,
and carried on the mapping southward by plane-table, taking stations
chiefly on the hills and prominent points of the scarps, and not
meeting again till Ain el Haiss, in the southern part of the oasis,
was reached. Here a test was made as to agreement of the two sets
of maps, only a small difference being found. The position of Ain
el Haiss, as found by taking the mean of the two determinations,
is latitude 28° 2′ 11″ N., longitude 28° 39′ 19″ E. of
Greenwich; this places the spring about 4′ 18″ east of Jordan’s
determination (lat. 28° 1′ 55″ N., long. 28° 13′ 47″
E. of Green.).
The two parties made a third connection at the extreme south end
of the oasis-depression. Our observations for this point give its
latitude as 27° 48′ 13″ N., and its longitude as 28° 32′
19″ E. of Greenwich, placing it very near the position shown on
Jordan’s map.
The plane-table method making use of the magnetic meridian,
it was imperative to determine the amount of declination of the
compass. This was done at one point only, viz., at the south end
of the oasis, the value found (by observation of the transit of
Polaris) being 4° 50′ W. The declination is fairly constant
over the entire area, except near the eruptive dolerite masses,
the magnetite in which causes a very sensible deflection of the
needle; in the neighbourhood of these, however, the surveying was
carried on independently of the compass. With regard to the yearly
change of declination, we have as data the previous observations
of Cailliaud, who found the declination at Zubbo in January, 1820,
to be 12° 13′ W.; of Jordan, who obtained the value 6° 56′
W. in March, 1874; and of Capt. Lyons,[12] whose observations with
a Bamberg declinatorium at Mandisha in April, 1894, gave the value
5° 8·9′ W. Tabulating these:—
Observer. Date. Observed Yearly change.
Declination W.
Cailliaud January 1820 12° 13′
Jordan March 1874 6° 33′·6 6′·3
Lyons April 1894 5° 8′·9 4′·2
Geological Survey December 1897 4° 50′ 5′·3
In view of the magnitude of the diurnal variation, which may range up
to 10′ of arc, and our present lack of knowledge of the distribution
of this diurnal variation during the twenty-four hours, a comparison
after so short an interval as that between the last two observations
is not to be trusted. It would seem proved from the three foregoing
observations that the yearly variation is at present decreasing,
the mean from 1820 to 1874 being 6′·3 as against 4′·2 for the
period 1874-1894. This decrease is also noticeable in comparisons of
the declinations observed at different times in other parts of Egypt.
The _altitudes above sea-level_ of the principal points, more
especially in the eastern half of the oasis, were determined with
a Watkin aneroid barometer, which had been compared with the Cairo
standard mercurial barometer. A fairly long stay was made at the
Zubbo camp, and the altitude of this point may be regarded as fairly
accurately fixed by the observations tabulated below:—
-----------------------+-------------+--------------+---------------
| Zubbo. | Cairo. |
Date and Time. | Bar. | Bar. | Difference.
|(corrected). | (corrected). |
-----------------------+-------------+--------------+---------------
| mm. | mm. | mm.
| | |
October 12, 6 p.m. | 753·54 | 761·10 | 7·56
| | |
„ 14, 8 a.m. | 754·94 | 763·04 | 8·10
| | |
„ 6 p.m. | 753·79 | 761·53 | 7·74
| | |
„ 15, 7.30 a.m. | 754·55 | 762·60 | 8·05
| | |
„ 9 p.m. | 754·30 | 762·64 | 8·34
| | |
„ 17, 7.15 a.m. | 754·18 | 761·84 | 7·66
| | |
„ 18, 7 a.m. | 753·79 | 761·64 | 7·85
| | |
noon | 752·52 | 761·34 | 8·82
| | |
„ 19, 8.30 a.m. | 752·65 | 762·31 | 9·66
| | |
Nov., 26, 3 p.m. | 754·81 | 763·29 | 8·48
| | |
„ 27, 8 a.m. | 754·81 | 764·12 | 9·31
-----------------------+-------------+--------------+---------------
Mean | 8·32
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Since 1 mm. of mercury corresponds at the mean temperature of
observation (20° C.) to 11·4 metres of height, we have height
of Zubbo camp above Cairo observatory = 8·32 × 11·4 = 94·7, or
say 95 metres. Since the observatory is 33 metres above sea-level,
the camp at Zubbo is 128 metres above sea-level. Jordan’s altitude
for Bawitti, which probably lies at about the same level as Zubbo,
is 113 metres, and when it is remembered that the point of the
Survey’s observation lay not in Zubbo itself, but at the camp on
elevated ground some 10 or 12 metres above it, the results show a
very good agreement.
At Ain el Haiss three barometric observations were taken on different
days; the comparison of these with the Cairo records would place this
point 156 metres above sea-level. Jordan’s value is 122 metres,
the number of observations on which this figure is based not being
stated, it is difficult to say which of the two altitudes is the
more probable.
At the remaining camps within the oasis, and at the camps _en route_
between the oasis and Minia, corresponding observations were taken,
the number of comparisons with Cairo varying from two to seven at an
individual station. These observations being reduced and corrected by
comparison among themselves gave the levels of the different camps
with some degree of approximation to accuracy, and the altitudes of
intermediate points were found by interpolation based on barometric
readings. The resulting altitudes will be found on the map (Plate I);
where no altitudes have been taken by the Survey, the values given
by Ascherson on his map have been inserted.
The statistics relating to the oasis, and the methods of cleaning
out wells, are based on information supplied by the Government
officials at Bawitti, and may be taken as fairly reliable. The
particulars regarding water-supply are of course based mainly on
direct observation during the survey of the villages.
The botany of the oasis having been fully studied by Ascherson[13]
no attempt was made by the Survey to collect or describe the plants
met with. The abundant growths of the beautiful maiden-hair fern
(_Adiantum Capillus Veneris_)[14] will not, however, fail to strike
even the casual visitor to the old Roman aqueducts, which still
serve as the principal water-channels of the oasis. Nor were the
animals of the oasis made the subject of any detailed observations,
although the existence of several of the species of lizards and snakes
common to the Nile Valley was recorded, and specimens collected when
easily obtainable.
Baharia is not rich in archæological remains, and, with few
exceptions, even those existing were not examined by the Survey,
though the positions of all ruins met with during the work were
mapped. In a later chapter will be found a connected though brief
account of all the antiquities noted, the publications of previous
authors being referred to wherever the descriptions cannot be given
from personal observations.
The principal point attended to in the topographical mapping by
the survey was the accurate delineation of the bounding scarps
of the oasis and of the large number of hills within it. These
features, of which an accurate map was essential for any proper
consideration of the geology, had been only rapidly sketched by
previous travellers, and the precise shape of the oasis was still
unknown. In the cultivated spots, on the other hand, much had
been done by Cailliaud, Jordan and Ascherson towards mapping the
detail. Hence, beyond re-determining the precise positions of the main
points and the general limits of the cultivated areas, no attempt
at detailed mapping in these areas was undertaken by the Survey
parties, it being felt that it would be preferable in the limited
time available to concentrate attention on the almost totally unknown
features, so essential to any geological consideration, rather than
to devote considerable time to the details of the inhabited spots.
Thus, while the field maps resulting from the survey represented
the oasis for the first time in its true shape, and the hills
within it in their true relative magnitudes and positions, they
fell somewhat short of the maps of Ascherson and Cailliaud in the
number of springs, ruins, etc., shown. The more important ruins
overlooked by the survey have, however, been inserted approximately
from existing maps, and the whole result (Plates I, III and VII),
is an advance on the existing representations.
The _geology_ of the oasis was very carefully investigated, this being
a field in which comparatively little had been done, and a number of
very interesting results were obtained. The principal points in this
connection worthy of note resulting from the detailed examination
of the scarps and hills are—
(i) The existence of a marked unconformity between the Upper
Cretaceous and Eocene strata, thus confirming the unconformity between
these two great systems which had been noted[15] earlier at Abu Roash;
this unconformity has now been remarked in many parts of Egypt.[16]
The palæontological proofs of this unconformity were obtained from
the western scarp, the beds of the eastern side, though they show
the same thickening, being much poorer in fossils;
(ii) The occurrence of an extensive series of Upper Cretaceous beds
of Cenomanian to Danian age within the depression and forming a
large part of the desert to the west;
(iii) The precise extent and relations of the dolerite capping some
of the sandstone hills in the north of the depression;
(iv) The existence of well-marked folding having an important bearing
on the origin of the oasis;
(v) The presence of ferruginous sandstone deposits of later origin
than the primary formation of the oasis-hollow, though long anterior
to the date when the work of excavation, which gave the oasis its
present form, took place.
These points will be found discussed at some length in the chapter
on the geology of the oasis.
* * * * *
[Footnote 10: _Op. cit._, vol. IV.]
[Footnote 11: The positions of the two points of connection in the
valley were determined by Capt. Lyons in 1896.
The return traverse via Farafra to Assiut is left out of
consideration owing to its great length and consequent low value
in the determination of the longitude of Zubbo. It agrees however,
very closely with the others, owing to compensation of errors.]
[Footnote 12: LYONS, _Proceedings of the Royal Society_, vol. 71.]
[Footnote 13: _Op. cit._]
[Footnote 14: The occurrence of this fern in the ravines of the
Fayum may also be recorded here.]
[Footnote 15: BEADNELL, H. J. L., _Geological Magazine_. Jan., 1900,
No. 427, pp. 46-48; _The Cretaceous Region of Abu Roash, near the
Pyramids of Giza_. Geol. Surv. Egypt, Report 1900, Part II, 1902.]
[Footnote 16: See Reports of the Geological Survey on Farafra,
Kharga and the Eastern Desert.]
CHAPTER III.
* * * * *
THE ROADS CONNECTING THE OASIS OF BAHARIA WITH THE NILE VALLEY AND
OTHER OASES.
The roads traversed by the Survey parties between Baharia and other
places are three in number, viz., from near Maghagha and from Minia in
the Nile Valley, and from Baharia to Farafra Oasis. Other well-known
routes run from the Fayum, from Bahnessa, Samalut (Ascherson) and
Delga, in the Nile Valley, from Alexandria, via Mogara, and from Siwa
(Jordan, Cailliaud). The Survey’s return traverse to Minia from
the south end of Baharia did not follow any defined road, but kept
on the open plateau on a course computed from the known positions
of the points of departure and destination.[17]
[Sidenote: Road from Feshn and Maghagha to Baharia.]
_The road from Feshn and Maghagha to Baharia_ leaves the edge of the
Nile Valley cultivation at Qasr el Lamlum Bey, which bears 51½°
west of true north from Maghagha railway station, and is distant
15·4 kilometres. From this point the road is well-defined and
easily followed right into the oasis. In the following description
the distances are given from the edge of the Nile Valley cultivation.
The road at first leads over a strip of drift sand, half a kilometre
broad, with short prickly scrub, passing a white mosque on the
left and then turning off somewhat to a direction 26° south of
west, and continuing in a straight line for 15 kilometres over an
undulating gravelly plain. The high prominent cliffs, about 7 or
8 kilometres to the north-west, are the flanks of Jebel Muailla,
and a valley known as Wadi Muailla leads through them to the Wadi
Rayan in the Fayum depression.[18] At 19 kilometres the valley scarp,
with a number of isolated peaks, is approached on the right, while
ridges and low mounds form the plain below, well-marked lines of
drainage running from here in a south-east direction towards the
cultivation. At 23 kilometres the scarp runs back, enclosing a large
bay, across which the road runs and ascends to the plateau beyond at
27·8 kilometres. Numerous isolated parallel sand-dunes in the form
of small ridges are seen running out into the bay from the cliff
at the far end, all lying slightly west of north and east of south,
or parallel to the normal wind direction.
The escarpment bounding the Nile Valley at this point is only some
15 metres in height, being thus quite insignificant compared with
the cliffs on the east side. The plateau here was found to be about
140 metres above the cultivation, the road having risen gradually
throughout. The latter continues for about 1½ kilometres across
the strip of plateau when it again descends, making a slight detour
to the left for easy descent. It then continues 9° south of west,
slightly winding, over gravelly undulating ground. At 31-32 kilometres
a line of low hills is passed on the right, while a dark well-marked
range lies 6-7 kilometres to the left.
A ridge of sandstone, known as Jebel el Ghudda, is passed on the
right at 45 kilometres, from the end of which a small dune runs out;
beyond, the plain resumes its monotonous undulating character, a low
ridge being crossed at 61 kilometres. There, the road, consisting
of a number of more or less parallel well-marked narrow paths worn
by camels, which have a somewhat general habit of marching in line
one behind the other, changes its direction to 36° south of west,
falling gradually in level until a patch of scrub is reached 6½
kilometres further on. This scrub was dead at the time of the
visit, and furnished a useful supply of fuel. From this point the
course is 7° south of west (true), which direction is maintained
for the next 42 kilometres over a remarkably monotonous undulating
gravel-covered desert, the typical “serir” of the Arabs. At 92
and 93½ kilometres some more patches of dead scrub were passed on
the right, while logs of silicified wood were noticed strewing the
plain on the left. An Arab grave was met with at 96 kilometres, while
skeletons of camels lie about near the roadside at frequent intervals;
at 110 kilometres the eye of the traveller is relieved by a small
grove of green thorny flat-topped acacia trees (_Acacia nilotica_,
or “sunt” of the Arabs) with a patch of coarse grass; four gazelle
(probably _Gazella dorcas_) were observed browsing on the scrub here.
The course now continues 12½° south of west, over gently undulating
gravelly “serir”, until the eastern scarp of El Bahr is reached
at 125 kilometres from the cultivation of the Nile Valley. The
“serir” or undulating gravelly type of desert then ceases.
El Bahr is a depression, some 60-70 metres deep, cut out in white
limestone rocks; its breadth at the point crossed by the road was 8
kilometres. Within it are several high prominent hills, one of which
near the centre on the left side of the road is called Jebel Gar
Marzak. The bottom of the depression was quite green with vegetation;
sufficient water is said to fall every year to keep these plants
alive, and in 1894 rain is said to have fallen to such an extent
that a pool of considerable size was formed; the silt deposited by
this is plainly visible at the present time. A good deal of blown
sand occurs within the depression. El Bahr evidently corresponds to
the Bahr Bela Ma, (river without water) figured on some authors’
maps, which has been frequently but erroneously referred to as an
old river-course; although this idea was shown to be untenable by
Zittel[19] and Ascherson[20] it has subsequently been maintained
by non-scientific writers. No traces of any river deposit occur in
the depression, which consists simply of a series of unconnected
depressions, eroded by wind-borne sand.[21]
The track leaves the depression at 134 kilometres, rising over
heavy sand; it then continues 3° north of west. The character of
the desert has now completely changed, and instead of the smooth
undulating gravelly “serir,” its surface is rough and hummocky,
being formed of hard bare limestone, cut up into sharp knobs and
grooved into furrows by the powerful action of wind-borne sand;
it resembles closely the surface of the rough open sea. This type
of desert is spoken of as “kharafish” by the Arabs. While
the “serir” forms an ideal surface for travelling over, the
“kharafish” is the worst imaginable, the innumerable hillocks
necessitating incessant small deviations, while the hard rough
surface is in some places very troublesome to camels; moreover,
an extensive view is out of the question and no tracks are visible
on the surface, so that the road is easily lost except where marked
by frequent cairns built of loose stones.
Occasional patches of blown sand are here met with, and the first
well-marked dunes were crossed at 141 kilometres. From here onwards
for kilometres the whole area was more or less sandy with occasional
narrow well-marked ridges or dunes, running almost due north and
south, and varying in breadth from that of a single line to a
number of parallel ridges side by side half a kilometre broad. The
largest dune of this group at 146½ kilometres is known as Ghard el
Shubbab. The steepest sides are those facing west where the angle
may reach 30°.
At the particular locality crossed by this road the sand area is very
easily crossed, a circuitous route being followed in order to take
advantage of the flatter dunes with the easiest slopes when crossing
the steeper ridges. Probably the road crosses at one of the easiest
points. This remarkable line of dunes, known as the Abu Moharik,
has its origin in the neighbourhood of the oasis of Mogara and runs
southward, almost without a break, across the desert until Kharga is
reached, whence with a slight break owing to the broken character of
the ground it continues southward within the oasis-depression. The
total width of the sand-belt on the road under description is about
6 kilometres.
At 153 to 156 kilometres a number of black conical hills, Gar el
Hamra, are situate from 1 to 2 kilometres from the road on the south
side. One or two more sand-dunes were crossed and then the road,
maintaining its direction of 2°-3° north of west, lay over a more
or less uneven dark-coloured limestone desert broken up into a number
of small hills. At 169 kilometres a broad ridge of sand-dunes was
encountered, running 18° west of true north. These light yellow
dunes afford a beautiful and remarkable sight, running northwards
away to the horizon over a dark brown-coloured desert in an almost
perfectly straight line and with a sharply maintained junction-line
between the edge of the sand and the desert surface adjoining.
Within a few hundred metres of the western side of the sand-dunes
the road commences the descent from the plateau into the
oasis-depression. The road enters at the most northerly extremity
of the oasis, the descent being particularly easy at this point,
passing the large dark-coloured hill, Jebel Horabi (or Morabi?),
on the right almost immediately afterwards.
A fine view of the depression is obtainable from the top of the
escarpment, a broad low-lying expanse, bounded by steep escarpments or
walls, stretching away to the south, its monotony relieved by several
large flat-topped hill-masses, near which, on the lowest portions of
the floor, dark areas, the cultivated lands and palm-groves can be
distinguished. The road crosses the depression in a south-westerly
direction, passes a spring known as Ain el Gidr, the first watering
place, and divides in front of the great hill-masses separating the
two groups of villages, the eastern branch keeping close under the
eastern scarp of Jebel Mayesra, to avoid a large area of soft salty
ground, and leading to the villages of Zubbo and Mandisha, While the
western branch continues its course to the cultivation surrounding El
Qasr and Bawitti. The distance by this road from Qasr el Lamlum Bey to
the village of Zubbo is 190 kilometres and to Bawitti 195 kilometres.
[Sidenote: Geology of the Feshn-Baharia]
Having now described the topographical features of this road, the
chief geological characters may be noticed. The plain between the
Nile Valley cultivation and the scarp of the plateau is covered with
sandy gravel, partly downwash from the higher ground in Recent times,
and partly the remains of definite gravel deposits belonging to the
Nile Valley Pleistocene series.[22] The pebbles now found strewn
over the plain consist chiefly of flints, doubtless derived from
the Eocene limestones forming the deserts on both sides of the Nile
Valley, and occasional pebbles of hard felspar porphyry which must
have originally been derived from the igneous massifs of the Red Sea
Hills. Both are well rounded, although the former are frequently
broken up into angular fragments by temperature changes. White
granular beds of gypsum, of various degrees of impurity, crop out on
the plain in places, and in all probability there was in Pleistocene
times an extensive deposit of this mineral all over the surface of
the low-lying country. In the desert lying between the Fayum and
the Nile Valley further to the north, these gypseous beds occur of
great thickness and wide extent, and the deposits crossed on this
road are doubtless part of the same series.
The cliffs of Jebel Muailla to the north are capped by a hard dark
bed of limestone, which weathers with a vertical face, while the more
gentle slopes, generally more or less hidden with sand, are doubtless
formed of softer limestones, marls, and clays. During the survey of
the Fayum (see foot-note, p. 17) the hills surrounding Wadi Muailla
were found to be formed of Lower Mokattam beds (Middle Eocene)
and the hills seen from this road are doubtless composed of the
same beds. The ridges crossed at 20 kilometres are formed of hard,
compact, close-grained crystalline limestone, covered with more or
less gypsum and flint gravel; the limestone beds forming these ridges
show dips which suggest the existence of a fault running N.E.-S.W.,
parallel to the trend of the cliff behind, and this may be part
of the extensive faults and folds of the Nile Valley. In one small
hill (22 kilometres) shales with _Ostrea_ were noticed at the base,
with occasional hard oyster-limestone bands; the upper part was
formed of 10 metres of gravel consisting of well-rounded limestone
pebbles. This superficial deposit must be classed as Pleistocene and
may be a sea-beach, though no conclusive evidence was obtainable
on this point. The escarpment passed at 23 kilometres is capped
by a bed of white limestone, shales forming the slope, but was
not examined at close quarters. The floor of the bay formed by the
receding cliff shows outcropping brown limestone with _Ostrea_, and
the escarpment on the far side is capped by a hard white crystalline
limestone with much flint, the latter forming bands. On the surface
is a thin calcareous gypseous gravel deposit, doubtless of the same
age as the gypseous beds already mentioned as occurring on the
plain below. The flanks of the scarp are hidden by downwash. The
cliff bounding this strip of plateau, 1½ kilometres further on,
is composed of the same beds, the limestone being here silicified,
with large silicified _Conidæ_. With regard to the age of these
limestones and clays they are probably equivalent to part of the Lower
Mokattam series already mentioned as forming the hill-masses round
Wadi Rayan, although no _Nummulites gizehensis_ beds were observed
in the sections examined. A conspicuous black knob among the low
gravelly hills left two kilometres on the right at 32 kilometres,
was found to be a neck of hard dark andesitic basalt, one of the few
occurrences of igneous rocks in the Western Desert. Several other
similar looking dark hills were in sight, but time did not admit
of their examination. The dark well-marked range 6-7 kilometres to
the left of the road is probably identical with a range of hills
occurring 10 kilometres west of Bahnessa, which was mapped[23] during
the survey of the Nile Valley in 1899, and found to consist of a
mass of andesitic basalt similar to that forming the small neck on
this road. Doubtless they are both parts of the same intrusion. The
surface of the plain is still composed in part of gypseous deposits,
with occasional outcrops of the underlying limestone, the surface
being covered with a certain amount of loose sand with rounded flints
and their broken fragments. In the neighbourhood of Jebel el Ghudda
the plain consists of limestone with numerous individuals of the large
_Nummulites gizehensis_, and are thus of Lower Mokattam age. Much of
the limestone is crystalline. The hills of Jebel el Ghudda are formed
by younger overlying beds consisting of hard silicified sandstones
and grits (quartzites), which lithologically are very similar to
the beds of Jebel Ahmar near Cairo, of Oligocene age. They may,
however, belong to the Upper Eocene series, so well developed above
the Upper Mokattam in the escarpments to the north of the Fayum, as
this series contains similar beds with similar silicified wood. They
enclose bands of coarse conglomerate and have a peculiar blackish
burnt colour. Occasional patches of these grits are here and there
met with right up to the depression of El Bahr, and the silicified
wood passed at 92 kilometres belongs to the same series of beds. From
the scrub area at 93½ kilometres till the road approached El Bahr
there was hardly a sign either of the grits or of section anywhere
met with on this road. The depression is cut down through the upper
series of sandstones and grits into the fossiliferous white limestones
and sandstones below. The eastern scarp showed the following beds:—
_Top._
Soft white Sandstone.
{ Limestone with _Nummulites gizehensis_. }
MIDDLE { } Lower
EOCENE. { Limestone with _Ostrea_, _Exogyra_ and } Mokattam.
{ _Lucina_, etc. }
The floor is covered in places with numerous weathered out individuals
of _N. gizehensis_ and large oysters. Some of the hills occurring
within the depression showed brown siliceous limestone overlying white
limestones with beds containing _Nummulites gizehensis_, _Ostrea_,
etc., below. In some of these hills the beds show evidences of
folding, which like that within the Baharia Oasis may have partly
caused the formation of the depression by bringing the softer beds
to the surface within the reach of the agents of denudation. On
ascending the western scarp, beds with _Ostrea_, _Turritella_,
etc., were crossed, and near the top thick yellowish sandstones
crowded with _Ostrea_ occur. Two of the species of _Ostrea_ were
afterwards examined by Dr. Blanckenhorn, one of which he regarded
as nearly related to _O. Fraasi_, and the other as a new species
with affinities to _O. Hess_, May-Eym.
Probably the whole of these fossiliferous beds belong to the Middle
Eocene Mokattam Series; the lower beds with _N. gizehensis_, are
certainly Lower Mokattam, and probably the upper, although the latter
may represent the base of the Upper Mokattam. Whether the upper bed
of sandstone capping the eastern scarp belongs to the same series
or is equivalent of the silicified grits with silicified wood passed
further back is open to some doubt.
Beyond the Bahr the desert is formed of a hard limestone much cut
up by the action of wind-borne sand as already mentioned. This
limestone is very unfossiliferous, occasional obscure nummulites
seen on fractured or smooth surfaces being the only indications of
its Eocene age.
The conical-peaked hills of Gar el Hamra on the left of the road
at 151 kilometres were so striking that a detour was made specially
to examine them. They were found to be composed of black ferruginous
silicified sandstone or quartzite at top, with false-bedded sandstones
below. They overlie nummulitic limestones forming the surrounding
plain, and are not improbable Post Eocene lacustrine deposits,
similar to those within Baharia Oasis (see pp. 60-62).
From here onwards up to the oasis-depression the plateau consists of
hard brown limestone, more or less silicified, and contains nummulites
and oysters. The Eocene strata, thus extend right up to the escarpment
of the depression on the north side of the oasis. The geological
structure within the depression will be found discussed in Chapter V.
[Sidenote: Road from Minia to Baharia.]
_Road from Minia to Baharia._—The cultivated land extends for some
9 or 10 kilometres west of Minia town, and at the time of the Survey
expedition (early in October, 1897) this area was mostly covered by
flood-water. Boats were therefore taken to the edge of the desert,
and the march west was commenced from Nasl Nadiub Lengat, a small
village on the cultivation-limit in lat. 28° 6′ 24″, long. 30°
39′ 45″ E., bearing from Minia railway station 9° north of
west, distance very nearly 10 kilometres. The road westward being
ill-defined, and the party knowing that any course followed a little
north of west would surely lead to the oasis, no attempt was made to
follow the track precisely, the course being rather chosen to take
advantage of commanding points so as to map as much topography as
possible _en route_. As will be seen further on, however, the road
was struck some distance before reaching the oasis, and was thence
followed to Zubbo.
On leaving Nasl Nadiub Lengat the course first taken was about
32° north of west. The desert here rises very gradually from the
flood-level, (_i.e._ about 40 metres above sea-level), there being
no cliff bounding the Nile Valley on the West at this point. For
about 6 kilometres the ground was sandy, with occasional patches
of flood-water and some grass; then came a stretch of level
gravelly ground, and at 11½ kilometres some low sand-dunes were
crossed. The course was now changed to about 3° south of west,
and at 14 kilometres a descent was made from the gravel-plain into
a limestone-depression, with gravel-capped eminences on either
side. At 22 kilometres the gravel-strewn plain was again come on,
a few low mounds, also gravelly, being passed at 31 kilometres,
and camel-tracks, doubtless part of the Minia-Baharia road, being
noticed coincident with the survey line at 37 kilometres. Continuing
following these tracks, another camel-road was found to branch off
at 46 kilometres to the north-west. The march was continued along
the same track going a little more south of west, over a monotonous
gravelly plain, with limestone showing through it in small patches,
till at 78 kilometres from Nasl Nadiub Lengat a conspicuous though
small mass of fissile gritty limestone was come on, which afforded a
good survey-station. North and west of this are low gravel-covered
hills. Turning a little north of west, a large extent of low
table-like hills was seen on the south. At about 90 kilometres low
plateaux of limestone, capped by gravel, closed in so as to form
a defile about a kilometre wide, through which the line of survey
passed, and at 98 kilometres a large sandy and gravelly depression,
bounded by limestone scarps and containing numerous large limestone
hills, was entered. Within the depression the course followed was
about 30° north of west, so as to map roughly the escarpments on
either hand. About 10 kilometres from the point where the depression
is entered a long stretch of heavy sand was crossed beyond which
tracks going west were come on, and the edge of the limestone plateau
on the left curved round so as to cross the road. Ascending this
low scarp at 116 kilometres, the course lay over white limestone,
with sharp angular flints on its surface, and low limestone hills on
either side. At 124 kilometres the broad belt of sand-dunes, the Abu
Moharik, was reached. The dunes, which are of considerable height, run
nearly north and south, and have a total width of some 4 kilometres;
they formed the most serious obstacle of the entire journey. Beyond
the dunes is a hard limestone plain, crossed by a low ridge (forming
part of a higher plateau) at 136 kilometres. Beyond this ridge are
low limestone-hills on either side, the floor being generally of
hard white limestone. At 151 kilometres an oval depression in the
limestone plateau, with its longer axis (about 4 kilometres) running
W.N.W., was entered; this depression is full of hills of white chalk,
which also forms the floor here. Ascending the opposite scarp of
the depression at 159 kilometres, a narrow strip of higher plateau
of much harder limestone was crossed, the edge of the scarp of the
oasis of Baharia being reached at 160 kilometres, after marching for
57 hours from Nasl Nadiub Lengat. Up to this point there had been
a gradual rise of the ground, from 40 metres at the Nile Valley to
265 metres above sea-level at the edge of the oasis.
The descent into the oasis is not difficult, the scarp being sandy
and the fall gradual. At about 4 kilometres W.N.W. from the edge
of the scarp is the first well or spring of the oasis, _Ain Gelid_
(lat. 28° 19′ 28″ N., long. 29° 8′ 40″ E. of Greenwich),
a small pool surrounded by grasses and with a tree growing near
it. The barometric observations gave for this point the level 134
metres above sea, so that the total drop from the edge of the scarp
is about 130 metres. From Ain Gelid the village of Zubbo bears about
15° north of west, and is some 17 kilometres distant, but owing
to the hills between the two places necessitating a slight detour,
the actual distance to be traversed is a few kilometres greater.
[Sidenote: Geology of the Minia-Baharia Road.]
The road from Minia to Baharia shows essentially the same geological
features as the one from Maghagha already described. The gravel which
strews so large a portion of the road to the east is mainly composed
of quartzite and flint pebbles, of a prevailing brown colour. Some
of the rounded flints show a concentric structure, and are evidently
segregation-nodules derived from chalk-beds; a very fine specimen
of these, measuring some 20 c.m. in diameter, of almost perfectly
spheroidal form, was obtained. The gravelly covering is frequently
very thin, the limestones underlying it showing through in numerous
places. No evidences of the precise age of this gravel have come
to the authors’ knowledge, but it is certainly Post-Eocene. It
appears to be the same formation which is found covering the edge
of the plateau west of Girga[24] and south of Assuan (east bank)
and at various other points of the Nile Valley. It overlies beds of
every age from the Nubian Sandstone to the Lower Mokattam.
The limestones which underlie the gravel near the Nile, and which are
well exposed in the depression crossed 14 kilometres from the edge
of the cultivation, are crowded with nummulites of various species,
_N. gizehensis_ and _N. curvispira_ being specially common; these
rocks belong therefore to the Lower Mokattam Series (Middle Eocene).
The limestone underlying the gravel further west (from about 30 to
80 kilometres west of the cultivation-limit) is only seen in small
patches; it varies in character, being in some places loose and
tufaceous in texture, and in others gritty and fissile, passing into
a calcareous grit. The mass of gritty limestone at 78 kilometres,
noted above, is about 6 metres in length by 2 metres high and broad;
it shows a peculiar stalagmitic structure, the layers always parallel
to the free surface. Several smaller masses found around all show
a similar structure, and where the rock is exposed on the floor
concentric fissuring is frequently seen. The sand which strews the
surface here is largely calcareous, being doubtless in part derived
from the gritty limestones.
The eastern part of the low hills lying to the left of the track at
about 85 kilometres from the cultivation-limit show the following
section (total height about 13 metres):—
_Top._
1. Flinty gravel, the flints containing nummulites.
2. Tufaceous white limestone.
3. Hard pink siliceous limestone.
4. Fissile sandy marls and gritty limestones.
On the western part of the hills the gravel covering is absent,
the succession here seen being:—
_Top._
1. Sandy marls, 60 centimetres.
2. Very hard pink calcareous grit, 1 metre.
3. White sandy marl, fissile, 2 metres.
4. Soft red and white marls, 10 metres.
No fossils were seen in these beds except the nummulites in the
gravel, which prove the latter to be at least in part derived from
Eocene deposits.
The hills left of the road a little further on show the following
section:—
_Top._
1. Flinty gravel; thin deposit unconformably overlying the
limestone below.
2. Tufaceous white limestone (thin bed).
3. Hard grey crystalline limestone, 1·2 m.
4. Slope of sand and debris, doubtless covering soft
marly beds.
On entering the depression at 98 kilometres a band of earthy reddish
limestone with Bryozoa is crossed, this bed appearing to overlie the
fissile sandy limestone already mentioned. From here a good view
of the numerous limestone hills is obtained, the top beds of hard
limestone showing out sharply from the lower sand-covered slopes;
the beds show a stratigraphical depression here in addition to the
eroded surface depression. The floor of the depression is covered with
sandy gravel and _Ostrea_ shells; an examination of the left scarp,
about 3 kilometres after entering the hollow, showed the following
succession of beds (total height of section 20 metres):—
_Top._
1. Hard white limestone with numerous shell-casts and
containing some shaly layers, 3 m.
2. Debris-covered slope of softer beds with _Ostrea_
shells, 16 m.
3. Red earthy limestone with shells at base of hill.
One of the hills within the depression, to the left of the track
about 6 kilometres further on, showed in a face of about 28 metres
the following beds:—
_Top._
1. Hard white limestone, sand-eroded.
2. Brown fossiliferous limestone.
3. White limestone with many small fossils.
The slopes of this hill were covered with large black _Ostrea_ shells.
The floor of the depression further west showed limestones of varying
character, frequently highly fossiliferous. Beyond the depression
the ground passed over was mainly white limestone, strewn with large
sharp angular flints, and many spheroidal flint-masses derived from
the limestones. The surrounding hills show that we have here two
white limestones with brown beds between, the floor and the hillcaps
being white, while the feet of the hills are brown.
The plateau-rock near the great belt of sand-dunes is a hard white
limestone with large _Conidæ_. Just beyond the dunes this rock is
very siliceous, the exposed surfaces showing a smoky-black colour;
the rock is however quite white on fracture. The hills rising from
the plateau here consist entirely of limestone, beds of white chalk
alternating with harder yellowish and brown limestones, in which no
fossils were noticed. Further on the plateau rises, so that at the
entrance to the depression the surface is formed of the same brown
limestone-beds which are seen in the hills behind. The hills within
the oval depression here are composed of alternations of chalky with
harder limestones. The narrow ridge which separates the depression
just described from the oasis-depression is of very hard horny
siliceous limestone.
On the descent into the oasis the following beds are passed
through:—
_Top._
1. Very hard yellowish and reddish-brown siliceous limestone,
in part crystalline.
2. Fissile sandy limestone.
3. Soft yellow ochreous marly limestone.
4. Greyish-white chalky limestone, with ferruginous layers.
5. Sand-covered slope, mainly consisting of clays.
It seems probable that the entire mass of the limestones forming
the surface of the plateau are Eocene, occupying an horizon in and
below that of the Mokattam series. That the fissile sandy limestone
and calcareous grit cannot be the equivalent of the Post Eocene
sandstone deposits encountered on the road from Maghagha is proved
by their being intercalated in the Eocene limestones of the plateau.
[Sidenote: Traverse from south end of Baharia to Minia.]
_The return journey from Baharia Oasis to Minia_ was made, as already
mentioned, across the open desert, not following any road. The
starting-point was the point on the southern scarp of the oasis,
where the Farafra road leaves Baharia. Our observations give for the
position of this point[25] lat. 27° 46′ 13″ N. long. 28° 32′
47″ E. of Greenwich; height above sea level, 247 metres. The course
was shaped so as to reach the village of Nasl Nadiub Lengat, whence
the outward traverse had started, so as to give a closed polygon of
survey-lines. The following topographical and geological notes were
taken on the journey.
The first 2½ kilometres of the way, going about S.S.E., lay over
a plateau of sandy limestone, often mammilated and strewn with
limonite-fragments. Sand-dunes of small size were passed on the
left. An ascent was then made of some 35 metres on to a flat-topped
ridge, consisting of white and yellow marls and clays, capped by
a horizontal bed of hard brown calcareous grit, passing into brown
crystalline limestone with calcite shell-casts. On this ridge, which
is about 600 metres in width at the place seen, a turn was made so as
to go almost due east. The descent from the ridge on the other side
is on to a plain strewn with whitish-brown laminated and mammilated
limestone and some limonite, and from the plain rise hills showing
the same structure as the ridge just crossed. A camel-road running
south was crossed 7 kilometres from the starting-point, and beyond
this, the ground having gradually risen to the level of the brown
calcareous grit, we came among numerous low hills; these consist
of white chalk beds, capped by sandy greyish limestone and then by
thick beds of harder greyish-white limestone, weathered grey on the
surface. No fossils were seen here, but continuing the journey east,
over uneven ground of white and greyish limestone of considerable
hardness, a small hill was met with, at about 12 kilometres from the
starting-point, and found to consist of limestone with _Nummulites_,
and these foraminifera were found in great abundance a little further
on. The finding of these forms, so distinctively Eocene, is important
as showing that whatever the age of the limestones at the actual
edge of the south part of the oasis may be, the beds forming the
plateau only a few kilometres east of the oasis are, like those which
form the top of the northern scarp, of undoubted Eocene age. The
nummulites were visible in the rocks of the plateau till about 17
kilometres from the starting-point, none being noticed further on
till the neighbourhood of the great sand-dunes was reached. At
25 kilometres a slight depression containing numerous hills of
white chalk was entered. The floor of this depression, 267 metres
above sea-level, is strewn with fragments of crystalline calcite,
probably derived from veins or druses in the chalk. The beds here
dip slightly to the south. About 3 kilometres further on the beds dip
about 5° E.S.E., so that higher beds were come on; the dip however
soon diminished. At 29 kilometres the plateau rock consisted of
porous siliceous limestone, generally white, but in places yellow,
closely resembling that found capping the scarp in the northern
parts of the oasis. The march was continued over white limestones
of varying hardness, with flints and fragments of chalcedony on the
surface, and numerous low limestone-hills. At 36 kilometres a chalky
area was entered on, covered with countless small rounded hills of
chalky limestone; these hills, of which there are literally millions,
cover the ground like haycocks in a field; they are generally about
20 metres high, and up to 100 metres in diameter. No fossils were
seen in the rocks. At 70 kilometres the hills began to get smaller,
becoming presently mere chalk-mounds. A slight depression, about a
kilometre wide, with larger chalk hills, was crossed at 73 kilometres,
beyond which was a long stretch of flat ground composed of snow-white
limestone, chalky to fairly hard, unfossiliferous, with thin siliceous
bands. At 83 kilometres occasional low limestone hills were seen
on ground otherwise fairly level, strewn with flints. A camel-road
going south-east was crossed at 77½ kilometres. At 92 kilometres
numerous small gasteropod casts were noticed in the chalk, but no
other fossils. The plateau further on was seen to be formed of a hard
thin bed of siliceous limestone, with chalk below; it shows occasional
depressions with low hills within them. At 103 kilometres the great
belt of sand-dunes running N.W.-S.E. was entered on. Close to the
dunes and in the interspaces between them the plateau-rock is hard
semi-crystalline white to brownish limestone, with nummulites and
small gasteropod-casts. The sand contains a good deal of calcareous
matter in addition to the grains of quartz. The dunes have a total
width of about 3½ kilometres, some of them are of great height, and
the passage with heavily laden camels is not without some difficulty.
Beyond the dunes the limestone is frequently siliceous, weathered
smoky-grey on surface, and crowded with nummulites; the surface of
the ground is generally sandy and flint-strewn. At 113 kilometres a
narrow band of highly silicified, superficially blackened, limestone
is crossed. This band, which is only a few centimetres broad,
running north and south, stands up like a vein above the plateau,
and is evidently caused by infiltration of siliceous solutions in
a crack. In the silicified part of the limestone here the fossils
can be easily seen; they are chiefly corals. Further on, the plateau
consists of hard semi-crystalline and horny white limestone in which
fossils are not seen.
At 123 kilometres the course, hitherto nearly eastward, was
changed about 30° to the north, over the same hard semi-crystalline
limestone, with hillocks showing alternations of soft chalky beds with
harder ones. Some large flat-topped hills passed at 130 kilometres
consist of horizontal limestone-beds, the lower ones being chalky,
the upper ones hard, grey, and somewhat porous. Beyond this small
rounded flints are seen on the plain, and these continue, increasing
in number, till a low plateau in front is reached. At 134 kilometres a
broad camel-road going south-east was crossed, and at 135 kilometres
the scarp of a higher plateau was ascended. The lower plain has an
altitude of 127 metres above sea-level, the top of the plateau being
some 70 metres higher; the ground however rises gradually before
reaching the escarpment, so that the actual rise at the scarp is
only about 40 metres. The beds passed through on the ascent are—
_Top._
1. Gravels of rounded flints and pebbles, thin covering.
2. White chalk, 2 metres.
3. Earthy limestone, 60 centimetres.
4. Red and white clays and marls, about 30 metres.
5. Sandy limestone, 20 centimetres.
6. Clayey limestone, 15 centimetres.
7. Sandy limestone, 60 centimetres.
8. Limestone conglomerate, 1 metre.
9. Red and yellow clays at base.
These beds appear to dip slightly eastward. No fossils were seen.
The top of the plateau is a huge level gravel-plain, with white chalky
limestone showing through occasionally. Sometimes this rock shows a
loose tufaceous texture; at other places it is sandy and fissile,
and now and again it encloses small pebbles. A broad camel-road
going south-east was crossed at 145 kilometres, and another in the
same direction was crossed at 157 kilometres. At 162 kilometres, the
gravelly ground having gradually fallen to 179 metres above sea-level,
a turn so as to take again an eastward course was made, and a long
stretch of gently undulating gravelly ground, with white limestone
showing through in small patches, was traversed. A camel-road going
east was crossed obliquely at 185 kilometres. At 196 kilometres, low
gravel-covered hills of some extent were passed. The pebbles range
up to 10 or 15 centimetres in diameter, and are well-rounded. In
the lower part of one of these hills, sandy chalky limestone is seen
cropping out through the gravel which covers the slope. Then a little
further on are other low hills of white and grey nummulitic limestone,
only thinly sprinkled with pebbles and sand. Some of the beds here
contain cylindrical nearly vertical holes, one being measured and
found to be 8 centimetres diameter and 45 centimetres deep.
Beyond the hills just mentioned is a further stretch of gravel, till
at 199 kilometres a broad low ridge of white and creamy limestone,
crowded with large nummulites (_N. gizehensis_) is reached. The beds
of this ridge dip slightly west. The hollows of the ridge are full
of blown sand. Beyond is a flat depression, the floor of which is
strewn with small nummulites (_N. curvispira_), and with _Ostrea_
and other shells; then another small nummulitic ridge is crossed,
after which comes some hard smoky-grey silicified limestone, with
much sand on the surface. At 202 kilometres from the starting-point a
slight descent was made from the limestone on to a shelving gravelly
tract with some sand-dunes. Some 4 kilometres further on the wide
belt of low sand-dunes fringing the cultivated area west of Minia
was entered. This sandy tract has a width of about 4 kilometres;
it contains some patches of grassy land with pools of water.
The village of Nasl Nadiub Lengat, at the edge of the
valley-cultivation, was reached after covering 212 kilometres from the
south point of the oasis, the march having occupied about 60 hours.
To summarise the geology of the area crossed in the traverse just
described, it will be clear that although the beds which form the
top of the scarp at the south end of the oasis are probably of Upper
Cretaceous age, yet these beds are overlain by Eocene limestone
with nummulites at a short distance (about 10 kilometres) east of
the Baharia-Farafra road. It is probable that the entire stretch of
limestone-plateau between this point and Minia is Eocene, nummulites
being recorded both from near the centre of the tract and from the
edge of the desert near Minia. The softer chalky beds traversed
appear stratigraphically lower than the Nummulite-limestone, and
would seem to correspond to the chalky-limestones with _Operculina
libyca_ and _Lucina thebaica_ which occur so constantly near the base
of the Eocene in Kharga Oasis. The gravels, as already remarked in
referring to the Minia-Baharia road, are of uncertain age, but are
certainly Post-Eocene. The sand-dune belt crossed near the centre
of the tract is the same as that crossed on the outward journey from
Minia, and extends for a great distance north and south.
[Sidenote: Baharia-Farafra road.]
The road from Baharia to Farafra, traversed by Cailliaud in 1820,[26]
and by Jordan in 1874[27], was taken by a party of the Geological
Survey in proceeding to Farafra after surveying the west side
of Baharia. The start was made from the same point as the return
traverse to Minia, viz., the point of ascent of the Farafra road
at the south scarp of Baharia (lat. 27° 48′ 13″ N., long. 28°
32′ 49″ E. of Greenwich), and the general course taken was in a
direction 30°-40° west of south. A second, almost disused, road
from Baharia to Farafra ascends the western escarpment from the
depression 3½ kilometres further north, follows a narrow plateau
at the base of the chalk escarpment and joins the main road some
distance south of the extreme end of the oasis-depression.
The main road after ascending the scarp at the extreme south end
of the depression, at the point mentioned, proceeds at first in a
direction about 30° west of south, over a limestone plateau, with
sandstones and clays below. After 4 kilometres hard concretionary
grey sandstones are noticed, and 3 kilometres further on a small
hill of hard false-bedded grey sandstone is passed. The escarpment
of the White Chalk now approaches within 2 kilometres of the road
on the right hand, on the left being slightly further away. These
escarpments run parallel with the road for some 5 kilometres, forming
a large bay, until at 12½ kilometres the road passes through a
narrow pass with the cliffs of white chalk quite close on either
side. Almost immediately the cliffs again recede, forming a small
bay opening into another still larger at 14½ kilometres. At this
point an isolated chalk stack, with great masses of fibrous calcite
at the base, is passed, and this hill makes a convenient point for a
survey-station. Several more isolated hills are now passed and then
the chalk scarps on either side close up and join, the road passing
up the escarpment at the end of the bay and gaining the summit of the
white chalk at 20½ kilometres. The beds forming the plateau between
the end of the oasis-depression and this escarpment of white chalk
belong to the middle series of the Upper Cretaceous, the “variegated
clays and sandstones,” fully described in Chapter V.
From the top of the white chalk escarpment the road continues in a
well-maintained direction of about 40° west of south, over a more or
less level gravelly plain with outcrops of hard crystalline limestone
or chalk. Another, less used, road to Farafra, via the bay to the
north-east of Ain el Wadi (in Farafra Oasis), probably branches
off about this point. At 35 kilometres a small hill of siliceous
limestone is passed and the chalk forms a slight escarpment a little
way to the left.
About a kilometre further on a ridge of dark brown ferruginous
sandstone is crossed and almost immediately afterwards, at 49
kilometres, the road descends through snow-white chalk cliffs into
the depression of Farafra. The chalk forming the cliffs weathers in
places to a smoky-black colour. At the bottom of the descent, which
is gentle and presents no difficulties, an isolated hill occurs
on the left and from this the dark clump of palms of Ain el Wadi
is plainly visible bearing 9° west of south and distant about 16
kilometres. From Ain el Wadi to Farafra village is another day’s
march of 43 kilometres, the road bearing about 35 west of south,
but for details the reader is referred to the report on Farafra
Oasis.[28] With regard to the geology of the road across the plateau
separating Baharia and Farafra, the age of the beds first passed over
has already been mentioned. After rising on to the white chalk the
surface of this formation is followed right up to the descent into
Farafra. Although occasional crystalline limestones are crossed,
these, with the surface accumulations of flinty material, are only
skin deep and the former probably represents the upper part of the
chalk itself. No Eocene beds were observed, and it is extremely
doubtful if any exist; in the latter case they would be patches of
Operculina-nummulitic limestone from the base of the Esna Shales,
as this limestone is sometimes left capping the surface of the white
chalk after complete denudation of the shales above, as in the bay
to the north-east of Ain el Wadi. We thus see that the Cretaceous of
Baharia is continuous with that of Farafra and that the intervening
desert is not formed of the Nummulitic limestones of the Eocene as
formerly supposed and shown on the Rohlfs Expedition map.[29]
[Sidenote: Other Roads.]
Besides the routes already mentioned, there are several other roads
connecting Baharia with Siwa Oasis, the Fayum, and the Nile Valley. Of
the principal of these we have a fairly accurate knowledge from the
records of scientific travellers, such as Jordan and Ascherson, and
it may be well to mention briefly the chief points concerning them.
The road from Siwa[30] was traversed by Jordan in 1874, the march
occupying ten days. Leaving Siwa (N. lat. 29° 12′ 0″, long. 25°
31′ 0″ E. of Greenwich, altitude 25 metres below sea-level),
the road follows an east-south-east course for about 80 kilometres;
it then turns slightly more southwards, rounding the corner of the
plateau (Pacho Mt. of Rohlfs) and afterwards passing through the deep
depressions of Aradj (- 70 m.) and Uttiah (- 20 m.) to the south
side of Lake Sittra (- 25 m., N. lat. 28° 42′ 40″, long. 27°
4′ 23″ E. of Greenwich, 170 kilometres distant from Siwa). From
Sittra an easterly course is taken for some 52 kilometres, when
another slight turn to the south is made, the oasis of Baharia being
entered by descending the scarp some 3 kilometres slightly north of
west of El Qasr. Between Sittra and the edge of the oasis the ground,
which is of nummulitic limestone, rises gradually but steadily,
the level at the edge of the oasis being 194 metres above sea. The
distance from Sittra to El Qasr is about 180 kilometres, making the
total distance along the route taken from Siwa about 350 kilometres.
The road from the Fayum to Baharia, taken by Belzoni in 1819,
Pacho in 1823, and Ascherson in 1876, has a total length of about
240 kilometres, and occupies some six days in marching. Leaving
Medinet el Fayum the road proceeds south-west via Gharag to Wadi
Rayan (29 m. below sea-level, about 75 kilometres from Medinet el
Fayum) where a supply of water is obtainable from several different
springs. From Ain Rayan the road proceeds south-west over a rising
nummulitic limestone plateau, crossing the so-called Bahr bela
Ma a little north of the Maghagha-Baharia road. At “El Bahr”
(100 kilometres from Ain Rayan) a turn is made to the W.S.W.; the
sand-dunes of Abu Moharik are crossed a little further on, and the
oasis is entered at the northern extremity by the same “agaba” as
that taken by the Maghagha road. Within the oasis the road branches
as already described, the west branch leading to El Qasr and the
east one to Zubbo.
Another route making use of the same point of entry into the oasis
as that just described is marked on Ascherson’s map as coming from
Bahnessa, a large village on the Bahr Yusuf, near the western edge of
the Nile Valley. This road, which is some 190 kilometres in length,
leads almost due west over a monotonous plateau till near the oasis,
where it joins the roads from the Fayum and Maghagha.
The road between Baharia and Samalut, traversed on his return journey
by Ascherson in 1876, appears to be the shortest connection between
the oasis and the Nile Valley. Its course is due west, and its
total length to Mandisha about 180 kilometres. Leaving Samalut the
cultivation is crossed via Mangatin to Rubi; this latter village is
on the edge of the desert, about 5 kilometres west of Samalut. The
road proceeds over a monotonous rocky and gravelly plateau, crossing
the great sand-dune belt of Abu Moharik about 122 kilometres west of
Samalut, and entering the oasis near Ain Gelid by the same descent
as that used by the Survey party from Minia. The journey from Bawitti
to Samalut occupied Ascherson four days.
Still another road from the Nile Valley, likewise entering the oasis
near Ain Gelid, is marked on Ascherson’s map as coming from Delga,
a village near the west edge of the valley-cultivation. This road has
a N.N.W. course, and a total length from Delga to Mandisha of about
190 kilometres. It crosses the sand-dunes of Abu Moharik about 130
kilometres from Delga, _i.e._, about 40 kilometres before reaching
the edge of the oasis.
Several other roads start from points still further south, such as
Der el Maragh, Beniadi, Assiut, etc., and most of the villages along
the west side of the Nile Valley between Assiut and the Fayum have
branch tracks which join the main roads at different points.
* * * * *
[Footnote 17: For remarks on the surveying of desert roads, and on
the possibility of traversing the open desert, see BALL Kharga Oasis
(Reports of the Geolog. Survey for 1899, Part II) Cairo, 1901, p. 16.]
[Footnote 18: For details of these hills and Wadi Muailla see
BEADNELL, _The Topography and Geology of the Fayum, etc._, Survey
Dept. P. W. M. Cairo, (in the press).]
[Footnote 19: _Op. cit._ p. CXXXVI.]
[Footnote 20: See Schweinfurth in “Pet. Mitt.” 1876, p. 265;
also Ascherson in “Zeitschrift d. Gesellschaft für Erdkunde”
zu Berlin, 1885, p. 115.]
[Footnote 21: BEADNELL, _Découvertes Géologiques Récentes dans la
Vallée du Nil et le Désert Libyen_, compte rendu, VIIIe Congrès
Géologique international, 1900; Paris 1901, p. 847.
(Recent Geological Discoveries in the Nile Valley and Libyan Desert,
London, 1900.)]
[Footnote 22: For a brief description of these deposits see
_Découvertes Géologiques_, etc., pp. 863-865.]
[Footnote 23: _Geolog. Mag._ Jan. 1900, No. 427, p. 18, and _op. cit._
(_Découvertes géologiques_), p. 847.]
[Footnote 24: BALL. _Kharga Oasis_, p. 23, Cairo 1900.
These gravels were examined and mapped in the Survey of the Nile
Valley in 1896. (H. J. L. B.)]
[Footnote 25: Jordan’s position for this point is approximately
lat. 27° 46′ 20″ N., long. 28° 36′ 20″ E. of Greenwich,
altitude 193 metres above sea-level.]
[Footnote 26: _Voyage à Méroé_, etc., vol. 1, p. 196.]
[Footnote 27: _Physische Geographie der libyschen Wüste_, p. viii.]
[Footnote 28: BEADNELL, _Farafra Oasis, its Topography and Geology_,
Geol. Surv. Egypt Report, Pt. III, Cairo, 1901.]
[Footnote 29: _Découvertes Géologiques Récentes_ etc., p. 850.]
[Footnote 30: See the geological map accompanying Zittel’s _Geologie
der libyschen Wüste_, Cassel 1883.]
CHAPTER IV.
* * * * *
TOPOGRAPHY OF THE OASIS.
As already mentioned in the Introduction, Baharia Oasis is a large
natural excavation in the Libyan Desert plateau. Previously existing
maps frequently indicate this depression as being open towards the
east, but one of the results of the survey expedition has been to
show that such a representation is erroneous, Baharia differing from
the southern oases in being entirely surrounded by an escarpment,
for the most part steep and difficult of ascent. In plan the oasis is
of highly irregular outline, more particularly on its western side;
but the general shape of the excavation is that of a large oval, with
its major axis running north-east and south-west, and with a narrow
blunt pointed extension at each end. The extreme length (N.E.-S.W.) is
about 94 kilometres, and its greatest width, measured at right angles
to its length, some 42 kilometres. The average depth from the general
desert plateau-level to the floor of the excavation is rather less
than a hundred metres. Thus, though commonly called the “little
oasis” in contradistinction to the still larger areas of Farafra,
Kharga and Dakhla, Baharia is of considerable size, covering in all
over 1,800 square kilometres. Within the excavation, and rising up
from its floor, in some cases to a greater height than the bounding
scarps, are numerous hills, the larger generally having flat tops and
the smaller ones being more or less conical. The cultivated lands,
which lie almost entirely around the villages in the north part of
the oasis, bear only a very small ratio to the entire oasis-area,
probably not exceeding in all, including palm-groves, 11 square
kilometres; the remainder of the floor is, however, by no means
absolutely waterless or totally devoid of vegetation, as numerous
springs exist in certain areas, outside the cultivation-limits,
and desert grasses and scrub cover considerable tracts; extensive
salines, now mostly nearly dried up, are found in some localities.
It will be convenient to consider the topography of the oasis under
the following principal heads:—
1. The bounding escarpments;
2. The hills within the oasis;
3. The floor of the oasis, including the villages,
hamlets and springs.
I.—_The Bounding escarpments._—At the most northerly point of the
oasis is a narrow extension some 4½ kilometres wide, enclosing a
large black hill, Jebel Horabi. The portion of the scarp, or wall,
which bounds this extension is lower and less steep than that
further south, as the level of the oasis-floor rises considerably
towards the hill just mentioned. The roads from Feshn, Maghagha
and the Fayum enter at the north-east point of the extension;
the descent is easy, the fall from the plateau into the oasis-area
being about 70 metres, with a further drop of some 30 metres just
after passing Jebel Horabi. At this latitude the depression opens
out considerably, the escarpment on the one side trending to the
south-west, while that on the other side turns a little east of
south; about 8 kilometres further on there is a sudden widening of
the excavation, the scarps retreating respectively east and west,
so that before the latitude of the villages is reached the oasis has
a width of some 28 kilometres. Between the latitude of the villages
and Ain el Haiss a marked difference in the two scarps is noticeable;
both curve round so as to enclose a wide oval area, but while that on
the east side shows a comparatively smooth outline, broken only by
a few small projecting headlands and gullies, the western bounding
wall displays a highly irregular shape, long irregular tongues of
plateau being separated by wide or narrow “bays.”
On the east side, the most considerable irregularity is near Ain
Gelid; south-east of this spring the road from Minia enters down a
gently-falling open sandy gully, with a long square-ended tongue of
plateau to the south of it. Further south two other roads, perhaps
branches of the one just mentioned, enter by smaller gullies; the
scarp here has become much less formidable than further north, and
the top of the plateau is covered with countless small conical hills
of white chalk. Near the north end of the large hill-mass E.N.E. of
Ain el Haiss, the eastern scarp almost disappears, the oasis-floor
having risen considerably; it becomes more marked further on, and
continues to the south, though of no great height, with limestone
ridges at its foot. Just south of the large hill-mass referred to,
the lower limestone ridges unite so as to form a regular escarpment,
which continues southward as the limiting-wall of the oasis, the upper
scarp now forming the edge of a higher plateau about a kilometre
away from the oasis-edge. The two escarpments run almost parallel,
one forming a step above the other, to the south end of the oasis; the
lower one, forming the oasis-wall proper, is much more considerable
than the upper, and the edge of the upper one is frequently broken
into hills. Small chalk-hills continue to cover the upper plateau.
From Jebel Horabi, at the extreme north end of the depression, the
western wall, or escarpment, trends in a general direction of 30°
south of west for about 20 kilometres before it turns and runs some 5
kilometres south, forming the prominent headland about 2½ kilometres
north-west of El Qasr. This cliff, probably the boldest part of the
whole oasis-wall, attains a height of some 175 metres above the lowest
part of the floor of the depression. It is steep throughout and the
only practicable passes to the plateau above are through occasional
gullies, in which the slopes are of easier gradient. The main caravan
road from El Qasr and Bawitti to Mogara and Alexandria gains the
plateau by the long narrow gully 6½ kilometres N.N.W. of El Qasr. To
the south of the headland, 2½ kilometres north-west of El Qasr, the
escarpment runs back and forms a remarkable narrow bay, running east
and west, with an average width of only 4 kilometres, and extending
some 18 kilometres west of El Qasr. This indentation is separated
from a much larger opening to the south by a long narrow promontory,
or tongue of plateau, barely a kilometre wide in places. The extreme
point of this tongue is 9 kilometres south-west of Bawitti.
The large bay to the south is bounded on the north by the usual
steep wall of rock, but this becomes much less prominent at the
western extremity, where the escarpment is low and easily accessible
to camels. A few kilometres out to the west is another escarpment of
white chalk trending irregularly in a N.N.E. and S.S.W. direction. An
old road, probably joining the main caravan road from Bawitti to Siwa
further west, runs up this bay and on to the plateau beyond. Numerous
large and small hills occur within the bay. The southern cliff,
formed of dark brown or black ferruginous sandstones, is remarkably
irregular, and quite different in appearance and weathering from
the northern wall. The promontory to the south of this bay juts out
boldly into the oasis-area. Further south the escarpment recedes and
runs in the most irregular manner some 25 kilometres south-west,
several times retreating to form well-marked indentations in the
general line of cliff; it afterwards trends 15 kilometres south-east
up to the prominent corner 4 kilometres west of Ain el Haiss. A
road from Ain el Haiss to Siwa reaches the escarpment 15 kilometres
north-west of the spring, passing up a gully of easy gradient to
the plateau. About 7 kilometres further on the chalk escarpment,
already mentioned, is seen running N.N.E. and S.S.W.
About the latitude of Ain el Haiss the east and west escarpments
approach each other considerably, the width of the depression
narrowing from some 36 to about 15 kilometres. This narrowing
continues, though more gradually, to the southern extremity, where
the width is only 4 kilometres. The western side, south of Ain el
Haiss, is formed of three separate scarps, one behind the other, the
outermost being that of white chalk which has already been referred
to. On the east a second scarp of less height is found behind the
lower. The height of the main scarp above the oasis floor at the
southern end of the oasis is about 80 metres.
At the extreme south the main road from Baharia to Farafra ascends
up an easy gradient to the plateau above the lowest escarpment,
the others being crossed further to the south.
_The Hills within the Oasis-excavation._—The most striking feature
in the topography of Baharia Oasis is the large number of hills
within the area. These hills impede the view, so that from very
few points on the low ground can any extended outlook be obtained,
and they give to Baharia an appearance entirely different from that
which characterises the other Egyptian oases. For the most part these
hills have a black aspect, due to the nature of the rocks (ferruginous
quartzites and dolerite) capping them; a few are reddish (ferruginous
sandstone and ochreous clay); others again are white (limestone).
The most strongly-marked group of hills is that extending in a
nearly straight north-easterly direction a few kilometres south
of the villages. Forming a prolongation of the long tongue of the
west scarp already mentioned, this line of hills almost cuts the
oasis in two. The largest hill of the range, Jebel Hefhuf, a narrow,
ridge-like hill of limestone, has a black appearance at its northern
end, being here composed of dolerite; the others capped entirely by
brown limestone and partly swathed in accumulations of blown sand
are of lighter aspect. They rise to a height of some 130 metres
above the level of the villages.
The large, dark, dolerite-capped hill between El Qasr-Bawitti and
Zubbo-Mandisha (Jebel Mandisha) divides the two main cultivated
tracts of the oasis from each other, the road from Mandisha to El
Qasr passing over its southern end. A similar mass is Jebel Mayesra,
the large triangular hill north of Jebel Mandisha; the blackness
of Jebel Horabi, in the north end of the oasis, is, on the other
hand, due not to eruptive rocks but to the presence of iron ore in
considerable quantity.
The huge hill-mass near the east scarp, north of the latitude of Ain
el Haiss, is of blackened sandstone, like most of the hills near it;
some of those west of it are, however, white, owing to a capping of
limestone, and these stand out in striking contrast to the others. No
purpose would be served by a detailed description of the smaller
hills; their positions will be evident from the map (Plate I), and
except in the case of the larger ones, there is a great monotony of
form, nearly all the smaller hills being conical. One of the most
striking conical hills is seen near the west scarp in lat. 28°
26′ N. (10 kilometres north-east from El Qasr); this, however,
is a limestone-capped hill, thus differing from the numerous cones
in the south part of the oasis, which are mostly capped by hard dark
ferruginous quartzites and sandstones.
_The Floor of the Oasis._—The lowest part of the oasis-floor
appears to be in the neighbourhood of El Qasr, where the altitude
above sea-level is about 113 metres. Mandisha lies somewhat higher,
and the hamlet of Harra, with the springs Ain Gelid and Ain Haswi
lie on a level tract some 134 metres above sea-level. Ain el Haiss,
according to the Survey’s barometric comparisons with Cairo, has
an altitude of 156 metres above sea; as Jordan’s determination,
however, gave only 122 metres, there is some little uncertainty
about the actual altitude of this point. As might be expected,
the lowest parts of the oasis-floor are those where springs abound;
in the neighbourhood of the hills and escarpments there is always a
gradual upward slope towards the bases of the hills and plateau. The
major part of the oasis-floor is flat or gently undulating ground
of sandstones and clays, strewn with fragments of rock derived from
the hills; large areas, however, are overgrown with grasses and
scattered bushes, notably to the north and west of the villages,
in the neighbourhood of Ain Gelid, south-east of Jebel Hefhuf,
and in the vicinity of Ain el Haiss; while other extensive tracts
north of the villages, as well as south-east of Mandisha and between
Harra and Ain Gelid, are covered by salty marshes, now partly dried
up. The white salty crusts on the ground at these places give them
a striking appearance, like a slightly rough glittering sheet of
water. The tracts north of Zubbo and near Harra still contain much
water and salty sludge; travelling over them needs great caution,
as the dry crust will often support the weight of a man, while a
camel sinks through into the soft mire beneath. Sand-accumulations
do not cover such large tracts in Baharia as in the southern oases;
there are, however, some small dunes around the cultivated lands of
Mandisha and Zubbo, as well as on some of the hill-sides; the dunes
support a scanty growth of tamarisk-bushes.
The principal villages of Baharia are four in number, all situated
near together in the north part of the oasis in N. lat. 28° 21′
to 28° 22′. They are separated into two groups by a large hill
(Jebel Mandisha), El Qasr and Bawitti lying to the west, and Mandisha
and Zubbo to the east. The Government officials reside at Bawitti
and El Qasr. According to the last census,[31] the population of the
oasis in 1897 was 6,081 divided among the four villages as follows:—
El Qasr 1.712
Bawitti 1.713
Mandisha 1.798
Zubbo 858[32]
The males slightly outnumber the opposite sex.
The villages are small uninteresting collections of mud hovels,
surrounded by gardens, palm-groves, and cultivated lands. Besides
the cultivated tracts existing close around the villages, there
are others at points more or less distant from them, tilled by men
from the villages. Such are seen, for instance, west of Zubbo;
at Ain Bayum, a spring with a small cultivated area, among the
sand-dunes 4½ kilometres north-east of Zubbo, where a clump of
date-palms forms a conspicuous landmark; Ain Sini and Ain Murun,
7 kilometres north-east of El Qasr; also some small tracts west of,
and a large area south-west of, Bawitti. Ain Auena, El Ayun, and other
points marked on Ascherson’s map, are probably within this last
area. Taking the whole cultivated land, inclusive of palm-groves,
at 11 sq. kilometres, the area per individual of population works
out to about 0·43 feddans; this figure is somewhat lower than
Kharga (0·56 feddan) and considerably less than that of Dakhla
(1·49). While Kharga exports practically nothing, Baharia does a
considerable export trade with the Nile Valley, principally in dates,
although not on so large a scale as Dakhla.
In and near the villages springs are extremely numerous; the water
is met with at shallow depths, and does not require, as in Kharga and
Dakhla, deep-bored wells. It is led from its sources along underground
aqueducts, which date from the Roman occupation; a description of
these will be found in the chapter on antiquities (p. 73-80). No
attempt was made by the survey to map or number the wells and springs
within the vicinity of the villages; they are mostly concealed in
the palm-groves and gardens. The water is slightly ferruginous,
and frequently warm, bubbles of carbon dioxide rising with it. At
Bawitti, the largest spring is cold, but one close by it is warm,
although none approach the high temperature of the Dakhla wells. One
of the principal sources of water in Mandisha, is a well, situated
near the cemetery, 7 metres deep and timbered with palm trunks;
the temperature of the water is 26° C. (air 12° C.), and when
freshly drawn it is turbid with bubbles of carbon dioxide.[33]
The process of cleaning out wells and boring fresh ones in Baharia is
done with a very simple apparatus, an iron jumper about 1½ metres in
length, 5 centimetres diameter, worked by a rope passing through an
eye at one end, being the only boring-tool used. Cleaning out wells
is carried on by this tool in conjunction with the “fass” (a
sort of blunt adze used universally for digging operations in Egypt)
and a rude basket-apparatus for the removal of sand and sludge. The
upper part of the hole having been excavated by the “fass,” the
jumper is worked by hand, no tripod or other frame being erected;
the sludge is raised by a small basket of plaited grass, fitted on
to the lower end of the jumper, lowered into the hole by a rope,
the sand settling in the basket after jumping the iron tool, with
the basket attached, within the well. The hole is generally made
75 centimetres diameter, and sinking is said to go on at the rate
of ⅓ metre per hour, ten men being employed, who relieve each
other. It does not appear, however, that this apparatus is capable
of sinking new wells, being only used for cleaning out old ones;
most of the water used is derived from ancient Roman adits.
The water from a single spring often supplies several land-owners;
the usual method of distribution is by means of a wooden weir, in
the upper edge of which rectangular notches are cut, each individual
being entitled to the water which flows through a certain number of
notches. As a rule, the springs are banked up at night, so that the
water accumulates in a large pool near, and is allowed to run on to
the fields in the daytime.
Taxation in Baharia and Farafra is based on the land cultivated and
not, as in Kharga and Dakhla, on the water. Date-palms, are taxed
15 milliemes per annum. The numbers of trees at the 1897 assessment
were, apricots, 4,863; olives, 5,370; palms, 93,000, or about fifteen
of the latter per inhabitant.[34] The great article of produce in
the oasis is therefore dates, and at the date-gathering season the
inhabitants are busily employed in gathering, drying and packing the
fruit for export to the Nile Valley. Three-fourths of the whole date
production are exported. The dates are of excellent quality, and find
a ready sale, the villages of the oasis being crowded with camels and
traders from the valley each November. A camel-load of dates, packed
in two plaited-grass bags, is bought in the oasis for 500 milliemes,
and is said to be sold in the Nile Valley for four times that sum,
so that the Beduin, to whom the trading is almost wholly confined,
even allowing for difficulties of transport, make a good profit.
Though dates are the only fruit exported, olives, apricots, grapes,
pomegranates, oranges, lemons, and figs are grown in great numbers,
and about 600 feddans are cultivated with rice, wheat and barley
crops. Clover is sown after the rice crop is gathered. The area of
land cultivated for cereals is said to be slowly diminishing year by
year, having been 900 feddans fifteen years ago; the decrease is put
down to a diminished yield from the springs, owing to their becoming
sanded and choked up, but for this the inhabitants are themselves
largely to blame, as they do not take sufficient measures to keep the
wells free. It may be that water has been diverted to the palm-groves,
these furnishing the saleable article. It will be apparent, from the
figures already given, that palm-groves cover the greater portion
of the irrigated land around the villages.
The public health of the oasis is far from good. Though free from the
opthalmia which is so prevalent in the Nile Valley, the inhabitants
suffer much from fevers and gastric disorders, and according to the
Government doctor virulent epidemics of small-pox occasionally visit
the place. The low standard of health is partly attributable to the
bad quality of the water, but is probably highly aggravated by the
swampy ground found in many localities. It is also noticeable that
no trouble is taken to protect the drinking-water from contamination.
Besides the four principal villages already mentioned, small
settlements exist at Mandisha Aguza, 2 kilometres east by south from
Mandisha; at Harra, a tiny hamlet 14 kilometres east of Mandisha;
at Ain Jafarra, 6 kilometres south of Mandisha; and at Ain el Haiss,
in the south part of the oasis. The populations, etc., of these
outlying settlements are included in the figures given above for
the chief villages.
Mandisha Aguza consists of a group of mud dwellings aggregated
round a low sandstone eminence, surrounded by a small cultivated
tract. Ascherson records that in 1876 the inhabitants still spoke
the Siwa dialect among themselves. Cailliaud had already remarked in
1820 that the spot was peopled by colonists from Siwa. Harra consists
of about half a dozen hovels, sheltering a population which cannot
exceed fifty, with several springs and palm-groves, and a small
tract of cultivated land. The principal spring is marked by a large
pool of clear water, about 40 metres in diameter, lying in a slight
depression to the south of the houses; the water has a temperature
of 24° C. (hotter than the air). There is plenty of water at this
place, and more can easily be got by digging to a small depth.
At Ain Jafarra there is only one house, tenanted by a single
family. At least two springs exist here, one being near the house
and the other at a distance of some 700 metres to the east; the
water from the latter spring is led by a long canal to the small
palm-grove and patch of cultivated land near the house. The water,
though somewhat saline, is drinkable.
Ain el Haiss is an important point on the road from the villages of
Baharia to Farafra. It lies some 40 kilometres S.S.W. from Bawitti,
in about lat. 28° 2′ N., long. 28° 39′ E. of G. It is a small
settlement, being tenanted at the time of survey by only three or four
men. There are two springs, one at a higher level than the other. The
upper spring is close to the house occupied by the inhabitants;
the water, which has a temperature of 15°.6 C. (_i.e._ 3° warmer
than the air at the time of measurement) is collected into a shallow
muddy pool, surrounded by a mud dam, whence it flows westward on
to the fields. The lower spring forms a pool of about 400 square
metres in extent, the temperature of the water here being 14° C. It
is situated about 400 metres south-west of the one just described,
and like it serves for irrigation. Rice was the crop growing at
the time of our visit. The total irrigated area at Ain el Haiss is
about 60 or 70 feddans, and there are only a few palms. Besides the
house there is a sheikhs’ tomb, which is an object of veneration
in the oasis, a small walled-in garden, and a large ruin; the last
named will be described among the antiquities of the oasis. Another
small cultivated tract, some 15 or 20 feddans in extent, with at
least one spring, exists about 3 kilometres north-west of Ain el
Haiss. According to Jordan there are two springs here, named Ain
Hassab and Ain el Gharb, owned in 1874 by the Kadi of El Qasr,
but the place is usually spoken of as Ain el Haiss el Bahari.
East of Ain el Haiss are two considerable patches of cultivated
land which were mapped from the east scarp, and thus not examined
by the survey. Of these, the most northerly one is situated about 9
kilometres east of Ain el Haiss; according to Ascherson it bears the
name of Tablemun, and its principal spring had a temperature of 27°
C. The ruins of a Coptic village existing here show that the place
was inhabited in early times. It lies some 5 kilometres S.S.W. from
Tablemun, and about 7 kilometres E.S.E. from Ain el Haiss, and thus
forms the most southerly cultivated spot in the oasis. Both these
localities were reported by our men, sent there to obtain water,
to be untenanted; the lands are doubtless cultivated by men sent
from Ain el Haiss or from the villages for the purpose. A long line
of sand-dunes and scrub runs S.S.W., hiding these places from a
traveller approaching from Ain el Haiss.
Besides the springs at the inhabited spots above described, and
those used for irrigated lands more or less near to them, there are
numerous outlying springs, which, while not serving for irrigation,
are important as localities where water may be obtained. The chief
of these are Ain Gelid, on the road from Minia and Samalut, 3½
kilometres south-east of Harra; Ain Haswi, 9½ kilometres due south
of Harra, to which two roads from the east scarp converge; Ain Beled,
7 kilometres west of Bawitti; and Ain Khaman, half-way between Ain el
Haiss and the south point of the oasis. The water at Ain Khaman is
said to be bitter and the spring is apparently frequently sanded-up
and difficult to find, so that travellers to Farafra should take in
their supplies at Ain el Haiss.
* * * * *
[Footnote 31: _Recensement général de l’Égypte_, tome III, 1896.]
[Footnote 32: Includes about 50 inhabitants of the hamlet of Harra.]
[Footnote 33: A bottle of the water tightly corked burst shortly
afterwards by gaseous pressure; the bottle having been filled at
the bottom of the well doubtless accounts for this, the pressure
due to the head having caused solution of the gas to a greater
extent than could be supported at the surface. The evolved gas was
at first suspected to be methane, as there is frequently a great
deal of decaying vegetable matter in the mouths of the wells; but
it extinguished a taper, and, moreover, the water runs too rapidly
for any accumulation of gaseous decomposition-products to take place.]
[Footnote 34: In Dakhla and Kharga Oases there are only seven and
a half and eight trees respectively per inhabitant.]
CHAPTER V.
* * * * *
GEOLOGY OF THE OASIS.
[Sidenote: Previous geological work.]
The earliest geological observations made in Baharia Oasis appear to
have been those of Cailliaud,[35] who visited the district in 1820,
and recorded the occurrence of volcanic rocks within the depression.
In 1874 the celebrated Rohlfs Expedition was organised, and in
that and the succeeding year traversed large portions of the Libyan
Desert. The work of this Expedition, forms indeed, the basis of our
knowledge of the geology of Egypt generally. The eminent geologist
and palæontologist of that Expedition, Karl A. Zittel, did not,
however, visit Baharia, and the only information with regard to
the geology of this oasis was derived from specimens collected by
Prof. Ascherson. After examining these, Zittel stated[36] that the
floor of the oasis consisted of sandstones, marls, etc., presenting a
considerable resemblance to the lower part of the Overwegi stage;[37]
but concluded, that as they were succeeded at a very short interval
by Nummulitic Limestone, precluding the possibility of the higher
Cretaceous beds, except in a very attenuated form, they must be of
Tertiary age.
In 1894, Capt. H. G. Lyons, R.E.,[38] visited Baharia, and 5 miles
N.N.E. of Zubbo discovered a bed containing small examples of
_Exogyra_. These were examined by Prof. Zittel and referred to as
undersized specimens of _Exogyra Overwegi_ Beyr.[39] This discovery
of Capt. Lyons’ thus showed the series to be undoubtedly of Upper
Cretaceous age.
In the latest edition of Prof. Zittel’s map, the depression was
shown as consisting of Cretaceous beds surrounded by an Eocene
plateau, which was also supposed to separate it from the oasis of
Farafra to the south.
[Sidenote: Geological Survey, Oct.-Dec. 1897.]
A glance at Plate I will be sufficient to show that the work of the
Geological Survey has resulted in large and important additions to our
knowledge of this oasis. The Eocene is seen to form the surrounding
plateau only on the north; while the Cretaceous, consisting of several
well-marked divisions, occupies not only the depression itself, but
forms part of the surrounding plateaux on the east and west sides,
and is continuous with that of Farafra to the south. Moreover, the
relations of the two great formations of Cretaceous and Eocene are
now shown to be those of unconformability and overlap. The actual
extent of volcanic rocks and post-Eocene lacustrine deposits, the
latter a newly-discovered and important series, is now shown for
the first time.[40] Important folding has been detected and numerous
organic remains have been discovered.
The deposits met with in the district admit of classification as
follows:—
RECENT.
1. Sand-dunes, salines, and superficial deposits.
POST EOCENE (OLIGOCENE?).
2. Basalt and Dolerite intrusions.
3. Ferruginous sandstones and quartzites, with
limonite and pisolitic iron-ore, probably
lacustrine in origin.
EOCENE (MIDDLE-LOWER.)
LOWER MOKATTAM- { 4. Limestones with _Nummulites_, _Operculina_,
UPPER LIBYAN. { Echinids, _Lucina_, etc.
UPPER CRETACEOUS.
DANIAN | 5. Thick-bedded White Chalk and grey
crystalline limestone.
CENOMANIAN }
(Some TURONIAN } 6. Limestones and variegated sandstones.
or SENONIAN). }
CENOMANIAN | 7. Sandstones, clays and marls.
These groups will now be dealt with in succession, commencing with
the oldest.
UPPER CRETACEOUS.
CENOMANIAN.
7.—_Sandstones, Clays and Marls_—These, the lowest and oldest
beds, form the floor and parts of the walls of the depression. They
are best developed and exposed in the north end, where their maximum
thickness is about 170 metres; the base of the series is not seen,
and thus their total thickness cannot be estimated. In the north
part of the oasis they are capped, with apparent conformability, by
Eocene limestones, although an intervening band of limestone-grit
may occasionally occur. In the south, the series is followed by
the higher Cretaceous divisions, while in the isolated hills within
the depression these beds are capped either by Eocene limestones,
by basalt or dolerite, or by Post-Eocene ferruginous sandstones
and quartzites.
They consist of friable false-bedded variegated sands and sandstones,
with harder dark-brown ferruginous bands, alternating with sandy
shales and clays, passing through every gradation. Some of the
sandstones are micaceous.
The clays are frequently saliferous, and bands of fibrous gypsum
are occasionally seen.
Large well-formed groups of barytes crystals are occasionally found
in the sandstones of the oasis-floor, and hard thin vein-like masses
of a sandstone, in which the cementing material is barytes, are
frequently met with in the eastern part. The weathering of these
veins, which are evidently produced by the action of infiltrated
solutions in cracks, gives rise to the peculiar spheroidal belted
nodules which often strew the ground, and of which the existence
has been already mentioned by Ascherson and Zittel.
Although these strata are, as a rule, unfossiliferous, organic
remains are common in certain beds, and especially in the dark-brown
ferruginous concretionary bands of the sandstones. The commonest
form is _Exogyra_, individuals of which are found crowded together
in some bands; in most cases they are pseudomorphs in ironstone.
In the hills between Mandisha and El Bawitti this series consists of
soft false-bedded variegated sands and sandstones with ferruginous
bands, alternating with sandy shales, the whole locally showing a
slight westerly dip of between 3° and 7°. Some of the sandstones
contain flakes of colourless mica. The whole series is capped and
protected by a hard bed of dolerite, which has been intruded along
a bedding plane into the series, and now forms the summit of these
hills.
The following section was measured about 4 kilometres west of
Mandisha—
_Top._ Metres.
More or less columnar dolerite, much broken up
by weathering. 10
Sandstones, sandy clays; unfossiliferous 65
Ferruginous sandstone with casts of _Exogyra_;
sandrock and sandstone, with ferruginous
unfossiliferous bands 10
The section is much obscured by downwash and talus of angular
fragments of dolerite, sand, shale, etc. This downwash of shale and
clay is often covered by a hard coating of salt and sand cemented
together, sometimes having the appearance of regular beds.
The following is a detailed section measured at the well-marked
isolated conical hill near the western escarpment, 10 kilometres
north-east of El Qasr (See Plate I.) The series is here capped by
6 metres of nodular and hard compact limestone with _Nummulites_,
_Operculina_, _Lucina_, etc., of Lower Eocene (Libyan series) age.
_Top._ (Hard compact limestone with _Nummulites_, etc., Metres.
Eocene).
Shaly clays with ferruginous bands, occasionally
containing _Exogyra_ shells; alternations of shales
and shaly sandstones. 7·4
Soft shaly and crumbly sandstones, with many hard
ferruginous bands and shaly clays. In the sandstone
occur solid vertical rods of ironstone 5
centimetres in diameter, with concentric structure 21·0
Gray marls with plant-stems and leaves 1·5
Yellow sandstone, well-marked thick compact bed,
false-bedded 11·5
Hard ferruginous band with fish-remains 0·2
Gray shales 1·5
Soft beds of crumbly sand, harder sand-rock, with
clayey layers and ferruginous bands 6·0
Shaly clays with dark-red ferruginous sandy layers,
with gasteropod and _Exogyra_ shells. Green shaly
sandstone on top, and gray sandy clays below 16·0
White and gray-bedded sand-rock 9·0
Obscured beds, one containing small _Exogyra_ and
gasteropods. 15·0
Shaly sandstone with hard reddish nodular
ferruginous bands containing gasteropods
and _Exogyra_. 3·5
Sandy beds, hidden by downwash 6·0
Ferruginous bands containing _Exogyra_ casts }
} 20·0
Sandy shaly clay, false-bedded, with white }
sand-rock. Plant-remains }
Bed of white sand-rock 1·0
Thinly laminated gray shale 2·0
Reddish-brown nodular ferruginous band 0·2
Sandy or clayey beds, obscured by downwash }
} 9·0
Sandy clay }
Sandy beds with dark-brown ferruginous bands 13·0
Sandstone with hard ferruginous bands,
full of _Exogyra_ 6·0
Sandy bed, crowded with well-preserved
_Exogyra_ shells 0·2
Yellow sandy clay with numerous _Exogyra_ casts 3·0
Dark carbonaceous shale with obscure plant-remains }
} 15·0
Sandy beds with bone-fragments }
-----
_Floor of Oasis._ 168·0[41]
At the extreme north end of the depression the cliffs and the lower
part of the conspicuous dark hill, Jebel Horabi, are composed of
shales, clays and sandstones belonging to this series. The cliffs
are capped by Eocene limestone-grits and limestone as in the section
just described. The upper part of Jebel Horabi, however, consists of
a mass of ironstone, often coarsely pisolitic, with some limonite,
and red and yellow ochre. This iron-ore appears to replace the sandy
beds more or less irregularly at the base, but the great mass of
mineral above is probably a later and quite distinct deposit. (_Vide_
under Post-Eocene). Traces of shells occur in places.
In the isolated, limestone-capped hill (Plate I), 6½ kilometres
north-west of Ain el Haiss (the northern spring) these beds are more
fossiliferous than usual.
_Top._ (Limestone, the basal bed of the intermediate series).
Limestone, the basal bed of the intermediate series.
Sandy beds with hard brown ferruginous concretionary }
bands, containing numerous casts of _Cyprimeria_ }
(_Artemis?_) _Arca_, _Cucullæa_, _Odostomopsis }
abeitrensis_, _Baculites_ aff. _syriacus_, and }
_Neolobites Vibrayeanus_ }
} 50 m.
Clays, often shaly }
}
Hard ferruginous sandstone with pockets of }
clean white sand }
Numerous other sections at different points were examined and
measured. Such a series is naturally very variable, and individual
beds do not maintain their characters over wide limits, so that
correlation of different sections is not possible, except in the
roughest manner.
In the southern part of the depression fossils are more frequent,
otherwise the beds are very similar.
The series under consideration is by no means poor in organic remains,
although the latter are more or less restricted to certain bands
and localities. No doubt most of the fossil shells have been removed
by solution, etc., as those now existing are generally preserved as
pseudomorphs in limonite.
The following is a list of fossils which have been obtained from
this series:—[42]
_Cucullæa_ sp. | _Odostomopsis abeitrensis_.
|
_Arca_ sp. | _Natica_ sp.
|
_Exogyra flabellata_. | _Baculites_ (_syriacus?_)
|
_E. mermeti._ | _Neolobites vibrayeanus_.
|
_Venus_ (_Artemis?_) sp. | Fish-teeth and bones.
Silicified wood and plant-remains (including leaves of Dicotyledons).
As regards the age of these beds, it has already been mentioned
that the discovery of _Exogyra_ by Capt. Lyons some years ago, in
the basal bands of the series, showed them at least to be Cretaceous,
although their correlation with the Overwegi stage, on the supposition
that the specimens collected were referable to _E. Overwegi_, is now
shown to be inadmissible. The fairly extensive assemblage of organic
remains obtained from this and the overlying series enables the age
of the beds to be determined with accuracy, and Dr. Blanckenhorn,
who had the first opportunity of making a careful examination of
the collection, has pronounced them to be Cenomanian.[43]
The general lithological character of the beds and the prevalence
of false-bedded sandstones containing in places silicified wood
and plant-remains, including leaves of large trees, point to the
conclusion that the beds of this series were deposited in fairly
shallow water, perhaps in an estuary, at no great distance from
the land.
6.—_Limestones and Variegated Sandstones._—In the walls of
the south end of the oasis, the series just described is always
overlain by a bed of hard, and usually more or less crystalline,
limestone. This limestone forms the lowest member of the series
now under discussion. At the extreme southern end of the oasis,
on the western side, this basal limestone forms a narrow platform,
of only some 200 metres width, separating the respective escarpments
of the two series 6 and 7. On the same side further north the upper
escarpment is usually further back, and in some localities the beds
do not form a single well-marked escarpment at all.
The series also occurs forming a line of hills within the depression,
these hills owing their existence to a remarkable syncline, by which
the beds in question have been folded down to the level of the floor
of the depression.
The beds of the series form, as a rule, a well-marked group,
individual beds often being traceable for great distances and
correlable in different parts of the oasis.
The group as a whole consists of alternations of brown limestone[44]
(with grey crystalline varieties) and variegated sandstones and
clayey beds. A typical section, as exposed on the west scarp in
N. lat. 27° 53′, is as follows:—
_Top._ (Buff-coloured limestone and white chalk of Metres.
Division 5.)
1. Soft brown sandstones and sandy beds,
much obscured 7·6
2. Sandy beds, passing up into a very hard grey
concretionary sandstone, showing ripple-marks 4·6
3. Thin-bedded dark sandstones, mostly very hard 1·5
4. Hard compact thick-bedded grey sandstone,
very concretionary, false-bedded 2·1
5. Shaly sandy beds with ferruginous concretions 1·5
6. Brown impure limestone 0·6
7. Soft variegated sandy beds and sandstone 9·0
8. Rather friable buff-coloured sandstone, more
or less false-bedded, with peculiar
iron-staining 6·0
9. Gray rather concretionary sandstone, with
dark-brown ferruginous bands 3·0
10. Brown crystalline limestone with calcite,
passing into harder grayish crystalline
limestone, flinty at top 6·1
11. Gray marls and shaly clays 3·0
12. Brown crystalline limestone 0·6
----
45·6
_Base._ (Sandstones and clays of Division 7.)
In Jebel Hefhuf, the long narrow ridge-shaped hill a few kilometres
south-east of El Bawitti (Plate VII), the beds of this series are
implicated in the fold, and are found tilted at angles of 30 and 40
degrees. They here consist of a considerable thickness of crystalline
limestone, calcareous grits, shaly clays and sandstones; the softer
beds always form a gully between the harder.
The following were noticed at a point about 7 kilometres from the
western end of the ridge:—
_Top._ Metres.
Calcareous grit, usually siliceous, with bones }
(often a true bone-bed). }
}
Sandy clays, etc., with silicified wood[45] }
}
Thick-bedded brown sandstone, siliceous and } 21
ferruginous in part. }
}
Green and gray iron-stained sandy clays }
}
Thick-bedded brown crystalline limestone }
Brown crystalline limestone with calcite cavities
near base 24
--
_Base._ 45
Below come the clays and sandstones of the lowest series, No. 7.
In the section above, the limestones are usually too crystalline to
show any traces of organic remains, although numerous casts of shells
occur at certain points. The calcareous grit, a very well-marked
bed, has been observed at points widely distant within the oasis;
in places it is a true bone-bed,[46] often highly siliceous and
passing into a hard quartzite. Its occurrence here, at the top of
the Cenomanian series and below the White Chalk (to be described
later) is of great interest, as its position shows it to be probably
homotaxial with the bone-beds of Dakhla Oasis[47] and the Eastern
Desert,[48] where they are of Campanian age. The bone-beds on this
horizon must thus have been deposited over an enormous area.
If followed round from the south end of the oasis along the east
scarp, the beds of this division are found to gradually become
more and more calcareous, consisting often almost entirely of
limestone,[49] and to dip more and more to the south-east, till in the
neighbourhood of the large sandstone-hill near the scarp in latitude
28° 5′, where the tilting reaches its maximum, they dip at 45°
and partly disappear under the sandy covering of the ground between
the hill and the scarp. Further north the dip grows less and the
beds re-appear, forming the top of the main scarp at the oasis-edge.
The organic remains in Division 6 include ammonites, echinids,
with _Ostrea_, _Exogyra_ and masses of _Serpulæ_; fossil wood
and fragments of bone also occur. These fossils are in places
abundant, some bands being almost entirely formed of the shells of
_Exogyra_. The ammonites, although apparently specifically identical
with those of the lower series, attain a much greater size. The
assemblage of forms and the prevalence of bands of limestone point
to deeper water conditions than the foregoing underlying series.
The following is a list of forms obtained as far as determined:—
_Rhabdocidaris_, probably nov. sp.
_Diplopodia marticensis_.
_Heterodiadema libycum_.
_Toxaster radula_.
_Hemiaster lusitanicus_ (_roachensis?_)
_Serpula_ (_Galeolaria_) _filiformis_.
_Pinna_, probably nov. sp. | _Corbula_ sp.
|
**_Inoceramus cripsi_. | **_Natica_ sp.
|
_Ostrea_ sp. | _Tylostoma syriaca_.
|
_Exogyra flabellata_. | _Turritella_ nov. sp. aff. _nodosa_.
|
_E. olisiponensis_. | **_Turritella_ sp.
|
_E. mermeti_. | _Cerithium_ sp.
|
_Plicatula Reynesi_. | _Pterodonta_ aff. _inflata_.
|
_Spondylus_ (?) | _Murex_.
|
_Modiola_ sp. | **_Fusus_ sp.
|
_Cardium_ sp. | **_Drillia pleurotomoides_.
|
_Isocardia_ sp. |
_Nautilus Munieri_.
**_Pachydiscus peramplus_.
_Neolobites vibrayeanus_.
[Footnote **: Indicative of a somewhat later age than Cenomanian.]
The above fauna taken as a whole has a decided Cenomanian aspect,
although some of the forms (marked **) are indicative of a somewhat
later age, i.e., Turonian and Senonian. As the next bed above is
the Danian White Chalk, it is probable that some of the upper beds
of this series form a transitional stage between the Cenomanian and
Danian. The presence of the bone-bed, as already mentioned probably
of the same age as the Dakhla and Eastern Desert bone-beds, i.e.,
Campanian, supports this view. In any case, however, the great
thickness of beds, of Senonian-Danian age, of the southern oases of
Dakhla and Kharga, including the bone-beds, the _Exogyra Overwegi_
series and the ash-gray shales, is here apparently only represented
by a few metres of deposits.
DANIAN.
5. _Thick-bedded White Chalk and grey crystalline limestone._—This
series conformably overlies the upper member of the last. On the
west side the chalk forms a well-marked, snow-white, tortuous
escarpment, lying at a considerable distance (5 to 10 kilometres)
from the oasis-wall. Towards the south, however, it approaches the
depression, its escarpment following immediately above and behind that
of the underlying series. South of the extreme end of the depression
proper, the chalk escarpment forms a long narrow bay, the furthest
point of which is 20 kilometres distant. Thence it runs northwards,
so that to the south-east of the depression the beds of the series are
seen at some little distance from the oasis-edge, but further north
they appear to come to the edge and to overlie the brown limestone
as part of the main scarp in the neighbourhood of the large hill
already mentioned in latitude 28° 5′ N., where the strata dip so
steeply into the plateau. There is some difficulty in correlating the
beds of this group on the two sides of the oasis, for while on the
west they are chalky and in places fossiliferous, being only in part
altered to a crystalline limestone, on the east, doubtless owing to
the folding which produced the strong dipping already referred to,
they are almost entirely composed of hard crystalline and horny
greyish-white limestone, apparently devoid of fossils. (_Vide_ p. 60).
Within the depression it is probable that the White Chalk is
represented in part by some of the hard gray crystalline limestone
in the synclinal fold of Jebel Hefhuf.
On the west and south-west sides of the depression the White Chalk
covers a considerable area, which is characterized by its rough
surface and by numerous depressions, some of considerable size,
eroded by wind-borne sand. To the south it extends to Farafra,
being continuous with the chalk of that oasis.
Lithologically, on the west side of the oasis, the series is
represented by a thick-bedded, snow-white, pure foraminiferal chalk,
30 to 45 metres thick, partly altered in the upper part into hard
gray crystalline limestone. It was probably deposited in water of
considerable depth.
On the west side of the depression the White Chalk yielded a fair
assemblage of fossil-remains, the chief among which were great numbers
of corals. In the upper part Nautili are occasionally met with,
while _Spirorbis_, _Pecten_, _Gryphæa_, fragments of _Inoceramus_
and other shells are fairly common. In addition echinids occur
sparingly and sharks’ teeth are seen here and there. One of the
best fossil localities is 24 kilometres north of Ain el Haiss.
The following is a list of those obtained:—
_Cælosmilia_. | _Exogyra overwegi_.
|
_Linthia_ nov. sp. | _Pecten farafrensis_.
|
_Spirorbis_. | _Spondylus_ nov. sp. aff. _S. Dutempleanus_.
|
_Inoceramus_. | _Nautilus_ sp.
|
_Gryphæa vesicularis_ | _Corax pristodontus_.
As regards the age of this White Chalk the fossil facies has a very
young Cretaceous aspect. Zittel[50] has already shown that the White
Chalk of the Libyan Desert, studied by him in Farafra, Dakhla and
Kharga, is Danian, and the identity of the chalk of Baharia with
that of those oases was satisfactorily proved on the traverse from
the latter oasis to Farafra.
The White Chalk brings our description of the Cretaceous series of
Baharia to a close. As will be shown, it is overlain unconformably by
Eocene deposits. Throughout the deposition of the Cretaceous in this
area it is clear from the character of the beds that the sea-floor
had been continually sinking. After the deposition of the white chalk
subsidence probably ceased and the area became one of elevation,
the Cretaceous beds rising to form land. During this elevation much
folding must have taken place, and subsequently gradual subsidence
set in until in Lower Eocene times the area again became marine and
the deposition of the rocks now to be described began to take place.
* * * * *
EOCENE.
UPPER LIBYAN—LOWER MOKATTAM.[51]
4. _Limestones with Nummulites and Operculina_.—In the north part
of the oasis, both in the walls and in the isolated hills within
the depression, the lower Cenomanian beds, the “Sandstones, clays
and marls,” are directly overlain by buff-coloured or yellowish
limestone of Eocene age, containing _Nummulites_, _Operculina_,
_Ostrea_, etc. The beds of the two series being horizontal, the
junction is one of apparent conformability, but in many localities the
base of the Eocene is marked by a bed of limestone-grit, indicating
the break in continuity of deposition which is known to have occurred
from the respective ages of the beds in question and from a study
of the same beds further to the south.
In a traverse across the plateau to the west of Bawitti,
Operculina-limestones with nummulites were found to form the surface
of the desert. Again on the traverse from Maghagha to the oasis,
already described, no Cretaceous beds were crossed, so that the
plateau N.N.E. and N.W. of the northern end of the oasis is entirely
formed of Eocene rocks. On the east side, however, no certain evidence
of Eocene age in the beds capping the scarp has been found south
of the fault which cuts the scarp as the prolongation of the sharp
syncline of Jebel Hefhuf.
Further south, on the west side, a very dissimilar succession was
found to that on the north. Here at a distance of 20 kilometres from
the oasis wall, at a point 30 kilometres north-west of Ain el Haiss,
the uppermost member of the Cretaceous, the White Chalk itself,
is overlain by a hard gray crystalline limestone containing an
abundance of _Nummulites_ and _Operculina_, with _Lucina_, _Fusus_
and _Natica_. The actual junction of the two series is here difficult
to detect, as the White Chalk is itself altered in its upper part
into a hard gray crystalline limestone, simulating the Eocene beds
themselves, and there is little difference of dip between the two
series. The following foraminifera have been determined from this
locality by Mr. F. Chapman:—[52]
_Textularia? gramen_ | _N. discorbina_
|
_Globigerina bulloides_ | _N. sub-discorbina_
|
_Operculina complanata_, | _Orbitoides_ (_Discocycloides_)
var. _discoidea_ | _dispansa_ (_O. dilabida_, Schwager).
|
_Nummulites gizehensis_, |
var. _Pachoi_ |
|
_N. curvispira_ |
Within the synclinal fold at one point (Plate VII), 17 kilometres
north-east of Ain el Haiss, Eocene echinids and nummulites were
found, but the beds from which they had weathered had been almost
completely removed by denudation. The echinids have been recognized
by Blanckenhorn as the following:—
_Porocidaris Schmedeli_.
_Echinocyamus luciana_.
_Sismondia Sæmanni_.
The following two species of nummulites have been determined by
Chapman:—
_Nummulites Beaumonti_.
_N. sub-Beaumonti_.
[Sidenote: Beds of east side of depression.]
In the scarp due north of Harra, the Cenomanian sandstones and clays
with _Exogyra mermeti_ and _E. africana_ are conformably overlain
by a hard yellow crystalline limestone containing small nummulites;
so that here the Eocene clearly overlies the Cenomanian beds. If this
upper limestone bed be followed southwards along the scarp (see the
sections on Plate VIII) it appears to be continuous as far as the
road leading to Ain Haswi, where the ground forming the bottom of the
oasis-depression rises to the level of the limestone, and the clays
are completely hidden by sand and limestone-debris. There commences
here, however, a considerable thickening of the limestones, and hard
brown limestones, with calcite-filled cavities, and some soft earthy
beds come in; so that here we have the beginning of the series (No 6)
which has been described as recurring on the opposite scarp in the
same latitude, and which forms the hills north-west of Harra. The
topmost bed of the scarp is a hard crystalline limestone, which
appears continuous with that containing nummulites further north,
and the top of the plateau is therefore probably here also Eocene. A
little further south, the plateau-surface is covered with countless
small hills of white chalky limestones with siliceous beds; these
beds were searched without result for fossils, but as they overlie the
hard crystalline rock, above mentioned as probably Eocene, they must
be of Tertiary age, and therefore do not correspond with the Danian
white chalk of the western plateau. As the large hill near the plateau
east-north-east of Ain el Haiss is approached, the thickening of the
lower crystalline brown and grayish-white limestones is very marked,
and here they probably comprise both Cenomanian and Danian rocks; but
the dip south-eastward is so strong that the Eocene must be close to
the edge of the plateau, while the folding doubtless accounts for the
crystalline nature of the rocks and their poverty in fossils. South of
the large hill, a second plateau is met with at a distance of about a
kilometre eastward from the main scarp; this second plateau consists
of soft chalky beds similar to those above-mentioned, underlain by
clays and sandstones, while the main scarp still exhibits brown
and grayish crystalline limestones, though both the dip and the
thickness of these beds become gradually smaller. As the south point
of the oasis is approached the limestones thin out, till at the end
only a few beds of hard yellow-brown limestone occur in the clays;
these beds are continuous with those containing Cenomanian fossils
on the west plateau. Thus at the south-east portion of the scarp the
Danian is either absent, or represented by very thin beds at a little
distance from the oasis. It might be suggested that the soft chalky
limestones which form the second or upper plateau correspond with
the Danian white chalk of the west side; but several considerations
tend to negative this view. In the first place, it has been mentioned
above that similar soft chalky limestones occur at about the same
horizon further north, where they overlie beds which are probably
Eocene. Again, on the line followed from the south end of the oasis
of Minia, nummulites were found in abundance only a few kilometres
away from the oasis. And lastly, these chalky limestones never show
folding comparable with that of the lower beds, a fact which seems
nearly conclusive in view of the unconformity known to exist at
other points between the Cretaceous and the Eocene.
If the Eocene age assigned above to the chalky limestones of the
eastern plateau be correct, it is possible that the clays and
sandstones which underlie and separate them from the Cretaceous
limestones may represent the Esna Shales of the more southern oases,
though sandstones are elsewhere absent from this series.
_Unconformity and overlap._—From the above description of the
Eocene rocks of Baharia we see that their relation to the underlying
Cretaceous system is one of unconformable overlap.[53] In the north
part of the oasis we have the Eocene (Up. Lib.-Low. Mok.) overlying
directly the lower beds of the Cenomanian; further south, on the
west, the same beds overlie the White Chalk of Danian age, and no
doubt at an intermediate point the Eocene overlies the intermediate
beds. On the east side, though the actual demarcation of the Eocene
and Cretaceous beds is a matter of some difficulty, the difference
of dip between the two systems in some localities is well marked.
It seems certain then that after the deposition of the Cretaceous
beds in this region, elevation took place with a considerable amount
of folding (which will be noticed fully further on). The land thus
formed underwent a marked denudation before subsidence took it below
the surface of the sea and allowed of the deposition of the Eocene
deposits just described.
POST-EOCENE (OLIGOCENE?).
3. _Ferruginous grits and quartzites, with limonite and pisolitic
iron-ore._ As already mentioned, one of the most striking
topographical features of the oasis is the number of isolated
black, and for the most part perfectly conical, hills within
the depression. These hills are composed of the lower Cenomanian
sandstones and clays of the Cretaceous, and owe their existence
and dark colour to protecting caps of very hard, dark, ferruginous,
silicified grits and quartzites, often associated with limonite. The
first impression obtained on examining these rocks, is that they are
merely silicified and ferruginous bands of the sandstone series below,
which forms the general oasis-floor and part of the walls and hills.
A careful investigation of the deposits over a large area, however,
shows this view to be untenable; for while in most of the isolated
conical hills within the depression, the beds in question cap the
lower sandstones and clays (No. 7) of the Cenomanian, on a portion
of the edge of the western plateau they cap the bed of limestone
(basal member of No. 6) which itself caps the lower sandstones and
clays. (Plate I). There must therefore be an unconformable overlap
below the two series.
This is further borne out by the facts, first, that the ferruginous
silicified grit has never been observed to pass under the limestone
in the walls of the oasis, although found capping hills in close
proximity; and secondly, that the limestone never occurs below
the ferruginous silicified grit in the isolated conical hills. The
former would happen if the deposit in question represented the top
of the sandstones and clays, the latter if it represented the next
bed above the limestone.
Furthermore, these beds are found capping hills close to the
oasis-wall, and occurring on exactly the same level as the limestone
capping the latter, suggesting at first sight some sort of connection
between the two; the beds are, however, so entirely different that
it is not possible to imagine the one to be an altered condition
of the other; moreover, if such were so, the gradual passage of
limestone to the ferruginous beds should be visible, but such has
never been observed.
The only possible view of the origin of these beds, consistent
with the above facts, is that they represent a far younger deposit
than the strata on which they lie, a deposit formed in fact in a
slight depression in the Eocene and Cretaceous rocks, long anterior
to the time when erosion was carving out the area to its present
form. The pisolitic character of the iron-ore of Jebel Horabi and
the usually large amount of ferruginous material, as well as the
general character of the beds, indicate shallow-water lacustrine
deposition and precipitation. No organic remains have as yet been
observed in these deposits.
It should be mentioned here that it is frequently impossible to
draw any sharp of line of demarcation between these deposits and the
undoubted Cenomanian sandstones below, when they rest on the latter
in the hills within the depression. The sandstones themselves are
frequently ferruginous and limonitic in their upper layers. This,
however, is easily explained on the supposition that there would have
been considerable infiltration into these porous sandstones forming
the lake-floor, with consequent deposition of ferruginous material.
Lithologically the beds in question present a considerable similarity
to the quartzites and hard ferruginous sandstones of Jebel el Ghudda
and Gar el Hamra on the road from Feshn to the oasis (ante, p. 18,
20), and also to the beds of Jebel Ahmar, near Cairo, and in parts
of the Fayum. In the absence of evidence of their precise age,
they may be provisionally classed as Oligocene.
[Sidenote: Jebel Horabi.]
A short description of these beds in a few special localities will
now be given.
This well-marked hill, situated at the extreme northerly end
of the depression, consists of a mass of ferruginous material,
including limonite, pisolitic iron-ore, red and yellow ochre, etc.,
lying on a series of sandy shales, clays and sandstones belonging
to the Cenomanian (Series No. 7). Thin bands of limonite, etc.,
occur in the clays and sandstones, but the great mass of mineral
appears to form a distinct deposit capping, and in part replacing,
the former. The iron-ore occurs in every stage of purity.
Samples from Jebel Horabi, analysed by Mr. A. Lucas, gave the
following results:—
Pisolitic ironstone Ferric oxide 58·68% ≡ 41·07% iron.
Limonite „ 81·06% ≡ 58·84% „
[Sidenote: Isolated hills in centre of Oasis.]
These hills all show the same characters, with the exception of one
or two capped by limestone or basalt.
They consist of sandstones, with occasional shales and clayey bands,
of the Cenomanian series (No. 7) capped by a hard brown or black
silicified ferruginous grit, which frequently passes into a typical
quartzite. This cap may be of any thickness up to some seven or eight
metres. Its junction with the sandstones below is generally obscured
by the mass of talus lying on the slopes, but where visible it is
difficult to draw any line of demarcation between the two, there
being in some cases a more or less gradual increase of hardness and
ferruginous material from the upper part of the sandstones upwards. In
one hill an ordinary yellow sandstone was observed, when followed
up, to contain an increasing number of ferruginous concretions,
at first in isolated lumps, or strings, but higher in such quantity
as to present the appearance of a breccia, which latter gradually
passed up into a hard dense mass of ferruginous quartzite. This
at first sight suggested a similar age for the whole rock-section,
but would be quite explicable on the supposition of infiltration,
as suggested above.
2.—_Basalt and Dolerite._—Three large hills in the north-west
of the oasis, notably Jebel Mayesra, Jebel Mandisha, and the
northern half of Jebel Hefhuf, are capped with a basic volcanic
rock, the existence of which was noted by Cailliaud[54] so long
ago as 1820. Ascherson[55] further studied the distribution of
this rock in 1876, and collected specimens which were carefully
examined later by Prof. Zirkel.[56] The latter diagnosed the rock
as a typical plagioclase-basalt, strongly resembling that of the
Giant’s Causeway; it is finely holocrystalline, containing augite,
plagioclase and olivine, with some magnetite and ilmenite, and very
sparing flakes of biotite; the resemblance of the rock to basaltic
intrusions in Tripoli and at Abu Zabel (between Cairo and Bilbeis)
is remarked on by Zittel and Ascherson, and the opinion that it was
intruded into the sandstones in later Tertiary times is put forward.
The basaltic intrusions occur at four separate points in the oasis,
representing two more or less inclusive areas; the total area covered
by the rock is about 14 square kilometres. The intrusion appears
to have been in the form of laccolites; in Jebel Hefhuf the basalt
is intrusively interbedded in the Cenomanian, between the lower
sandstones and the overlying limestone, both of which rocks show
distinct signs of contact-metamorphism. The sandstone shows generally
very little alteration, though in some places much hardened; while the
limestone is highly crystalline and of a beautiful red colour near the
igneous rock. The crystalline nature is, however, more due to folding
than to contact-metamorphism, as it occurs in all the limestones of
the neighbourhood. In several places the vertical pipes, up which
the molten mass was thrust, with disturbance of the sandstone,
can be traced; and dykes are occasionally seen near the edge of the
deposits. The section seen in Jebel Mandisha is as follows:—
_Top._ Metres.
Columnar basalt and dolerite, much broken up by
weathering 9·2
Sandstones, clays and sandy shales 64·0
Ferruginous sandstones with casts of _Exogyra_ }
(thin bed) } 9·2
}
Sand-rock and sandstone with ferruginous bands }
----
82·4
In a small ⅂-shaped hill in lat. 28° 46½′ N., long. 28°
48′ E. of G. a mass of basalt occurs which appears to be mainly
the remains of a large pipe or “neck.” The igneous rock here
shows flow-structure at the sides, being hard and crystalline
in the centre. It has altered the sandstones at the contact
very considerably, converting them into a greenish rock full of
chalcedony. Here, as in the other deposits, the basalt shows distinct
columnar jointing and the resulting blocks weather into spheroidal
masses where exposed.
The igneous rocks of Baharia are therefore Post-Cretaceous in age
and it seems reasonable to assume, as suggested by Mayer-Eymar,[57]
that they are of Lower Oligocene age, contemporaneous with the
basalt-sheets of the Fayum, of Abu Roash and the desert to the
west, and of Abu Zabel. The andesite neck passed on the road between
Maghagha and the oasis (p. 22) and the larger masses of Bahnessa and
other places in the Western Desert were likewise probably erupted
at the same time.
RECENT.
1.—SAND-DUNES, SALINES AND SUPERFICIAL DEPOSITS.
_Blown Sand_, carried along by the prevailing north and north-west
winds, is heaped up against all obstacles in its path, such as hills
and vegetation; sometimes it is carried over these obstacles, only
to fall and accumulate in the wind-shadow on the other side. The
cultivated lands of the villages are for the most part surrounded
by sand-accumulations, and some low dunes occur in various parts of
the oasis; the positions of the latter will be better gathered from
the maps than from any mere description. Baharia itself is more free
from sand than any of the oases to the south of it, but even here
the deposits of this material are very considerable, and as already
mentioned extensive sand-dunes occur on the desert to the east,
at a short distance from the depression.
_Salt-swamps_ occur in the north of the oasis, having probably been
produced by the overflowing of springs forming lagoons, which have
taken the salt from the surrounding clays, the water from the springs
only containing a small percentage of salt. The salt-swamps round
Mandisha are now covered with a thin rough dry white crust of salt
mixed with clay and sand; when this is broken through a salty sludge
is seen to exist below, sometimes in a quite liquid state; the depth
of sludge is probably not very great, but there is enough to immerse
a camel up to its neck, as was found by experience during the survey.
_Clays._—Sandy clays of recent origin occur at isolated spots on
the floor of the oasis, notably near Ain el Haiss, where they are now
being rapidly removed by the action of the wind. Many of the springs
are also depositing a certain amount of clay on the low ground.
THE TECTONICS OF THE OASIS.
The rocks of the district have undergone a considerable amount of
disturbance along certain lines.
The most important fold is a well-marked syncline beginning at the
west scarp in lat. 28° 7′ N. and running across the depression in
a direction 30° north of east until it strikes the eastern escarpment
in lat. 28° 23′. This synclinal fold is remarkably sharp, the width
being generally only a few hundred metres, but the dips so strong
as to bring the limestone beds nearly vertical in places. Along the
line of fold we find the whole of the series 6 and 7 brought down
to the level of the floor of the oasis, but on either side the beds
so quickly regain their horizontal position that no trace of the
folding is to be seen (Plate VII). The White Chalk in these folds
is always altered by pressure into a hard crystalline limestone,
as are also the limestones of the Cenomanian below. The fold is not
actually continuous across the area, but is in reality made up of a
number of long narrow ellipsoidal depressions, or cup-shaped hills,
in which the end-dips are always less strong than those of the
sides. At its most southerly point, where it runs into the scarp
14 kilometres north-west of Ain el Haiss, the two series 6 and 7
are found dipping northwards at angles up to 40° (and at one spot
78°). On the other side of the fold the same beds dip southwards
at only 5°, and the appearance of the fold at this point suggests
the existence of an accompanying fault (fig. 1).
[Illustration: Fig. 1.—Section across Syncline, 12½ kilometres
N.W. of Ain Haiss.
_a._ Shales and sandstones with _Exogyra_, _Arca_, _Cucullaea_,
etc., _Neolobites vibrayeanus_, etc. _b._ Hard crystalline limestone
with flints. _c._ Sandstone passing into hard quartzite. _d._
Variegated sandstones with bands of sandy limestone. _e._ Hard
dark-brown siliceous crystalline limestone. _f._ Calcareous grit
(≡ bone-bed) passing in part into sandstone, and capped by hard
crystalline limestone with shells.]
Between this point and Jebel Hefhuf the fold is marked by a line
of low isolated limestone-capped, cup-shaped hills, the largest and
best marked of which is 16 kilometres north of Ain el Haiss. Here the
maximum dip amounts to 55° on the western side of the basin-shaped
hill.
Jebel Hefhuf is, perhaps, the most striking part of the fold. The
southern portion owes its existence entirely to this syncline,
consisting as it does of a long, and remarkably narrow, ridge-shaped
hill of folded rocks. Dips of 50° and 60° are common in places,
and the limestones implicated in the fold are usually rendered hard
and highly crystalline. The highest crystalline limestones in Jebel
Hefhuf probably represent the White Chalk, but the beds are too
crystalline to show any traces of fossils.
It is noteworthy that all the basaltic rocks of the oasis occur on the
north-west side, and at no great distance from this syncline. To the
north-east of Jebel Hefhuf the line of fold passes apparently between
the range of elongated hills west of Harra and the larger somewhat
triangular hill to the north of it, and although the limestones and
clays of these hills show a considerable amount of folding they do
not exhibit it in so striking a manner as Jebel Hefhuf.
Continuing the line till it cuts the last scarp, we arrive at a
prominent sandstone headland, in the gullies on either side of which
the folding can be very well seen. To the west of the headland the
beds are thrown sharply up in the valley so as to be nearly vertical;
this up-throw has resulted in an actual fault, the denuded edges of
the vertical sandstone and clay-beds being overlain by a horizontal
bed of limonite. The nose of the promontory is of sandstone, this
being thrown up somewhat on the south-east side of the fault;
the upper sandstone and clay beds dip south-east again somewhat
sharply on the face of the headland and come down to the level of the
oasis floor. It would seem therefore that at this point we have the
syncline between two sharp anticlines, the north western of which
has culminated in the fault.
The southern end of the oasis is cut out in a well-marked gentle
anticline.
On the west side from Ain el Haiss southwards the whole succession
of Cretaceous rocks dip steadily to the north-west at from four to
five degrees, while those on the east scarp show an equally constant
dip to the south-east, which increases further north, till in the
neighbourhood of lat. 28° 5′ its magnitude reaches 45°; it becomes
gradually less further northwards. Owing to this strong tilting of the
beds, the large hill near the scarp consists entirely of sandstones
and clays with a cap of quartzite and limonite, although nearly
or quite as high as the scarp; the beds here recover their nearly
horizontal position at a very short distance north-west of the line of
folding, as do also those of the plateau on the other side the line.
Besides the above-described disturbances of the beds, there are some
smaller local disturbances which are extremely well-marked. Thus
for instance the large flat-topped hill in N. lat 28° 7′ and
E. long. 28° 48′, like several smaller hills E.S.E. of it, bears
a cap of limestones, although its height is less than that of the
sandstone hills around it. The section of this hill at its western
side is as follows:—
_Top._ Metres.
Silicified limestone 0·6
Hard impure chalk 2·4
Silicified limestone 1·2
Pale green soft sandy and clayey limestone 6·1
Sandy ferruginous conglomerate 0·3
Clays with sandy and ferruginous layers,
extending to oasis floor. approximately 22·0
----
32·6
The beds are horizontal, and the neighbouring smaller hills which
possess a similar limestone covering are precisely of the same
height. It would seem impossible to account for these limestone
caps in the midst of higher sandstone hills except by assuming that
they mark the positions of islands, subsequently denuded, in the
post-Eocene lake which deposited the limonite caps on the other hills;
at the same time they evidently represent part of a synclinal fold,
though the horizontal position and non-crystalline character of the
beds show that this syncline must have been wide and shallow. It is
scarcely possible to think there can have been a locally calcareous
deposit from the lake which generally deposited the sandstone and
limonite; the sudden transition from the black sandstone and limonite
of the surrounding hills to the snow-white limestones of those under
consideration is so strongly marked in the field as to forbid such
a supposition. At the same time, no fossils were found in the beds,
so they cannot be satisfactorily correlated with the limestones of
the oasis-scarps, and they are of somewhat variable character at
different points of the hill.
It is evident then that in the south part of the depression the
Cretaceous beds as a whole form a large flat anticline, which is
continuous with that of Farafra to the south.[58] This bears out
the statement of Capt. H. G. Lyons,[59] some years ago, that he
believed Baharia and Farafra Oases to lie on an anticlinal at right
angles to that of Dakhla and Kharga. The anticlinal and synclinal
folds of Baharia are parallel and were evidently produced by the
same earth-movements.
[Sidenote: Age of the folding.]
Within the oasis-area too, some other traces of folding are visible;
in lat. 28° 11′ N., long. 29° 1′ E. are two small hills of clays
and sandstones (the latter locally green in colour), the beds of which
dip about 30° E. and W. respectively, showing a local anticline
whose axis runs nearly north-and-south. In this neighbourhood, as
in the oasis generally, it is not possible to trace the folding in
the beds of the low ground, owing to its thick sandy covering.
Another point of disturbance is on the western plateau in N. lat. 28°
26′, E. long. 28° 49′, some 11½ kilometres north-west of El
Qasr. Here (Fig. 2) along a N.E. and S.W. line, crossing an otherwise
level plateau, the Eocene beds, and probably also the Cretaceous
below, are thrown up in a sharp anticlinal fold, which however, is
not continuous but consists of a number of isolated bulges, with dips
up to 50°. The plateau at this point consists of Eocene Operculina
and Nummulitic limestone, and the effect of the anticlinal fold is
to expose the beds of sandstone below, which, as already mentioned,
are probably Cretaceous.
[Illustration: Fig. 2.—Sketch showing probable relations of Eocene
and Cretaceous in anticline on Western Desert plateau, 11½ kilometres
N.W. of El Qasr.
EOCENE.—1. Grey crystalline limestone. 2. Hard white gritty
chalky limestone. 3. Grey calcareous sandstone. 4. Limestone with
_Nummulites_ and _Operculina_.
UPPER CRETACEOUS.—5. Calcareous-grit. 6. White
sandstone. 7. Crystalline limestone. 8. Cenomanian clays
and sandstones with _Exogyra flabellata_, _E. Mermeti_ and
_E. olisiponensis_, etc.]
With regard to the age of the tectonic movements which produced the
synclinal and anticlinal folds of Baharia, it must be admitted that
it is not easy to speak with absolute certainty, owing to want of
evidence at one or two points. It appears certain, however, that
they belong to two great movements, separated by a vast interval in
time. The first disturbance of the beds would appear to have taken
place at the end of the Cretaceous period, when it seems probable
that the area in question underwent upheaval into dry land. It
seems tenable that it was during this movement that the large flat
anticline, so well seen in the south part of Baharia and in the north
of Farafra, was produced, as the Eocene beds forming the plateau
immediately to the east of the Cretaceous beds do not show any sign of
disturbance.[60] The subsiding Cretaceous land, on which these Eocene
deposits were laid down, must therefore have had the form of a long,
flat, irregular ridge of anticlinal structure, probably extending
from Dakhla through the oases of Farafra and Baharia to Abu Roash.
The other folds of Baharia, being parallel to the anticline just
dealt with, would at first sight appear to date from the same
movement. With regard to the syncline, however, two observations
appear which force us to consider its age as very much later; these
are, first, the occurrence of nummulites and other Eocene fossils
within the fold at a point 16 kilometres north of Ain el Haiss,
and secondly, the fact that at the northern extremity of the fold,
where it meets the eastern scarp, the Eocene beds are affected. With
regard to the first of these, the beds themselves, from which the
fossils had been derived, were not observed to be actually affected
by the fold, and therefore the evidence here, although suggestive,
is not conclusive. The evidence at the north end of the fold,
however, if substantiated, proves that the age of the fold must be
post-Eocene. With regard to the anticlinal fold on the north-western
plateau there is no question, as this clearly affects the Eocene
beds; it also is parallel to the other folds. These folds affecting
Eocene beds, lead us to the conclusion that there was another period
of possibly ever more important earth-movements, of the exact date of
which we cannot be certain, although it is not impossible that it was
closely connected with those great earth-movements of Pliocene times,
which gave rise to the chief topographic fixtures of N.E. Africa
and S.W. Asia.
[Sidenote: Summary.]
_Summary of the Geological History of the Oasis._—The oldest[61]
sedimentary deposit in Egypt is the Nubian Sandstone of the
Cretaceous. From the general absence of marine shells in this rock
we may premise that the deposit was laid down in an inland sea or
lake, which must have covered an enormous extent of country. In the
northern part of Egypt the upper part of the Nubian Sandstone becomes
fossiliferous, the fauna having an undoubted Cenomanian aspect; this
is the case in Wadi Araba, at Abu Roash and in Baharia. Further to
the south, however, as in Dakhla, the Nubian Sandstone first becomes
fossiliferous in Senonian times. We may explain this difference
in the two localities on the supposition that a gradual subsidence
was taking place with a corresponding gradual encroachment of the
sea from the north, which covered the northern part of the country
(including Wadi Araba, Abu Roash and Baharia) in Cenomanian times
but did not reach the latitude of Dakhla till considerably later,
i.e., in Senonian times.
From the Cenomanian onwards throughout the Cretaceous, the
Baharia area was one of continued subsidence, the lithological and
palæontological characters of the beds showing evidence of a gradual
increase in conditions of depth, until the maximum was reached in
the deposition of the White Chalk in Danian times.
Between the deposition of the uppermost Cretaceous rocks and the
Eocene it is probable that a considerable interval elapsed, during
which the Cretaceous was elevated into land, with much folding
and fracturing of the rocks and subsequent denudation.[62] It was
probably during this upheaval that the Cretaceous of Baharia assumed
its anticlinal structure.
Subsequently, subsidence taking place, the Eocene sea submerged the
area, and deposits were laid down on the uneven Cretaceous land in an
unconformable and overlapping manner. In Baharia the lowest member
of the Eocene of Egypt, the Esna Shales, is not present, although
further to the south towards Farafra it has been observed. On the
east side, some sandstones and clays met with below the white chalk
beds of the outer plateau may belong to this division.
The first undoubted Eocene deposits in the Baharia area are the
limestones with _Operculina_ and _Nummulites_ which unconformably
overlie different members of the Cretaceous in the north and west
sides, and eastward of the south end. The whole of the Eocene deposits
are here, however, only a few metres thick, which contrasts strangely
with the enormous thickness of the deposits of the same age in the
Nile Valley. This is intelligible, however, on the supposition that
near the subsiding Cretaceous land the conditions for continued
accumulation of deposits were not so favourable as further to the
east, where deeper water conditions obtained.
Subsequently, in Post-Eocene times, the whole underwent upheaval, and
it is probable that during this elevation the main synclinal fold[63]
was produced, together with the minor anticline. The evidence for
placing the date of the formation of the syncline anterior to the
deposition of the ferruginous grits, limonite, etc. (Series No. 3)
stands on the following basis: the absence of proof of the folding in
question having affected the beds of Series 3, and the presence of a
horizontal deposit of limonite on the upturned edges of the strata,
at the point where the fold meets the eastern scarp (page 66). About
the same time, probably, basalt and dolerite was intruded into the
Cenomanian rocks below.
[Sidenote: Formation of depression.]
As a result of the sharp folds the upper limestones were cracked, and
their denudation by natural agencies followed, forming a slight hollow
similar in shape to that which the oasis now exhibits; the agent of
denudation cannot be stated with certainty, but whatever force came
into operation it would find easy work in the cracked-up rocks, and
still easier would be its task in partly removing the soft Cenomanian
sandstones and clays after the harder limestones had disappeared. The
primary excavation of the hollow was followed by the formation of a
great lake, in which were laid down deposits of sandstone, quartzite,
and iron-ore; this lake doubtless surrounded islands, represented
to-day by those hills which still preserve their limestone-caps;
it extended, or similar lakes existed, beyond the oasis-limits,
forming the quartzites and ferruginous sandstones passed on the
way from Maghagha to Baharia, and was perhaps continuous with the
Oligocene and post-Oligocene sea which covered a large part of the
country to the north.
In later times the area finally became continental and denudation
gradually sculptured the oasis to its present form; this sculpturing
would no doubt proceed rapidly in the moist climate which is known
to have existed in Egypt in Pliocene and early Pleistocene times,
and is being continued to-day by the powerful agency of the desert
wind-borne sand and changes of temperature.
The water-supply of the oasis is probably derived from the tropical
rains of the mountainous regions of Central Africa, the water from
which penetrates the ground and flows northwards along permeable beds
of sandstone, etc., in which it is confined by other impermeable
strata, until tapped naturally or artificially in the great oases
or depressions of the Libyan Desert.
* * * * *
[Footnote 35: _Voyage à Méroé_, etc., _op. cit._]
[Footnote 36: _Geologie, u. Palæontologie der Libyschen
Wüste_. Cassel, 1883.]
[Footnote 37: Zittel had divided the Cretaceous of the Western Oases
into the following main divisions:—
_Top._
1. Well-bedded limestone and earthy chalk.
2. Greenish and ash-grey shaly clays.
3. Beds with _Exogyra Overwegi_.
]
[Footnote 38: _On the Stratigraphy and Physiography of the Libyan
Desert of Egypt_, Quart. Jour. Geol. Soc., Nov. 1894, Vol. 50,
p. 535.]
[Footnote 39: Letter from Prof. Zittel to Capt. Lyons, dated May
19th, 1894. It was afterwards suggested (BEADNELL, _op. cit._
Int. Geol. Congress, p. 10) that these specimens were possibly not
_E. Overwegi_ at all, and Mr. Bullen Newton, of the British Museum,
who has undertaken the determination of the Baharia collection,
confirms this, stating that the so-called specimens of _Exogyra
Overwegi_, referred to in Capt. Lyons’ paper, are in reality
examples of _E. mermeti_.]
[Footnote 40: A short account of the geological structure of Baharia
has already been published:— BEADNELL, op. cit. (_Découvertes
Géologiques Récentes_, etc.) Int. Geol. Cong. 1900; Paris, 1900.]
[Footnote 41: This, with the 6 metres of Eocene limestone above,
gives the height of the hill above the floor as 174 metres. Ascherson
gives 162, but the difference is probably due to our readings being
commenced on the lowest ground in the neighbourhood, where the oldest
beds were exposed.]
[Footnote 42: The specific names given in this report are based on
determinations made by Dr. Blanckenhorn in Cairo and by Mr. Bullen
Newton at the British Museum.]
[Footnote 43: In connection with the discovery of Cenomanian deposits
in Baharia Oasis, _vide_, _Geological Magazine_, Nos. 127, 430, 432,
1900 (H. J. L. B.).]
[Footnote 44: A very striking feature of the brown limestones is
the abundance in them of calcite-lined cavities; these are often
arranged in planes parallel to the bedding, as is well seen for
instance in the hills north-west of Harra.]
[Footnote 45: Mr. Gorringe first drew attention to the presence of
fossil wood in these beds.]
[Footnote 46: An analysis of this bone-bed is given in _Report on the
Phosphates of Egypt_, Geol. Surv. Egypt, publication, Cairo. 1900.]
[Footnote 47: BEADNELL, _Dakhla Oasis, its Topography and
Geology_. Geol. Surv. Egypt. Report, 1899, Pt. IV. Cairo. 1901,
pp. 96-98.]
[Footnote 48: BARRON and HUME, _Topography and Geology of the Eastern
Desert of Egypt_, Geol. Surv. Report, Cairo, 1903.]
[Footnote 49: It may perhaps be that the lowest limestone bed
disappears, having thinned out, in which case it is difficult to
distinguish the sandstones and clays of this division from those of
the one below.]
[Footnote 50: Zittel, _op. cit._]
[Footnote 51: As it seems probable that the Lower Mokattam is a
somewhat local development of the upper part of the Libyan Series,
and it being difficult or impossible in many areas to separate the
two, we shall in our description of the Eocene of this oasis make
no attempt at a division.]
[Footnote 52: CHAPMAN, _Geol. Mag._ Dec. IV, Vol. IX, Feb. and March,
1902, pp. 62-67, 106-114.]
[Footnote 53: It should be noted here that the presence of an overlap
was suspected by Capt. H. G. Lyons as long ago as 1894, as in his
paper (_op. cit._ 535) he says:—
“At the north-east and east of the Baharia Oasis the Upper Mokattam
beds, characterized by _Ostrea Fraasi_ and _O. Cloti_ (as kindly
determined by Dr. Zittel), occur 30 miles north-east and 20 miles
east of Upper Cretaceous beds containing _Exogyra Overwegi_ in the
oasis, and with a difference in altitude of less than 200 feet. As
there is no marked dip of the beds, we have evidently an overlap
of the remainder of the Cretaceous beds and the Libyan and Lower
Mokattam beds of the Eocene, and this inference is borne out by the
short distance between the Cretaceous and Miocene outcrops to the
west on Dr. Zittel’s route to Siwa.”]
[Footnote 54: _Voyage à Méroé_, I., p. 189. The same observer
also noted the presence of nummulites in the northern scarp, and the
ferruginous nature of the sandstones composing the hills of the oasis
(p. 190).]
[Footnote 55: _Zeitsch. d. Ges. f. Erdkunde zu Berlin_, 1885, p. 134.]
[Footnote 56: _Geol. d. Liby. Wüste_, 1883, pp. 122, 123.]
[Footnote 57: _Le Ligurien et le Tongrien en Égypte_,
Bull. Soc. Géol. France, sec. III, vol. XXI (1893).]
[Footnote 58: BEADNELL, _op. cit. (Farafra Oasis)_ p. 28.]
[Footnote 59: LYONS, _op. cit._ pp. 537-540.]
[Footnote 60: _Op. cit._ (_Découvertes Géologiques Récentes_,
etc.) pp. 855-856.]
[Footnote 61: We except, of course, the very local areas where a
Carboniferous fauna has been detected.]
[Footnote 62: Compare, _op. cit. The Cretaceous Region of Abu
Roash_, etc.]
[Footnote 63: Or, as suggested above, these folds may have
been produced in later times, i.e., Pliocene, when important
earth-movements were known to have taken place in N.E. Africa and
S.W. Asia.]
CHAPTER VI.
* * * * *
ANTIQUITIES.
The archæological remains of Baharia Oasis admit of a classification,
based on their ages, into the following three groups:—
(_a_) _Egyptian_, consisting principally of a stela of the 18th, a
tomb of the 19th, and temples of the 26th Dynasty.
(_b_) _Roman_, including the ruins of an arch and various other
structures; also the subterranean aqueducts still in use for
conveying water from springs to the cultivated land.
(_c_) _Coptic_, embracing the ruins of several villages and a church.
As the literature concerning these is mostly fragmentary and
scattered, it may be well to describe briefly the various remains,
following the above classification.
(_a_) EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES.
The oldest inscription yet found in Baharia is that on a stela of
the time of Thothmes II, which was discovered by Ascherson in 1876
to the west of Bawitti.
This stela is of historical importance, as being not only the
oldest of all antiquities from the oases, but also older than any
inscription bearing reference to the oases, and as proving that even
at the beginning of the New Empire the Egyptians had taken possession
of the oases and erected temples to their gods therein.
Ascherson was also the first to record the existence of the ruins
of an Egyptian temple in the oasis. This structure is marked on
his map[64] as existing some 2 kilometres north-west of El Qasr;
he appears, however, to have noted no inscription on the walls (the
only parts remaining) and his brief references to it in his memoir
do not give any data as to its age.
In his recent visit (1900) to Baharia, Steindorff[65] discovered
the remains of two Egyptian temples. The first of these exists under
modern dwellings in the middle of the village of El Qasr, in a farm
belonging to the Omda. It contains at present only one room, with no
inscriptions except on the roof, whence, however, we learn that the
building was erected during the reign of King Apries (B.C. 588-570)
to “_Ammon-Re, the Lord of the Oasis, who dwells in Desdest_,”
by a certain _Weh-eb-Re-nofr_ and one _Ded-Khens-ef-Onkh_.
The second temple found by Steindorff, erected by the same “_Prince
and Ruler of the Oasis_” _Ded-Khens-ef-Onkh_, lies about 2
kilometres south-west of El Qasr. It was erected in the reign of
Amasis (B.C. 569-526) and is therefore of somewhat later date than
the foregoing. The large room, excavated from sand by Steindorff,
has its walls ornamented with representations of Egyptian deities,
the colours of which are admirably preserved.
It is curious to note that at least one, and perhaps both, of the
temples discovered by Steindorff had been previously visited by
Ascherson in 1876. This observer mentions (_op. cit._ p. 140) “a
well preserved underground chamber which serves as a dwelling for
the servants of the Omda, which may be of Egyptian origin. On the
roof of this chamber (which is 7·25 metres long, 2·40 metres broad,
and 2·90 metres high) is a line of inscription,” which latter he
was unable to read owing to the darkness. There can be no doubt of
the identity of this place with the first of the temples described by
Steindorff. Further on in his memoir (p. 142) Ascherson also mentions
a ruin called “Qasr Megasba, a sandstone structure having its sides
oriented to the four cardinal points, 8·5 metres long, 6·9 metres
broad, with a small entrance-hall to the south and a large room which
can only be entered through the smaller one.” He relates that the
door-way is walled up with crude brick, and does not say whether he
entered the building or not, so that it is not certain whether this
place is identical with Steindorff’s second temple. The distance
of the ruin from El Qasr, as shown on Ascherson’s map, is about 4
kilometres, i.e., double that mentioned by Steindorff, but otherwise
the nature of the building is strongly suggestive of an identity.
In his exploration of the large Necropolis east of El Qasr and
Bawitti, Steindorff records the finding of a tomb of the New Empire,
dating from the beginning of the 19th Dynasty (B.C. 1300). On clearing
out this tomb, extremely interesting decorations were found on its
walls. The tomb consists of several chambers hewn in the rock,
only two of which are decorated with reliefs, and belonged to a
certain Amenhotep, prince of the Northern Oasis and of the Oasis
Huye. The explorer records that on one of the walls of the first
chamber Amenhotep is represented sitting by his wife, his people
bringing to him all kinds of drinks and food, including fish; on
another wall he is seen superintending the manufacture of wine,
while on a third is a lively representation of the funeral of the
deceased. The pictures on the walls of the second room are of similar
kind, but of a more religious character.
Steindorff remarks that this is the first important tomb of Egyptian
age to be found in the oases of the Libyan Desert. It appears to have
been used later on for other interments, as several clay mummy-shaped
coffins were found; from these the mummies had disappeared, but a
few relics such as scarabei, a gold earring, a bronze mirror, etc.,
were found.
To the Egyptian period also belongs a limestone statue of the same
_Ded-Khens-ef-Onkh_ who erected the two temples of the 26th Dynasty
already mentioned; Steindorff found this in one of the houses at
El Qasr.
A sandstone ruin situate 2 kilometres due west of Zubbo, mapped but
not examined by the Survey, would appear to be that of another small
Egyptian temple. It is marked on Cailliaud’s map as “débris de
Temple,” but is not mentioned in his description.
Yet a fifth temple in Baharia would seem to be represented by the ruin
“Qasr Mayesra,” 2 kilometres north-west of Mandisha, visited by
Ascherson. This ruin, which is also mentioned by Belzoni, Cailliaud,
and Wilkinson, is a small structure of sandstone 7·91 metres long,
6·24 metres broad, having only one room (entered from the north),
and oriented to the cardinal points. The stones of this ruin have
Greek letters and other signs cut in them, possibly mason’s marks;
they are so striking as to have been seen from a distance through
a telescope by Belzoni.
The rock-tombs south-east of Mandisha, mentioned by Ascherson (_l.c._
p. 145), may possibly be further remains of the Egyptian epoch, and
the same is the case with some rock-chambers found by the Survey
in the south part of the oasis, some 3 kilometres south of Ain el
Haiss. The latter are excavated in an isolated rock-mass (sandstone)
some 20 metres in diameter and 6 metres high. The chief entrance is on
the south-east side of the rock, by what looks from a short distance
like a mere crack; this entrance leads into a series of four small low
chambers (each about 3 metres square), with a deeper channel running
along the centre. Other similar chambers are found entering from
the north side. No inscriptions appear to exist except a few Arabic
scratches near the principal entrance, and the chambers were empty.
(_b_) ROMAN ANTIQUITIES.
The Roman structures in the oasis differ generally from those of the
Egyptian era in being built of crude brick instead of stone. They
show, however, a great solidity of construction; for this reason these
erections of the Romans have in many cases outlasted those of the
Coptic period which were built long afterwards; in Baharia the old
Roman underground aqueducts still serve for the conveyance of water
from the springs to the irrigated tracts, and the present inhabitants
are far too indolent to construct similar channels for themselves.
According to Ascherson (_l.c._ p. 140) the village of El Qasr owes
its name to a Roman castle, abundant remains of which still exist
under the modern houses.
The most important of the Roman ruins of Baharia was however until
recently an arch situated close to the north of El Qasr. Cailliaud
(_l.c._ p. 183) describes the structure (as seen in 1820) as
consisting of an “arc de triomphe” standing on an embankment 39½
metres long, with a dressed stone revetment;[66] this embankment
rises 10 metres from the ground-level at the north side, and is
level with the soil of the village to the south. The principal
façade is to the north. The courses of the masonry are 27 to 30
centimetres high, and show a peculiar construction, headers and
stretchers being built in alternate courses. The wall, which was
about 2·3 metres thick, and built with a strongly-marked batter,
had an ornamental cornice all round; above this came a sort of
parapet 90 centimetres high. The substance of the embankment is a
kind of concrete of irregularly-shaped stones set in cement.
The arch itself rises from the embankment in the middle of the north
façade, and is of the Doric order, its length being 7·48 metres. At
the time of Cailliaud’s visit only the central arcade was still
standing; from it one could descend by a flight of steps on to the
lower ground. The façade was ornamented with pilasters, and on each
side of the arch was a niche decorated with small columns. In one
of the main pillars Cailliaud saw a spiral staircase leading to a
terrace on the top of the arch. The stones are frequently marked with
Greek letters, doubtless to guide the builders; no hieroglyphs or
other evidences of the Ancient Egyptians could be seen in the ruins.
This interesting ruin was found in a far less perfect state of
preservation on the visit of Ascherson in 1876, the revetment-wall
having mostly disappeared, possibly owing to an earthquake which is
said to have taken place in the oasis about 1840. The latest traveller
to visit the ruins (Steindorff, 1900) found that the whole structure
had fallen.[67]
The ruin known as Qasr Alam, situated about 2½ kilometres west of
Bawitti, visited by Wilkinson and by Ascherson, is a rectangular
crude-brick structure on a slight eminence. Only the lower parts of
the walls remain, and Wilkinson speaks of it as “an insignificant
crude-brick ruin.” Ascherson obtained a bronze hawk (now in the
Berlin museum) found in this place.
Wilkinson mentions another ruin, similar to the above, 1 kilometre
south-west of El Qasr; this does not appear to have been since
noted. There is no evidence to show the date of either of these
structures.
A nearly square building with battered walls and a fortified
appearance, situated among the ruins of the Coptic village
some 4 kilometres E.S.E. from Mandisha may possibly be a Roman
fort. Cailliaud gives its size as 14·7 metres long, 12 metres
wide, with walls 8 metres in height, the single door being to the
east. The interior is full of debris, so that the arrangement cannot
be well seen.
The same doubt as to age occurs concerning some underground chambers
at El Qasr, in one of which Virchow[68] found an urn, and similar
structures at Bawitti mentioned by Ascherson.
There is less uncertainty concerning a large crude-brick ruin in
the south-east part of the oasis, some 6 kilometres E.S.E. of Ain el
Haiss. This ruin, mentioned by Belzoni (_l.c._, p. 427), Cailliaud
(_l.c._, p. 194, and Pl. XXXVI, fig. 1), and Wilkinson (_l.c._,
p. 361), stands conspicuous on an eminence; it is of considerable
size, its length being over 87 metres, and the walls being 6 metres
high. In the interior is the debris of dwellings. It appears to have
been a Roman castle. Belzoni and Cailliaud mention also a square
building with small chambers, with a square pit cut in the rock
in the centre; this lies about 1 kilometre S.S.W. from the castle,
and is regarded by these discoverers as an ancient bath.
To the Roman period may possibly belong a large crude-brick
rectangular enclosure close to Ain el Haiss. This building is 75
paces square, with a main door on the west side, and has walls about
2 metres in height. The brickwork is peculiar, a course of stretchers
three bricks deep being followed by two courses of headers set on
edge, with one or two rows of bricks in a perpendicular position
down the centre; the walls are 50 centimetres thick. The interior of
the place is a large court, with numerous small rooms at the north
and south sides and two others on the west. The rooms are used at
the present day by the men of Bawitti when they come to gather the
rice-crop at Ain el Haiss. It is not a little remarkable that no
reference to this large structure is to be found in Cailliaud’s
account; its position (some 300 metres only south-west of the
sheikh’s tomb at Ain el Haiss) would seem to preclude the
possibility of confusing it with the other ruins he describes. He
gives however (_l.c._ p. 195) the latitude of El Haiss as 28° 0′
32″,[69] “latitude du couvent chrétien,” from which it would
appear likely that he considered this place a convent. There is no
evidence to decide whether the building is of Roman or Coptic origin.
Far more enduring and more important (in a modern sense) than any
of their buildings, were the extensive excavations carried out by
the Romans for the improvement of the water-supply of oasis. In the
neighbourhood of Bawitti especially, long series of shafts sunk in
the sandstones and clays which form the ground, are frequently to
be seen. These shafts, which vary from 1 to 3 metres in diameter,
are sometimes round, sometimes rectangular, and are placed at only
short distances apart. They are connected below with long tunnels,
along which flows the water from the springs. Cailliaud mentions the
existence of ten of these ancient aqueducts near Mandisha, eight of
which still conveyed water in 1820; he entered one and followed it
for 40 metres. He counted no less than fourteen shafts connected
with this tunnel in a length of 150 metres, and records that one
measured had a rectangular shape, 1·45 metres by 0·45 metres, and
was perfectly cut in the rock, with footholds for the descent of the
workmen. The largest aqueduct found by Cailliaud is south-west of
El Qasr; its size is such that a man is able to walk in it. This
tunnel, which now contains no water, leads from an excavation 5
metres in diameter by 8 metres deep, and in a length of 55 metres
it is entered by ten shafts. In the same neighbourhood Cailliaud
counted more than thirty other aqueducts, mostly coming from the
south, like those of Mandisha. Four of these discharge their water
into a huge excavation 70 metres diameter and 12 metres deep. The
only example of an underground aqueduct at present known to exist
in the south part of the oasis is one discovered by Ascherson a few
kilometres east of Ain el Haiss; it is at present dry.
Though more abundant in Baharia than in any other of the Egyptian
oases, doubtless on account of the relatively shallow depths at
which water is there reached, these Roman levels are not peculiar to
Baharia, several existing in Farafra,[70] one of which was noticed
by Ascherson (_l.c._ p. 137); other examples have been found at
Ain Um Dababib and near Gennah in Kharga.[71] It appears, too,
that underground aqueducts of the same nature exist abundantly in
the oases of the Algerian and Moorish Sahara.
(_c_) COPTIC ANTIQUITIES.
Some 4 kilometres E.S.E. from Mandisha are the ruins of a Coptic[72]
village, which appear to be those described and figured by Cailliaud,
although he gives the position as “est 35° nord de Zabou”
Cailliaud characterises these remains as “miserable ruins,”
but mentions specially, besides the fort referred to, two ruined
churches, larger than the other structures. The first of these is
11·1 metres long, 6·50 metres wide, and has walls still 6 metres
high; a principal door opens to the south, while another smaller
door is situated on the north side. The interior presents only one
room, with a niche in the wall; there are three windows on each of
the two longer sides. The second ruin is of about the same size;
on each of its longer sides are nine niches in the wall, and higher
up are six small openings for light. The building appears to have
been vaulted. The ancient habitations which form the remainder of
the ruins are of a uniform type—low vaulted dwellings surmounted
by terraces, access to which is got by steps. The entire village
has a circumference of about 520 metres. The name of the locality
where these ruins exist is not without interest. Ascherson quotes
it as “Denise,” while Wilkinson gives “Bayrees;” the name,
like that of Beris in Kharga Oasis, doubtless comes from the old
Egyptian root “rs” (the south).
Another Coptic village existed in the south-east part of the oasis,
in a district now called Uxor, some 10 kilometres east of Ain el
Haiss. The principal ruin is that of a church, built of crude brick,
19·8 metres in length.[73] The exterior displays only four bare
walls, battered, with two doors in the east part opening respectively
north and south. In the interior is a nave, and on each side are three
arcades forming small chapels; in the centre is a niche ornamented
with small columns with volute capitals.
Above the chapels a gallery runs round the building. The columns of
the nave have capitals rudely modelled on the plan of the lotus-flower
of the ancient Egyptians. The remains of fresco paintings can
still be traced on the walls, with Greek crosses and fragments of
inscriptions. Ascherson records that he visited this ruin in 1876
and found it in about the same state as Cailliaud narrates, though
he was unable to discover the inscriptions on the walls which that
author and Wilkinson refer to.
Besides the two above-mentioned, a third Coptic village seems to
have existed about 7 kilometres south-west of Mandisha, at the
south end of the range of hills which will be seen on the map. This
village has not been seen, apparently, by any European traveller,
though its position was pointed out to Ascherson from a distance,
under the name “Merharet-el-Fama.” Information was derived on a
visit to Ain Jafarra (6 kilometres south of Mandisha) that some ruins
existed a short distance to the north-west, and this would appear
to coincide with the position given by Ascherson; time unfortunately
failed for an excursion in search of them.
* * * * *
[Footnote 64: _Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft für Erdkunde zu Berlin_,
Band 20, 1885, pp. 110-160.]
[Footnote 65: _Berichte der philologisch-historischen klasse der
Konigl. Sachs. Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig_, 1900,
pp. 209-239.]
[Footnote 66: Belzoni, as remarked on p. 8. mistook this
revetment-wall for that of a temple of Jupiter Ammon, and the
builder’s stone-marks for the remains of a Greek inscription.]
[Footnote 67: _Op. cit._ p. 226.]
[Footnote 68: “Gesichtsurne aus der kleinen Oase”;
Sitzungsber. der Berliner anthropol. Gesellschaft, 1876, pp. 171,
172 (with woodcut).]
[Footnote 69: The Survey observations give 28° 2′ 11″ N. as
the latitude of Ain el Haiss, thus placing it about 3 kilometres
further north. Jordan’s value, 28° 1′ 55″ substantially
confirms this; the small difference is doubtless due to different
points of observation being used.]
[Footnote 70: _Op. cit. Farafra Oasis_, etc., p. 12.]
[Footnote 71: _Kharga Oasis, etc._, p. 82.]
[Footnote 72: _Op. cit._ p. 149. Pl. XXXVIII.]
[Footnote 73: _Op. cit._ p. 193 and Pl. XXXVI, Fig. 2.]
INDEX.
* * * * *
Abu Moharik dunes, 20, 25, 35, 36; see also Dunes.
Abu Roash, 16, 64, 70.
Abu Zabel, 63, 64.
Administration of Oasis, 8.
Ain Auena, 42.
„ Bayum, 42.
„ Beled, 46.
„ el Gidr, 20.
„ el Haiss, 12, 14, 38, 39, 40, 41, 44, 45, 46, 51, 56, 58, 59,
65, 66, 67, 70, 75, 77, 78.
„ el Wadi, 34.
„ Gelid, 25, 26, 36, 38, 41, 46.
„ Hassab, 45.
„ Haswi, 41, 46.
„ Jafarra, 44, 45.
„ Khaman, 46.
„ Murun, 42.
„ Rayan, see Rayan.
„ Sini, 42.
„ Um Dababib, 79.
Alexandria, 17, 39.
Altitudes, 13, 14, 24, 25, 29, 34.
Amenhotep, northern oasis of, 8.
Andesite, see Igneous rocks.
Animals, 15, 18.
Antiquities, see Archæology.
Aqueducts, 8, 15, 42, 78.
Aradj, 35.
Archæology, 7, 8, 9, 15, 73-80.
Area of depression, 37, 42.
Ascherson, 5, 7, 9, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 34, 35, 36, 42, 45, 46, 47,
51, 63, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 79, 80.
Assiut, 11, 36.
Assuan, 26.
Bahnessa, 17, 22, 35, 64.
Bahr bela ma, see El Bahr.
Bahr Yusuf, 35.
Ball, J., 17.
Barron, T., 54.
Barytes, 49.
Basalt, see Dolerite.
Base-line measurement, 12.
Bawitti, El, 11, 14, 15, 20, 39, 42, 45, 46, 49, 53, 58, 74, 77, 78.
Bayrees, 79.
Beadnell, H. J. L., 16, 17, 19, 34, 47, 48, 54, 68.
Belzoni, 8, 35, 75, 76.
Beniadi, 36.
Beni Suef, 8.
Beris, 79.
Bilbeis, 63.
Blanckenhorn, M., 23, 52, 59.
Blown sand, see Dunes.
Bone-beds, 54.
Boring wells, 43.
Botany, 9, 15, 18, 43.
Bounding escarpments, 38, 40.
Bullen Newton, R., 47, 52.
Cailliaud, 8, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 33, 45, 63, 75, 76, 77, 78,
79, 80.
Cenomanian deposits, 16, 48, 49-55, 58, 59, 62, 63, 64, 66.
Chapman, F., 58, 59.
Coptic remains, 8, 46, 58, 76, 77, 78, 79.
Cretaceous deposits, 9, 10, 32, 33, 47, 48, 49-57, 58.
Crops, 44, 45.
Cultivation, 20, 37, 42, 44, 45, 46, 65.
Dakhla, Oasis, 7, 8, 9, 37, 42, 43, 44, 54, 57, 68, 69, 70.
Danian deposits, 16, 48, 55-57, 59.
Dates, 42, 43, see also Palms.
Declination of compass, 13.
Decrease in cultivated land water-supply, 44.
Delga, 17, 36.
Denise, 79.
Der el Maragh, 36.
Distribution of water, 43.
Dolerite, see Igneous rocks.
Drift sand, see Dunes.
Dunes, 17, 18, 19, 20, 24, 25, 26, 28, 30, 32, 35, 36, 41, 42, 46,
48, 65.
Earliest explorers of oasis, 8, 9.
Eastern Desert, 16, 54, 55.
Egyptian remains, 9, 72-74.
El Ayun, 42.
El Bahr, 18, 19, 22, 23, 35.
El Beled, 46.
El Gharb, 45.
El Haiss, see Ain el Haiss.
El Qasr, 8, 20, 34, 39, 40, 41, 42, 50, 68, 72, 73, 74, 75.
El Wadi, see Ain el Wadi.
Eocene deposits, 21-24, 26-38, 47, 48, 49, 50, 58-61, 68, 69.
Excavation of oasis, 16, 72.
Exports, 42, 43, 44.
Farafra Oasis, 7, 8, 9, 11, 16, 17, 29, 33, 34, 37, 40, 43, 45, 46,
48, 56, 57, 68, 69.
Faults, 21, 58.
Fayum, 9, 10, 15, 17, 21, 22, 23, 34, 35, 36, 62, 64.
Ferns, 15.
Feshn, 17, 38.
Floor of oasis, 41-46.
Folding, see Tectonics.
Formation of depression, 16, 72.
Fruit, 43, 44.
Gar el Hamra, 20, 23, 62.
Gar Marzak, see Jebel Gar Marzak.
Gennah, 79.
Geographical determinations of villages, etc., 11-13.
Geology, special description, 47-72.
Geological summary, 16, 48, 69-72.
Geology, Farafra road, 33-34, Feshn and Maghagha road, 21-24,
Minia road, 26-33.
Gharag, 35.
Ghard el Shubbab dunes, 19.
Girga, 26.
Gorringe, L., 5, 54.
Gypsum, 21, 49.
Harra village, 41, 42, 44, 45, 46, 53, 59, 67.
Health statistics, 44.
Heights, see Altitudes.
Hills within depression, 40, 41.
History of oasis, 7, 8.
Hot springs, 8, 43, 45.
Hume, W. F., 54.
Huye Oasis, 8, 74.
Hyde, 8.
Igneous rocks, 13, 16, 21, 22, 40, 48, 49, 50, 63, 64.
Inhabitants, 45, see Population.
Ironstone, 29, 51, 61, 62, 63, 68, 72.
Jebel Ahmar, 22, 62.
„ el Ghudda, 18, 22, 62.
„ el Hefhuf, 40, 53, 56, 58, 63, 66.
„ Gar Marzak, 19.
„ Horabi, 20, 38, 39, 40, 51, 62.
„ Mandisha, 40, 42, 63, 64.
„ Mayesra, 20, 40, 63.
„ Morabi, see Horabi.
„ Muailla, 17, 21.
Jordan, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 29, 33, 34, 41.
Jupiter Ammon temple, 8.
Kharafish, 19.
Kharga Oasis, 7, 8, 16, 32, 37, 42, 43, 44, 57, 68, 79.
Latitude determinations, 11, 12, 13.
Letorzec, 8.
Limonite, see Ironstone.
Longitude determinations, 11, 12, 13.
Lucas, A., 63.
Lyons, Capt. H. G., 9, 13, 47, 52, 60, 68.
Maghagha, 5, 11, 12, 17, 26, 29, 33, 58, 64, 72.
Magnetic Meridian, 13.
Magnetite, 13.
Mandisha, 13, 20, 26, 40, 41, 44, 49, 50, 65, 75, 78, 79, 80.
Mandisha Aguza, 44, 45.
Mangatin, 35.
Mayer Eymar, 64.
Measurement of water, 43.
Medinet el Fayum, 35.
Merharet el Fama, 80.
Mima, 11, 12, 14, 17, 24, 32, 36, 38, 60.
Mogara, 17, 20, 39.
Muailla, see Jebel Muailla.
Muller, 9.
Nasl Nadiub Lengat, 24, 25, 29, 32.
Oligocene deposits, 21, 22, 48, 61, 64; see also Post Eocene deposits.
Origin of depression, 16, 72.
Pacho, 9, 35.
Pacho Mt., 35.
Palms, 20, 37, 42, 43, 45.
Pleistocene deposits, 21, 65.
Population, 42, 44, 45.
Position of oasis, 7, of Ain el Hais, 12, 78, of Zubbo, 11, of south
end of depression, 13, 29.
Post Eocene deposits, 16, 24, 26, 28, 32, 48, 49, 51, 61, 67.
Public health, 44.
Qasr el Lamlum Bey, 17, 20.
Qasr Mayesra, 75.
Qasr Megasba, 74.
Rayan, 17, 22, 25, 35.
Recent deposits, 17-36, 65.
Roads, 17, 36; Bahnessa road, 35; Farafra road, 33-34; Fayum road,
34-35, 36; Feshn and Maghagha road, 17-21; Minia road, 24-33; Siwa
road, 34, 39.
Rohlfs Expedition, 9, 34, 35, 47.
Roman remains, 8, 15, 42, 43, 76-79.
Rubi, 35.
Salines, 37, 41, 48, 65.
Samalut, 9, 17, 35, 36, 46.
Sand dunes, see Dunes.
Sand erosion, 19, 23, 72.
Schweinfurth, 9, 19.
Senonian deposits, 48, 55, 71.
Serir, 18, 19.
Silicified wood, 22, 52, 54.
Sittra, 9, 35.
Siwa Oasis, 8, 10, 17, 34, 39, 44.
Springs, 37, 42, 46, 65, see also Ain, and Water-supply.
Statistics, 15, 42, 43, 44.
Steindorff, 7, 8, 9, 10, 73, 74, 75, 77.
Surveying operations, 5, 11-16, 17.
Tablemun, 46.
Tamarisk, 41.
Taxation, 43.
Tectonics, 16, 48, 53, 57, 61, 65-69.
Temperature of wells, 43, 45, see Hot springs.
Topography, 37-46.
Tripoli, 63.
Turonian deposits, 48, 55.
Unconformity between Eocene and Cretaceous, 16, 48, 57, 60, 61.
Underground aqueducts, see Aqueducts.
Uttiah, 35.
Uxor, 79.
Villages, 37, 42, 44, 45.
Virchow, 77.
Volcanic rocks, see Igneous rocks.
Vuta, G., 5.
Wadi Araba, 71.
„ Muailla, 17, 20.
„ Rayan, see Rayan.
Water-supply, 15, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 72.
Wells, 42, 43, 45, 46, see also Water supply and Ains.
Wilkinson, 9, 75, 77, 79, 80.
Wind erosion, see Sand erosion.
Zirkel, 63.
Zittel, 9, 19, 34, 47, 48, 49, 57, 60, 63.
Zoology, 15, 18.
Zubbo, 11, 12, 13, 20, 24, 26, 41, 42, 47, 75, 79.
* * * * *
[Illustration: BAHARIA OASIS
PLATE I.]
[Illustration: SKETCH MAP OF EGYPT Showing the Positions of the
WESTERN OASES
PLATE II.]
[Illustration: PLATE III.
BAHARIA OASIS
MAP OF THE VILLAGES AND PRINCIPAL SOURCES OF WATER IN THE NORTHERN
PART OF THE OASIS.]
[Illustration: PLATE IV.
BAHARIA OASIS
SECTION THROUGH WESTERN ESCARPMENT 11 KILOM. N. OF SOUTH END OF
DEPRESSION]
[Illustration: PLATE V.
BAHARIA OASIS
DIAGRAMMATIC SECTION FROM HILL 15 KILOMETRES NORTH-EAST OF AIN EL
HAISS TO EOCENE-CRETACEOUS JUNCTION ON DESERT TO WEST]
[Illustration: PLATE VI.
BAHARIA OASIS
Section from MANDISHA through JEBEL MAYESRA and Conical Hill to
WESTERN PLATEAU.]
[Illustration: PLATE VII.
BAHARIA OASIS
MAP OF THE SYNCLINAL FOLD FROM JEBEL HEFHUF TO ITS TERMINATION]
[Illustration: BAHARIA OASIS. SKETCH OF GEOLOGICAL SECTIONS OF
EAST SCARP.
PLATE VIII.]
Transcriber's note:
Pg. 8 (footnotes 1 and 3) Changed: _Méróe_ to: _Méroé_
Pg. 19 (footnote 20) Changed: _Gesellchaft für Erdkunde_ to:
_Gesellschaft_
Pg. 21 Changed: Lower Mokattam leds to: beds
Pg. 33 (footnote 27) Changed: _Physiche geographie_ to: _Physische_
Pg. 35 Changed: about 150 kilometres to: 350
Pg. 44 Changed: camels and raders to: traders
Pg. 51 Changed: _Neolobolites_ to: _Neolobites_
Pg. 52 Changed: _Neobolites_ to: _Neolobites_
Pg. 58 Changed: _Textularia? granien_ to: _gramen_
Pg. 77 Changed: ruin kown as to: known
Pg. 78 Changed: undergroud aqueduct to: underground
Minor changes in punctuation have been done silently.
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Baharia Oasis : Its topography and geology" ***
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