„ 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.]