* * * * *
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.]