Dakhla Oasis

Dakhla Oasis (Arabic: الداخلة; transliteration: al-Dākhla; BGN: Al Wāḩāt ad Dākhilah), an aa spelt Dakhleh an kent colloquially as the inner oasis, is ane o the seiven oases o Egyp's Wastren Desert (pairt o the Libyan Desert). Dakhla Oasis lies in the New Valley Govrenorate, 350 km frae the Nile an atween the oases o Farafra an Kharga. It measures approximately 80 km (50 mi) frae east tae wast an 25 km (16 mi) frae north tae sooth.

History

Prehistory

The human history o this oasis stairtit durin the Pleistocene, when nomadic tribes settled sometime there, in a time when the Sahara climate wis wetter an whaur humans coud hae access tae lakes an mairshes. But aboot 6 000 years ago, the entire Sahara became drier, chyngin progressively intae a hyper-arid desert (wi less than 50 mm o rain per year). Housomeivver, specialists think that nomadic hunter-gatherers began to settle almost permanently in the oasis of Dakhleh in the period of the Holocene (about 12 000 years ago), during new, but rare episodes of wetter times.

In fact, the drier climate didna mean that there wis nae mair water in what is nou kent as the Wastren Desert. The sooth o the Libyan Desert haes the maist important supply o subterranean water in the warld, an the first inhabitants o the Dakhla Oasis haed access tae surface water sources.

Pharaonic Period

The first contacts atween the pharaonic pouer an the oases stairtit aroond 2550 BCE.

Islamic Period

The fortifeed Islamic toun o Al Qasr wis built at Dakhla Oasis in the 12t century probably on the remains o a Roman era settlement bi the Ayyubid keengs o Egyp.

Efter 1800

The first European traveller tae find the Dakhla Oasis wis Sir Archibald Edmonstone, in the year 1819. He wis succeedit bi several ither early travellers, but it wis no till 1908 that the first Egyptologist, Herbert Winlock, visitit Dakhla Oasis an notit its monuments in some seestematic manner. In the 1950s, detailed studies began, first by Dr. Ahmed Fakhry, and in the late 1970s, an expedition of the Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale and the Dakhla Oasis Project each began detailed studies in the oasis.

Al-Qasr toun at Dakhla Oasis

Geography

Dakhla Oasis consists o several communities, alang a string o sub-oases. The main settlements are Mut (mair fully Mut el-Kharab an aunciently cried Mothis), Al-Qasr, Qalamoun, thegither wi several smawer veelages. Some o the communities hae identities that are separate frae each ither. Qalamoun haes inhabitants that trace their oreegins tae the Ottomans.

Dakhleh Oasis Project

The Dakhleh Oasis Project (DOP) is a lang-term study project o the Dakhleh Oasis an the surroondin palaeoasis, initiatit in 1978 when the Royal Ontario Museum an the Canadian Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities wur awardit a joint concession for pairt o the Oasis. In 1979, the Centre for Archaeology and Ancient History at Monash University began tae cooperate in the project.

The DOP studies the interaction atween environmental chynges an human activity in the Dakhleh Oasis. The director o the DOP is Anthony J. Mills, umwhile curator at the Ryal Ontario Museum. The excavations at Ismant el-Kharab (auncient Kellis), Mut el-Kharab (ancient Mothis), Deir Abu Metta and Muzawwaqa are unnertaken wi the cooperation o Monash University, unner the direction o Gillian E. Bowen. Bowen an Colin Hope, an aa o Monash, are the principal investigators at Ismant el-Kharab. The DOP haes an aa excavatit at 'Ain el-Gazzareen, El Qasr el-Dakhil, Deir el Hagar and Ain Birbiyeh.

As well as the Dakhleh Trust, formed in 1999 tae raise money for the DOP, organizations which hae supportit or participatit in the DOP include: the Royal Ontario Museum, the Society for the Study o Egyptian Antiquities, Monash University, the University o Durham, the University o Toronto, Columbia University, the American Research Centre in Egypt, the Egyptology Society of Victoria an New York University.

In addition, excavations are undertaken at Amheida under the direction of Roger S. Bagnall. These were originally conducted under the auspices of Columbia University, but are currently conducted for New York University.

Dakhleh Trust

The Dakhleh Trust wis formed in 1999 an is a registered charity in Breetain.

Its declared aim is tae advance unnerstaundin o the history o the environment an cultural evolution throughoot the Quaternary period in the eastren Sahara, an particularly in the Dakhla Oasis.

Tae this end, the present trustees hae committit theairsels tae supportin the DOP.

Trustees

Name	Personal details	Office
John Ruffle MA	Retired museum curator an Egyptologist	Chairman
Judith Trowell		Treasurer
Sir Graham Boyce KCMG
Glenys Carter MBE	Retired director, National Association of Toy and Leisure Libraries
Simon deMare	Museologist
Anthony Harris
Peter Mackenzie-Smith	Managin director, Prothero Limited

References

Wikimedia Commons haes media adae wi:

Dakhla Oasis

Wikimedia Commons haes media adae wi:

Al-Qasr, Egypt

Further readin

Published wirks

• Fakhry, A. The Oases of Egypt, I : Siwa Oasis, Le Caire, Amer. Univ. in Cairo Press.
• Fakhry, A. The Oases of Egypt, II: Bahriyah and Farafra Oases, Le Caire, Univ. in Cairo Press, c. 2003.
• Giddy, L. Egyptian Oases: Bahariya, Dakhla, Farafra and Kharga during Pharaonic Times, Warminster, Aris & Philips, 1987.
• Jackson, R. At Empire’s Edge: Exploring Rome’s Egyptian Frontier, New Haven et Londres, Yale University Press, 2002.

• Thurston, H. Island of the Blessed : the Secrets of Egypt’s Everlasting Oasis, Toronto, Doubleday, 2003.
• Vivian, C. The Western Desert of Egypt: an explorer’s handbook, AUC Press, le Caire, 2000.
• Wagner, G. Les oasis d’Égypte à l’époque grecque, romaine et byzantine, d’après les documents grecs, Le Caire, Recherches de papyrologie et d’épigraphie grecques, 1987.

Freemit airtins

• Dakhla in the Auld Kinrick
• Photos of Dalkhla Oasis on GlobalAmity.net
• Travel guide