16
S. H. I. Mohamed
Kharga Oasis (Fig. 1) known as Tiba was referred in Egyptian texts by the name
of Hebt, which means “plow”. The oasis was connected to Nile Valley in a variety of
ways from Abydos Luxor, Esna and going through Darb Al-Arbain linking Assiut
with Darfur in Sudan (Nureddin 2005). The oasis, consequently, has many archaeological areas. The oasis was also a place of storage of grain and grapes, which became
the primary source for the finest wines to Rome.
Farafra Oasis (Fig. 1) is known as “the belly of the cow” due to the presence of a
large quantity of groundwater, many of which appear on the surface of the earth in
the winter-time and therefore, resulted in many farmlands on flat areas. There is also
Dakhla Oasis, meaning “entrance”, located in the center of the Western Desert.
Bahariya Oasis (Fig. 1) has a population is of about 32,000. Bahariya Oasis is
divided into several villages such as Mandesha, Al-Zabuw, Al-Qasr, Al-Hara, AlQabala, Al-Aguz, Al-Hayz, in addition to Bawiti city.
Bahariya Oasis is characterized by the diversity of the monuments of the Coptic,
Roman and Pharaonic eras, and has many ruins of church and olive groves from
the Roman era. The oasis has also the tombs its discovered by the world famous
archaeologist Zahi Hawass in the region of Umm al-Lafah, meaning the area full of
snakes. Nearly three thousand golden mummies are found there.
Siwa Oasis (Fig. 1) has a population of up to 25,000 inhabitant distributed within
the residential cordon of 36 km. The oasis is about 18 m below mean sea level and
includes a set of small populated oases due to the bad-land (agriculturally unproductive land) and the scarcity of groundwater wells. Siwa Oasis is the only oasis located
near to the Mediterranean Sea. The oasis was referred to as Sepah in a report of
the year 1664, and Al-Makrizi emphasized this name in his book in 1792. However,
the ancient name was “the land of date palm trees” (Demeiri 2005). It was home to
about 600 people of barbarians known as Siwa whose language was similar to the
language of Zenata. The Siwan tribes composed of 8 sub-tribes were formed by the
mixture and integration of the Yemeni, the ancient Egyptians and Berbers. They came
from the east and west of the North Africa distributed between Morocco, Algeria
and Libya.
Siwan people built their homes with a substance called kurshif which is saturated
mud with salt, like cement. Many old houses were built on top of each other to
achieve heights over the mountainin in the center of the city to achieve the cohesion
and solidarity between the family members and to achieve safety from threats of
raids and invasion from the west.
3 Population
Each oasis has its tradition and has its dialect that differs from others. There is also a
sense of ethnicity and distinction between the villages of the oasis. Some villages,
lost their specifity when they received the strangers from the villages of Delta Lower
Egypt or Upper Egypt who came to work in agriculture or trade.
S. H. I. Mohamed
Kharga Oasis (Fig. 1) known as Tiba was referred in Egyptian texts by the name
of Hebt, which means “plow”. The oasis was connected to Nile Valley in a variety of
ways from Abydos Luxor, Esna and going through Darb Al-Arbain linking Assiut
with Darfur in Sudan (Nureddin 2005). The oasis, consequently, has many archaeological areas. The oasis was also a place of storage of grain and grapes, which became
the primary source for the finest wines to Rome.
Farafra Oasis (Fig. 1) is known as “the belly of the cow” due to the presence of a
large quantity of groundwater, many of which appear on the surface of the earth in
the winter-time and therefore, resulted in many farmlands on flat areas. There is also
Dakhla Oasis, meaning “entrance”, located in the center of the Western Desert.
Bahariya Oasis (Fig. 1) has a population is of about 32,000. Bahariya Oasis is
divided into several villages such as Mandesha, Al-Zabuw, Al-Qasr, Al-Hara, AlQabala, Al-Aguz, Al-Hayz, in addition to Bawiti city.
Bahariya Oasis is characterized by the diversity of the monuments of the Coptic,
Roman and Pharaonic eras, and has many ruins of church and olive groves from
the Roman era. The oasis has also the tombs its discovered by the world famous
archaeologist Zahi Hawass in the region of Umm al-Lafah, meaning the area full of
snakes. Nearly three thousand golden mummies are found there.
Siwa Oasis (Fig. 1) has a population of up to 25,000 inhabitant distributed within
the residential cordon of 36 km. The oasis is about 18 m below mean sea level and
includes a set of small populated oases due to the bad-land (agriculturally unproductive land) and the scarcity of groundwater wells. Siwa Oasis is the only oasis located
near to the Mediterranean Sea. The oasis was referred to as Sepah in a report of
the year 1664, and Al-Makrizi emphasized this name in his book in 1792. However,
the ancient name was “the land of date palm trees” (Demeiri 2005). It was home to
about 600 people of barbarians known as Siwa whose language was similar to the
language of Zenata. The Siwan tribes composed of 8 sub-tribes were formed by the
mixture and integration of the Yemeni, the ancient Egyptians and Berbers. They came
from the east and west of the North Africa distributed between Morocco, Algeria
and Libya.
Siwan people built their homes with a substance called kurshif which is saturated
mud with salt, like cement. Many old houses were built on top of each other to
achieve heights over the mountainin in the center of the city to achieve the cohesion
and solidarity between the family members and to achieve safety from threats of
raids and invasion from the west.
3 Population
Each oasis has its tradition and has its dialect that differs from others. There is also a
sense of ethnicity and distinction between the villages of the oasis. Some villages,
lost their specifity when they received the strangers from the villages of Delta Lower
Egypt or Upper Egypt who came to work in agriculture or trade.