Archaeological Sites in Dakhla Oasis, Western Desert, Egypt
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3 Gilf Kebir Area
Gilf Kebir is a huge massif plateau located 150 km north of Gabal Uweinat, rising
300 m above the desert floor and reaching almost 1100 m asl. It is on the border
between the Western Desert of Egypt and the Libyan Desert, The plateau disappears
into the Great Sand Sea (Fig. 10) to the north.
In the following subsections, a brief description of some areas will be given.
3.1 Abu Ballas Area
During his trip from Dakhla Oasis to Gilf Kebir Plateau, Ball (1927) discovered over
one hundred big jars located in a remote area south of Dakhla Oasis. It is located about
70 km on the road to the east of Uweinat project and then the deviation westward
for a distance of 180 km towards the plateau. This area was served as a station or
point of concentration for groups of invaders or thieves who come from Kufra Oasis
in Libya, seeking the looted oases of looting and robbery. In the absence of drinking
water in the distance from Kufra to Dakhla, these invaders used this area to leave
pottery vessels filled with water in a big vessel called Ballas in their journey back and
forth from to supply water in the middle of the road to ensure their drinking water
in the desert. As usual, the invaders came from Libya to Dakhla, followed by one of
the citizens from Dakhla Oasis who knew the secret of Abu Ballas. A number of the
inhabitants went out from Dakhla to break the pottery vessels (Fig. 11), and poured
the water on the ground. However, some authors dated the pottery materials to the
Late Predynastic or Early Dynastic period, Ramesside Dynasty of the 12th-century
BC (Förster and Kuper 2003; Förster 2007a, b). Pharaonic influence can also be
detected in two rock engravings below the top of the hill, which were discovered by
Prince Kemal el Din in 1924 and later recorded by Hans Rhotert (1952; Kaper and
Klaas 1999).
According to the observations by Prince Kemal el Din, Rhotert and Kuper, Abu
Ballas could be the last station of Persian King Cambyses II who is said to be buried
with his army in the Great Sand Sea in the sixth century BC after he attacked Siwa
from Thebes (Luxor) where Temple of Amun was burned and destroyed to avenge
the priests.
Cambyses II marched at the head of an army of fifty thousand fighters, and arrived
Kharga Oasis in ten days. Herodotus said that they were misled by the commanders of
the exiles to the sand sea, where the sand storm that lasted for several days swallowed
the army in the sand sea. The storm did not subside until the whole army settled in
the sand sea between the exodus and Siwa.
81
3 Gilf Kebir Area
Gilf Kebir is a huge massif plateau located 150 km north of Gabal Uweinat, rising
300 m above the desert floor and reaching almost 1100 m asl. It is on the border
between the Western Desert of Egypt and the Libyan Desert, The plateau disappears
into the Great Sand Sea (Fig. 10) to the north.
In the following subsections, a brief description of some areas will be given.
3.1 Abu Ballas Area
During his trip from Dakhla Oasis to Gilf Kebir Plateau, Ball (1927) discovered over
one hundred big jars located in a remote area south of Dakhla Oasis. It is located about
70 km on the road to the east of Uweinat project and then the deviation westward
for a distance of 180 km towards the plateau. This area was served as a station or
point of concentration for groups of invaders or thieves who come from Kufra Oasis
in Libya, seeking the looted oases of looting and robbery. In the absence of drinking
water in the distance from Kufra to Dakhla, these invaders used this area to leave
pottery vessels filled with water in a big vessel called Ballas in their journey back and
forth from to supply water in the middle of the road to ensure their drinking water
in the desert. As usual, the invaders came from Libya to Dakhla, followed by one of
the citizens from Dakhla Oasis who knew the secret of Abu Ballas. A number of the
inhabitants went out from Dakhla to break the pottery vessels (Fig. 11), and poured
the water on the ground. However, some authors dated the pottery materials to the
Late Predynastic or Early Dynastic period, Ramesside Dynasty of the 12th-century
BC (Förster and Kuper 2003; Förster 2007a, b). Pharaonic influence can also be
detected in two rock engravings below the top of the hill, which were discovered by
Prince Kemal el Din in 1924 and later recorded by Hans Rhotert (1952; Kaper and
Klaas 1999).
According to the observations by Prince Kemal el Din, Rhotert and Kuper, Abu
Ballas could be the last station of Persian King Cambyses II who is said to be buried
with his army in the Great Sand Sea in the sixth century BC after he attacked Siwa
from Thebes (Luxor) where Temple of Amun was burned and destroyed to avenge
the priests.
Cambyses II marched at the head of an army of fifty thousand fighters, and arrived
Kharga Oasis in ten days. Herodotus said that they were misled by the commanders of
the exiles to the sand sea, where the sand storm that lasted for several days swallowed
the army in the sand sea. The storm did not subside until the whole army settled in
the sand sea between the exodus and Siwa.