The Bahariya
Oasis: Ancient History
Dinosaurs, Ancient Egyptians, and
the Bedouin
The Bahariya oasis is rich in history as many different
kinds of people settled here, evolving independently from the rest of the
world. Of all of the oases in Egypt, Bahariya
is the least modernized, making it a fascinating place to visit and
experience. The desert environment in
ancient and relatively modern times was too harsh for hundreds (and in some
directions, thousands) of kilometers around the oasis for people to safely and
quickly travel to it. As a result, life
in Bahariya is like a time capsule, unchanged for thousands of years until only
30 years ago when a road was installed that linked this oasis with the
metropolis of Cairo.
AGE OF DINOSAURS
Bahariya is rich in undiscovered paleontology and archaeology
as relatively few excavations have taken place here, but what has been
discovered indicates that it was once a historically rich environment and society. Paleontologists have unearthed dinosaur
skeletons, including the largest humerus bone in the world belonging to a
long-necked sauropod. Even more
interesting, this was an entirely new species, which has been named Paralititan stromeri (Stromer’s titan
giant), within the family of Stromer’s Aegytosaurus,
which is in a group of sauropods referred to as Titanasaurus. The Bahariya sauropod, Paralititan, is the heaviest – and probably largest – dinosaur ever
found in Africa; it lived during the Cretaceous period (145 to 65.5 million
years ago). The Western desert is also
filled with many, many fossils from land and sea that are far older than this
recent sauropod discovery. For more
information on the evolution and geology of the Western Desert, please check
back in a few weeks as this page is still under construction.
EARLY HUMAN
HABITATION
But what about humans – when did they show up on the scene? There is evidence in most of the oases of
human occupation for at least 200,000 years as many Achulean stone tools have
been found. However, the first human skeleton
unearthed in Egypt was approximately 55,000 years old. In ancient times, there was a fair amount of
rainfall in the Western Desert, enough to sustain human life and provide
pastures for grazing animals. After a
period of time, the rainfall dried up and many people probably moved closer to
the Nile Valley, but some still remained in their beloved oases.
ANCIENT EGYPTIAN,
GREEKS AND ROMANS IN BAHARIYA
The ancient Egyptian name for Bahariya was “Zeses.” The ancient Egyptians of the Middle Kingdom
(ca. 2000 – 1700 BC) made a caravan route between the Nile valley and the
Bahariya oasis, and may have set up some sort of small outpost here. In some of the other oases there is evidence
of ancient Egyptians dating to the Old Kingdom (ca. 2680 – 2160 BC); possibly
such evidence can be found in Bahariya in future excavations, but for now the
earliest pharaonic evidence dates to the Middle Kingdom. Although oases were
outposts, they were of vital importance regarding military security and trade
with Cyrenaica (Libya) and countries bordering the Mediterranean.
In the new Kingdom, Bahariya was under control of the
government in Thinis (Abydos) in the time of the pharaoh Thutmose III (date). The
Bahariyans paid tribute to the Nile valley government as is attested to on the
tomb walls of Rekhmire (vizier to Akhenaton) in the Nobles’ Tombs on the West
Bank of Luxor. At the village of el-Haiz
in Bahariya, grapes were grown and wine produced – wine so excellent that the
New Kingdom pharaoh Akhenaton (1350 BC) imported
it to his palace in Amarna for consumption.
In the Late Period (700 – 300 BC) the
Bahariya oasis really expanded – especially in the Greek and Roman periods (300
BC – 400 AD). In the Saite period
(dynasty 24) it was thought that when the Libyan/Egyptian dynasty “took over”
it was because the Libyans captured the Farafra and Bahariya oases first, and
then used them as strategic “jumping” points into the heart of Egypt – the Nile
valley. Because of military and
commercial security, the importance of the Bahariya oasis grew. Many, many Greeks and Romans lived in
Bahariya as attested to by numerous tombs, artifacts, temples -- and the
magnificent Valley of the Golden Mummies.
Unfortunately when the Romans captured Egypt, they were more
interested in the rape of Egypt. The armies of Caesar were guilty of
overproducing agriculture to such an extent that many farm areas in the oases
dried up and turned into desert. During the time of the pharaohs, el-Haiz and
the Bahariya oasis were connected.
However after the Romans overproduced these areas, draining the wells
dry, a wasteland formed between el-Haiz and Bahariya. Over time this desert grew and today one must
drive approximately one hour over this wasteland to get to el-Haiz from
Bahariya. The Romans did leave one nice
legacy – lots of aqueducts and wells, many of which are still in use today. After the fall of the Romans, the Oaseans
began reclaiming some of their farming land that was lost to desert, by making
good use of those wells and aqueducts that were built by the Romans.
CULTURAL MIX OF THE
OASEANS
Ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans did not only populate
the Bahariya oasis. One must not forget about the original desert inhabitants
-- the oasis farmers and the nomads. The
oasis farmers (“Oaseans”) spent their entire lives inside the oasis – from
birth to death. The Oaseans also
intermixed their blood with several of the desert tribes such as:
§
the Garamantians, who traded with the Romans and Carthaginians,
§
the Goraans, who were last seen raiding in Egypt’s deserts in the
1930s,
§
the Tebu, whose homeland was in Tibesti,
§
the Tuaregs, whose men controlled the North African caravan routes and
who loved to raid Egypt, their faces covered with blue veils,
§
the Berbers, who intermarried with the ancient Greeks; evidence of
their culture still exists in the culture of the Siwa oasis,
§
the Kababish whose livestock used to graze in southern Egypt,
§
and the Bedouins whose culture began with the
Arab conquest in 643 AD. The Bedouins
still roam Egypt’s deserts, living in their black tents and tending their
herds. Although their nomadic numbers
have sharply decreased starting about 50 years ago, you can still see an
occasional tribe camped out along the North Coast. The rest of them began settling, mostly with
the Oaseans.
RELIGION AFTER THE
ANCIENT EGYPTIANS
Starting in the Common Era the oases were filled with early
Christians. This new religious sect was
a nuisance to the Romans in their other provinces (such as Turkey, Israel,
Greece, and Rome) so the Romans banished many “rabble-rousing” Christians to
the Egyptian oases. However, some Christians came willingly, such as St.
Bartholomew (one of the 12 apostles) in hopes of converting the Oaseans to
Christianity. St. Bartholomew got as far
as the Bahariya oasis when he met his martyrdom. The destroyed church in el-Haiz (currently
under renovation) has another building close by where St. Bartholomew’s head
might have rested; the rest of his body was buried in Sohag (Middle Egypt). Soon after St. Bartholomew’s death, most of
the oases residents converted to Coptic Christianity and renamed Bahariya “El-
Bahnasa.”
THE ARAB CONQUEST TO
THE 18TH CENTURY
Just after 643 AD and the Arab/Islam conquest, most of the
Oaseans of Bahariya began converting from Christianity or their previous Oasean
religion (which was a mixture of ancient Egyptian and desert gods) to Islam.
However, there were still some Oaseans still practicing Christianity up until
1931 as a monastery/school was still in operation in Bahariya. Since that time, all Oaseans have converted
to Islam and there are no churches or monasteries in operation today.
There has yet to be discovered any Islamic ruins from the
early Islamic and Medieval periods -- except some Islamic glass and pottery
sherds that are now covered by a man-made lake in the Bahariya oasis. It has been assumed that Bahariya went into a
decline and life stagnated, only to be slightly interrupted by occasional army
soldiers who scouted between Libya and Egypt.
During the Mamluk period, Bahariya became a part of the
Minya governate (Middle Egypt); during the Ottoman period, Bahariya had its own
tax collector. Taxes were collected in
the form of dates and olives – it seems that the wonderful wine that Akhenaton
imported from Bahariya during the New Kingdom was long forgotten. However, when Mohammed Ali Pasha took
control of Egypt (18th c), he changed the tax collection from
Bahariya from dates and olives to Spanish piasters and later to the higher sum
of 20,000 reals – perhaps life in the oasis was beginning to prosper again. Mohammed Ali Pasha also placed high
importance on Bahariya with regard to military security; he stationed 400 – 500
soldiers there as opposed to other oases where he just sent a handful of
soldiers.
THE SANUSI AND WORLD
WAR I.
In the 18th century life changed drastically for
many Bedouin whose faith in Islam had diminished or had been corrupted. An Islamic mystic named al-Sayid Mohammed bin
Ali al-Sanusi Khatibi al-Idrisis al Hasani, appeared from Algeria and spread
his fundamentalist teachings of Islam across North Africa to the Western Desert
Bedouin tribes of Egypt. Al-Sayid became
known as “al-Sanusi al-Kebir (The Grand Sanusi), and his new Bedouin (and
other) followers formed a new tribe called the “Sanusi.” This tribe quickly grew in followers and
power, creating zawyas (mosque,
schoolroom, guest house) at important caravan junctions. An original zawya and mosque still stands in the village of Bawiti, in the
Bahariya oasis.
The Sanusi became a very powerful group and ferociously
defended their deserts and oases. When
Mohammed Ali Pasha reigned he did not require that the Sanusi fight with him
for Egypt, because Mohammed was well aware how well the Sanusi protected the
Land of the Pharoahs in the Western Desert, cutting off any attempts to enter
Egypt from this direction.
Al-Sayid al-Sanusi (Sayid the
Grand Sanusi) was succeeded first by his son, then his nephew, and finally the
son of his nephew, Sayid Mohammed Idris, who lived in Egypt and became the
Sanusi leader after WWI.
In 1916, during the British occupation of Egypt, the British
surrounded a large contingent of Sanusi warriors in Bahariya and attempted to
annihilate them. Instead they bombed a
herd of cattle, thinking it was a group of Sanusi warriors. The British also
constructed a lookout/fort for Captain William on top of one of the highest
peaks at the eastern entrance to Bahariya (English House/Mountain) from where
William was to monitor the Sanusi’s movements.
There got to be too much competition between Sanusi and British so the
British exiled all the Sanusi from Bahariya and the Western Desert, but many
Sanusi, including as al-Sayid al-Sanusi, remained hiden in caves.
After the Italians defeated the
Sanusi in Libya, claiming the land for Italy, Sayid decided that the best plan
of action would be to align the Sanusi with the British so the Sanusi could
openly live in Bahariya once again, and be protected from possible Italian
invasion.
BAHARIYA TODAY: 40 YEARS OF
CHANGE
REAQUAINTING WITH THE
OUTSIDE WORLD
Life in Bahariya began to change about 35-40 years ago when
the dirt track (and later road) was put in between this oasis and Cairo. Previous to this advent, one would travel to
Cairo via camel caravan, a trip that took anywhere from 15 to 25 days. This
trip could also be made via an army type 4x4, then the trip was about 7 days.
When people traveled to Cairo
they usually stayed for a month or two and then returned so the whole trip
could take from 3 to 4 months. As a result,
the majority of the Bahariyans never saw Cairo or the outside world -- the ones
that did were men and were lucky to have made this trip maybe 2 or 3 times --
the women never saw Cairo. A more
frequent, but still not well-traveled trip was to the two closest oases:
Farafra and Siwa. Even when the road was established between these two points,
it was still a pretty rugged trip and took at least a couple of days. The road between Bahariya and Farafra was
only paved about 15 years ago, but 30 out of 100 people seemed to know where
the White Desert was.
When the Cairo/Bahariya road was
installed, transportation inside the oasis was still by camel or donkey – there
were not more than 2 cars/jeeps in the entire oasis for a long time. In the past 5 years, motorcycles have
replaced donkeys, for the most part, and camels are used primarily for tourist
trips. Twenty years ago there were lots of Bedouin nomads living in the desert
-- now there are practically none, except on the north coast.
All of the Oaseans were very adept at navigating by the
stars, the winds, familiar landmarks, and the sun in combination with their
body’s shadow that was cast by the sun.
After the road was put in, this talent has not been used much – until
the Oaseans reconnected with their Bedouin ancestry and started taking 4-wheel
drives into the desert. Now many are
adapt once again at desert navigation although very, very few use the stars but
rather the sun, the winds, landmarks and that wonderful modern invention, GPS.
ELECTRICITY AND TV
Electricity was not hooked up to Bahariya until 20 years
ago; previous to this event gasoline generators were used to charge batteries
and create electricity. Everyone had
electricity for only 4 hours per day so most of the cooking and heating still
came via campfire or wood stove. Many of
the homes had holes in the ceilings so the smoke could escape.
No modern electronic items could be found in Bahariya so
when the electric lines were finally established in the oasis, it opened many
doors to the outside world and the wonders of electrical appliances. It shocked people to hear voices coming out
of telephones – how can voices travel through wires?&$@? Are people trapped in the telephone? Can they
get out? Or has some evil djinn
stolen my friend’s voice?
Regarding TVs, the reception was so bad at first that a
person might see one picture every ½ hour on an otherwise static–filled
screen. But when reception improved and
the Oaseans could actually see people inside
these small boxes, it scared them. “How can those poor people get out of that
box? Are they in jail or put there by djinns?
If we break the ‘box’ will all the people fall out? And if so, are they good people or criminals?”
Imagine what it was like to see someone’s face – a body-less head – inside a TV
box – pretty spooky! The Russians also
had similar responses to the TV– they thought that there were body-less living
heads locked inside of a box, caught there for eternity.
Even after the Bahariyans
understood the concept of TV and filming, they still believed that the people
inside the TV could see out and actually look at the viewers. When oasis women first saw a man’s face in
the TV, they immediately covered their faces -- it is still tradition in the
oasis that only other women, or close male family members, can look at a
woman’s face.
THE NIQAAB
The niqaab, the
black female head covering in which only the eyes are visible, did not come to
Bahariya until about 15 years ago; before this time the women rarely went
outside of their homes or gardens. When
they wanted to go and visit a friend, their visits were nocturnal and they were
completely wrapped up in a blanket and led by a family male member because even
their eyes were covered. So although
many Westerners see the niqaab as a
restrictive device, for the Bahariya women it is helpful as it enables them to
go outside during the day and male escort is not always necessary.
Funny thing: I have asked several
of the guys why they think it is necessary for their wives to wear a niqaab; they responded that they tell
their wives that it is not necessary, but their wives do it voluntarily. This is because the women grew up with the
custom that the niqaab protects
purity. The women feel that if they
didn’t wear it outside their homes, that other men would think they are ‘loose’
and this might bring disgrace to their father’s and husband’s families.
In addition, it is forbidden for anyone to say a woman’s
personal name in any public place; this is done out of respect as a woman’s
purity is a very cherished thing.
Instead they would refer to a mother as “Ahmed’s mom” (Umm Ahmed), or a daughter as Magdi’s
daughter (bint Magdi) and if a family
member such as a son or brother wanted to get the attention of his sister or
mother, they would usually yell out her husband’s name from the street; if the
mother or sister knew who the men were they would answer. If the ladies didn’t, they would stay silent. This is a very strict rule; for example, if
someone asked a child what his mother’s name was, the child would hit the
person and would walk away unpunished and completely justified.
Usually with regards to foreign
women, everybody just speaks her first name as they know that oasis traditions
don’t apply to foreign women. However, when you live here long enough, they
will call you by the house owner’s name, out of respect. So when I was working on my PhD at Nadr’s
house I would constantly hear men coming up to the gate and yelling out “Nadr”
(Nadr’s house didn’t have any doorbells).
As Nadr was usually not at home, I wouldn’t answer. It took a while to figure out that they were
actually calling out to me. So we all
reached a compromise, when they yell out “Doctoora” then I know they are asking
for me, and they are still giving me the same respect because they are not
saying my actual name in the streets, only my title.
WEDDINGS
Engagement and Wedding customs in Bahariya have not changed
for centuries; what was practiced 100 years ago is practiced today with only
minor variations.
The father of the family will decide when and to whom his
children will marry. If he wants one of
his daughters to make a match, he and his sons will consider the qualities of
the available single men and interview those that they don’t know well. If the family is searching for a wife for
their son, then the mother and her daughters (sisters of the groom) will search
for, and consider, all of the available young ladies for face, form,
personality, and wifely qualities. Once
a bride or groom is decided upon, both sets of fathers meet to make final
arrangements that include setting the date for the engagement party, wedding,
and discussing dowry.
The actual marriage is not
performed in a mosque but in the home of the father of the bride or groom. Both sets of parents sign the contracts for
their children in front of witnesses.
Today the bride and groom will not see each other’s faces until the
night of the engagement party – and then only briefly. They will not look upon each other again
until the wedding.
From about 25 years ago and going backwards in time, the
first time the bride and groom saw each other was in the groom’s bedroom
directly after the wedding took place.
Both the bride and the groom were both excited and fearful about getting
married. Marriage means children (and
Egyptians love kids) but it also
means going through the mechanics of making children. In the old days, the bride or groom may have
had a general idea about how sex worked, but not specific. So the bride’s mother or aunt would explain
things to the bride about an hour before the wedding was consummated, and the
father or uncle would instruct the groom.
The majority of marriages (now
and in the past) in Bahariya take place after the Eid (Feast) of Ramadan. In the past, most girls were married at 12
or 13, whether their female cycles started or not. Now it is against the law for a girl to marry
before she is 16 years old.
There is a lot of celebrating both before and after the
wedding. For three days before the
wedding, lunches and dinners are served by the families of the bride and groom
to all of the occupants of the Bahariya oasis.
Once the contracts were signed, the bride’s uncle (her mother’s brother)
would carry the bride on his shoulders (tightly wrapped in a blanket) to her new
home, usually a room in the house of her husband’s family. The uncle doesn’t just take the bride to the
living room – he deposits her directly in the bedroom that she will share with
her husband.
On this trip to her new home, the
bride wears her wedding dress, which was the traditional black djellabiya (aka abaya for women) that was brightly embroidered in red, green and
black thread with coins sewn all over it.
As the years passed, the uncle’s shoulder was replaced with a camel and
more than one bride was knocked off her camel when a careless guide led the
camel under a tree and the bride got stuck in the tree limbs. After a while, a big lorry-like truck would
be rented and an artificial garden of palm fronds, olive wood and flowers would
be made in the trunk. The Uncle would
take the bride to the groom’s house in this.
Today, the bride and groom see
each other’s faces at the engagement party, the bride wears a traditional white
western wedding dress on the eve of her marriage, and the groom takes her to
her new home that same night in a car, with lots of honking and reckless
drivingJ.
The husband and wife do not leave their new house for the
next 15 days. During this time the
bride’s family brings over all sorts of delicacies, such as chicken, duck,
sheep, and other grains, rice, tea, sugar, dates, etc; the family does this on
a daily basis for 15 days. Also during that
time, the bride usually has her nose pierced with a gold hoop/dish (Atara) that indicated she was married; this
practice stopped about 30 years ago.
Some women even had small tattoos applies to their chins or wrists. Not a lot of women did this because it is
against the rules of the Quran.
In addition to the gold nose
hoop, the husband usually buys his bride traditional gold jewelry – rings and
bangles – but it is the sister of the groom who places the husband’s gift on
the bride’s wrists and fingers.
Traditionally, weddings took place on Fridays. On the day after the wedding (Saturday) about
3 girls and 2 boys would bring fresh water, balanced in pots on their heads, to
the bride and groom. On the third day
(Sunday) the bride’s family comes to visit the bride, usually arriving about 10
am and not leaving until late evening.
They want to make sure that their daughter is happy and recovered from
her wedding night. Her family also comes
to view the cloth with the virginal blood on it not only to be reassured as to
their daughter’s purity, but also so that if anyone in the future disputes this
issue they can firmly state that the accusers are wrong – and then bring their
family against the person who doubted such a thing, and maybe knock some sense
into the loud mouth.
If there is
no virgin’s blood then the bride is returned to her family who might not
re-accept her as their shame would be too great. If they do accept her, they will find the man
who took her virginity and force the two to get married. Otherwise the girl cannot remarry as her
purity was previously taken.
The wedding and the following 15
days when the family constantly delivers food to the bride and groom is the
only vacation the bride will get in her life.
After this period is up, she is occupied with housekeeping for her
husband and his family, cooking, and having and raising children.
If the husband abuses the bride, she returns to her father’s
house and all the men in her family come against the new groom. If it is a situation that can be worked out,
the bride will return to her husband; if her family feels that the groom will
continue to mistreat her, they will annul the marriage and take back her
dowry. If there are children involved,
they stay with their mother and the father (her ex-husband) must monetarily
provide for them.
MEDICINE
The first hospital ever in the Bahariya oasis was not built
until about 30 years ago; it was mud brick and thatch. At that time only about 4000 people lived in
Bahariya and there was only one doctor for all of them; he diagnosed
conditions, prescribed drugs, and performed all operations. As the doctor was
male, women breasts and feminine organs were not examined at all. She had to figure out natural remedies on her
own or with the advice from her female relations or tribal wise women.
For women in childbirth, a female
midwife was used. The new infants were
protected from the djinns with amulets made of coins and string, which were
presented by relatives and friends. Concepts like the “evil eye” are still very
strong in the oasis; sometimes figures from tree leaves are made to deflect the
“evil eye.” When someone purchases
something expensive and coveted such as a new car or house, he/she will
sacrifice a sheep or cow, put their hands in the blood and make blood prints on
the car or house, and then donate all of the meat to their neighbors.
Before the hospital and doctor arrived to the oasis,
medicines were from local herbs, “special” foods, and usually made by local
sheikhs. Sheikhs could also help people
find missing items and perform psychic readings and healings. Sheikhs are still used today on a regular
basis.
DEATH
When someone dies it will be announced from the minaret at
the local mosque. Family members and
friends must congregate outside the dead person’s house and spend 3 days in
prayer. However, burials occur the same
day as the person dies. Cremation is
forbidden, as the Oaseans believe that the person’s soul will be destroyed
forever and ever – only very bad people are cremated so their souls will not
return and do more bad deeds. Any women
related to the deceased wears black mourning clothes for 1 year. In addition, anyone from the dead person’s
family could not watch TV, listen to music, get married, or celebrate any Eid
(the big feast after major holidays such as Ramadan and The Prophets birthday)
for 3 years.
LANGUAGE
The Bahariya oasis was so isolated from the outside world
that Arabic was not spoken here until 30 years ago, when the new road was put
in. The Bahariyans had their own tribal
language, which they have spoken for centuries, and they still speak it
today. I had to learn some of it because
I really wanted to be able to understand the tribal elders – they are
wonderful, interesting people with the best stories.
Having a separate language is a really neat thing – it is
like a secret code; it works very well when you want some, but not all, people
around you to understand what you are saying. There are many different Arabic
dialects in Egypt; you can tell where a person is from based on his/her dialect
or social class. When I go to Cairo, and
I forget to use the Cairo dialect, the Cairenes have a difficult time
understanding me as most foreigners speak the Cairene dialect and not the Saidi or Oasis dialect. It is pretty funny to
see the looks on their faces.
The people of Siwa have a similar
issue: their tribal tongue is based in Berber but it is also something else –
Siwan. Those who speak the old Bahariya tribal dialect could understand some of
the Siwan language; those from Cairo could understand some of the Bahariya
language. But those from Cairo cannot
understand Siwan and the Siwans who don’t speak Arabic, cannot understand the
Cairenes.
MONEY AND CRIME
Bahariyans, up until about 25 years ago, did not use paper
money or coin – every “purchase” was done through barter and trade. When money finally arrived, 50 piasters could
buy you a lot of candy 10 years ago.
Today, it is not enough to tip a bathroom attendant.
As there was not any money 25 years ago, that means there
weren’t any banks or safes to rob, so thieves stole “things” – and woe to those
who were caught! They got to keep their
right hand but they had to go through another form of social punishment that
was based on tribal rules. If a man stole a goat, for example, then all the
tribe would gather along the main street, play drums and clap as the man had to
carry the item he stole (a goat in this case) and down the street so everyone
could see who it was and what he stole.
Public disgrace such as this is huge – remember there were only 4000
people living in one place – if you stole something then everyone would know it. No one would allow their daughters to marry
someone like that; no one would want to socialize with the thief because others
would look down on him as well, and the family of the thief would be hugely
shamed before their friends and acquaintances.
Government offices didn’t come to the oasis until 20 years
ago. Even so, most of the settlements
are still done via the old tribal rules with the tribal elders acting as
judges. However, if someone steals
something, now they go to jail.
UNUSUAL WEATHER CONDITIONS
Every year one or two great sandstorms come to the oasis,
rarely from November to January, but more frequently between February and April
during the hameseen season (the “50
days”). First, an unusual golden light
comes into the atmosphere, and the hairs on your skin start to rise and you
develop goosebumps. This is probably the
result of a big drop in Barometric pressure.
Then – whoosh – here comes the wind and a never-ending blanket of
sand. Visibility is completely cut
off. If you are in a car in the desert,
people take out their dish soap and smear it on the outside to protect the
paint, and everyone starts heading for home.
Sandstorms are really awesome
events – they kind of remind me of the lighting storms we used to have in
Tucson, Arizona during the monsoons, but instead of electricity filling the
sky, in Egypt there are heavy winds and lots of sand. Everything pretty much
shuts down and all doors and windows get closed. Computers, televisions and any other
electronic equipment are covered in blankets and plastic. After a sandstorm you
must do a thorough house cleaning as sand comes in from every single tiny
opening.
Heavy rainstorms are completely unknown in the oasis – until
about 15 years ago. A very, very heavy
rain and electrical storm came to Bahariya – it only lasted about 2 hours but
it was so intense that people actually thought that the end of the world had
come. Seriously. They had NEVER seen anything like it
before.
As all the houses were made of
mud brick, most houses collapsed, destroying all the contents inside. People were bailing out their destroyed
houses with buckets. The White Desert
turned into a big lake – it completely filled with water. The Oaseans had never
seen or imagined anything like it before.
But, in fear that something like this would come again, they built their
new houses out of large white concrete blocks or red bricks – not the
traditional, mud brick. Too bad because
the mud brick houses have very thick walls – the house stays cool in the summer
and warm in the winter because the insulation was better.
TOURISM
Bahariya is the most undeveloped oasis of all the oases in
Egypt. Siwa was actually closed to the
outside public until about 25 years ago, but when it opened up, tourism really
exploded there, just as did in the Dakhla, Farafra, and Kharga oases. In a way this is good for Bahariya and the
tourist as many of the old Bahariya oasis traditions are still preserved and
this oasis’ way-of-life has changed little over the centuries. In Bahariya, the visitor can still experience
an authentic Egyptian oasis town, operating as it has for hundreds of years.
No comments:
Post a Comment