A Tour in the New Valley
The White Desert

Eight o'clock in the morning - an hour after its departure from Cairo airport - the plane landed in the Alwadi Algadid Airport. Calmness and silence encompassed the whole place. Sun was there behind our backs and there was a gentle breathe. The people of these oases welcomed us with their gentle smiles. Our guide commented: "This is the atmosphere of the oasis; gentle and fresh. It is, according to the international standards, one of the least polluted areas in the world.

This calm, however, did not unravel any of the secrets and stories that we were yearning to hear about, the place, stories of the past, the present and the future.

Albagwat
The white desert
Only three minutes after, we were surprised. On the right of the road from the airport to the town, tombstones of "Albagwat" graveyard appeared. It was a Christian cemetery built in the Roman era two thousand years ago. It was part of many exciting stories. In front of it was a spring of water dug by Pharaohs and restored by the Romans. It was the spring of life for the oases. Then the remains of a temple appeared. Surprising architecture representing many ages at the same time: The Pharaonic, the Persian, the Greek and the Roman.
The Ancient Valley

Alwadi Algadid (the new valley) is the name branded in 1958 to western part of Egypt. Desert occupy most of its parts but include some oases here and there. The land here is rich in ground water that amounts to 50,000 cubic meter. The word "new", however, is not an apt description for this valley. The monuments and historic remains in the place reveal that it is an ancient valley. It was inhabited by the pre-historic man who left traces dating back to more 5,000 years. It was also widely cultivated by the Pharaohs during the Dynasty era and had "Hibes"- meaning the plow - as its capital. Aldakhla oasis was called "Kenmt" and its capital was "Ou-das-das"- meaning furrowing the land.

Al Farafra was called "Taaht" - meaning the land of the buffalo. During the Greek and Roman ages, Ptolemies - the successors of Alexander the Great - were keen on improving cultivation in these oases. They left their remains to testify that. Under the Roman oppression of Christians, they took shelter there. The place, however, flourished during that time and they also left many remains. It is interesting to see that most remains stood on a line connecting south to north where there was a road called "Darb El Arabin" which used to connect Egypt to Sudan and Africa. Thus, it became easier to visit more than 400 antiquities' sites in the different oases and villages of Alwadi Algadid.

Dosh Temple
"Search for history" trip started by "Dosh Temple" 73 kilometres south Al-Kharga city. The remains of the temple stood on a hill.... a huge gate surrounded by the remains of erections built by brown bricks. "This temple was built for the purpose of worshipping the gods Isis and Sirabis. Its opening was celebrated shortly before the reign of Emperor "Tragan". This is what our guide translated from the hieroglyphics written on the edifice. He pointed to a nearby hole and said: Here, the French mission for antiquities found a collection of rare accessories and called it "hidden in Dosh". The mission is still excavating the place. We headed north of "Dosh".

Al-Bagawat, El- Karga
Two peaks
On the same road two peaks appeared. They seemed to be similar from the far distance, but as we neared, the difference became clear. The first was that of "Alzayan castle", another temple, dating back to ptolemies. On its threshold was an engraving saying that Emperor Antonios ;
Bios restored that temple and that it was opened on August 18th, 140 A.D, in the third year of his reign. Other engravings - in an extremely good condition - depicted offerings to the god "Amoon". The other bigger peak was that of Al-Goaita temple of which many parts remained. It stood also on a hill and was used as a strategic castle overlooking the famous "Darb Al Arbian" road. The temple dates back to the 25th Pharaonic dynasty. Pictures on the walls bellow the holy of holies reveal that. Other pictures on the gate show that the temples' engravings were completed in the Ptolemies reign. Ptolemy the third started it in 247 B.C., followed by the fourth, then the tenth.

Engravings reveal that the temple was meant for worshipping the god Amoon, his wife Moat and his son Khonso. It was exciting to see the wife of the god standing behind him in all the pictures and to see "Bartiki" the wife of Ptolemy the third also standing behind her husband offering presents to the god. This scene was rare in ancient Egyptian engravings.

Unirrigated watermelon
On the way back from "Dosh" to Alkharga town and through our aim there were temples and monuments; we made many stops. The first one was in front of a huge green piece of land surrounded everywhere by deserts and sand. Strangely enough, there were no source of water in or near by that green spot. Tens of tons of watermelon, coming out of the sand, were being gathered by young girls singing the songs of harvest time.

The owner of the farm was an Egyptian farmer whose face reflected Egyptian Pharaonic features.

Off course there is an explanation for that spectacle. Usually high ground water level spoils land and grows no plant. But here, only through practical experience, it was discovered that high ground water level was good for desert lands. We dug lines one to two metre deep with an angle of 45. In the middle of that Pyramid-like form we sowed seeds so that they would neither be deprived from water nor drowned by it. We did nothing else. Exerting very little effort, we just waited for harvest time. Following the same steps, we cultivate other plants such as tomatoes, cucumber and strawberry.

The second stop was to the west. There were simple erections built of local materials. We went in at midday and left as if they were air conditioned. This ideal model of construction was derived from Ancient Egyptian architecture, dating back thousands of years. These models were workshops for creative artists coming from every part of the world. On the left, a whole village was built in the same style. The village, however, which we actually visited had the name "Paris". It was one of the oldest oases in Egypt's deserts that maintained their simplicity and kindness of people. Pharaohs called it "Paris" meaning south because it was south of ancient Egypt. We were invited to the house of one of the people there,

Vistas Over The Horizon
Badr Abdel Moghni's work.... El-Farafera oasis
The tile steps, El-Dakhela
Hassan Habib, a folklore artist. We were offered tea, the popular drink in the oases, while Hassan took his clarinet and started singing and a group of men and youth, then, joined him reiterating his popular songs.
Back to Hibes

We went back to Hibes and Albagawat, the first sites we came across. On our way, we passed by Alnadoura castle. Its name revealed that it was used as a center for control during Turkish and Roman ages. The castle was a Roman temple erected by Emperor Antonios Bios in the second century A.D. Its walls were covered by protruding hieroglyphic writings of the goddess Afrodet. Two kilometers and we were back in Albagwat cemetery... the remains of a whole city. It was shortly before Sun Set. The shadows created a fascinating scene. The remains of 263 ancient graves stood on a hill. All buildings had vaults. On the rocks near the cemetery, there were the relics of the Pharaonic city "Hbt" that remained till the 26 dynasty. The cemetery itself consisted of small churches, while there stood the exodus church which - in place - was erected after "Wahelhaiz" church, on the road between Al-Farafra and the Bahariah oases. This cemetery was built when Christians came to Egypt to escape from the Romans oppression. They were led by priests Nostawras and Wathnathus and hoped for a peaceful life in that remote area. We entered the exodus church. It was a small vaulted building whose walls were covered by simple drawings of stories from the holy book: Adam and Eve expelled from paradise. Daniel in the lions den. Judas in the whale's stomach. Ibrahim and Noah and his ship in the flood. The church was built in the third century A.D.

Other graves carried similar writings. Some of which, however, were in Arabic telling stories of Moroccan pilgrims who took shelter in the cemetery while crossing the Great Desert. The writings included poetry and stories.
This is Egypt; always a melting pot of all civilizations.
We headed to Hibes Temple, the most famous temple of the oases.

Sea of sand, El-Qara Cave
El-Farafera oasis
The orange sun rays penetrated the palm oasis surrounding the temple and fel l- through the temple's gate - on a folklore band dancing in the middle of the temple. These were dances known among people of the oasis. Hibes Temple was the most important temple in the oases. It was the only Egyptian temple remaining from the Persian era ( 660-330 B.C.). There was a story related to that temple. When Persian Cambiz invaded Egypt in 525 B.C and humiliated its god "Amoon", the western desert swallowed his army of 50,000 troops, leaving no traces of them. He was succeeded by King Dar Alawal "Daryos" in 500 B.C. He wanted to satisfy the Egyptians, so he completed the engravings of the temple whose erection started at the time of the 26 Pharaonic Dynasty (660-565 B.C).

Then the Egyptian Nakrabo the second took over in 350 B.C). He erected the outer part of the temple. In the Greek age, Ptolemy the second set up the great gate to the east of the temple. The first outside gate was erected in the Roman age in front of "Ships" anchor. From east to west, the temple included the holy pool, the Ships anchor, the Roman and the Ptolemies gates, the Persian gate, Nakhtabon courtyard, the 12 pillars hall where there was the statue of the god Horus, the huge hall, finally the holy of holies surrounded by some rooms, and the Osires skeleton on the second floor. the engravings reveal that the temple witnessed worshipping of many deities throughout various ages, starting with the trinity (Amoon-Maout-Khonso), then the trinity (Osires-Isis-Horus) then the "Aishtar" goddess of Syrian origin, and other deities.
On the way to Al-Dakhla

The Kharga oasis was not the end of the search for monuments in Alwadi Algadid. Early in the morning, along the road, which was almost 200 kilometres length, nature was at its best. In "Darb El Ghabari", groups of tourists set up their tents among rocks shopped in the forms of huge animals and birds. Geologists believed that the prehistoric man lived in this area in the modern stone age in the year 5000 B.C. and that he left engravings testifying that.

On the way to Aldakhla, there was Bashandi village. It was an ordinary village uniquely characterized by social activities, houses in the Pharaonic style and streets of yellow sand. Amidst its houses, there were two important monuments: The grave of Sheikh Bashandi- dating back to the Turkish era. It was built beside the grave of Kitanos a ptolemies, dating back to the first century BC. The Burial room had engravings depicting the embalming process and the day of reckoning in oases court.

East of Bashaudi, there was the Berbiah building; discovered lately by a Canadian mission. The building dates back to the Roman age. The village of Balat had five Mastabas, constituting Pharaonic graves dating back to the sixth dynasty. Above them, there were other graves, of the Roman age. Among these graves was that of "Imabibi", the governor of the place that time, surrounded by two small obelisks. The French archeological mission is still excavating the place, searching for more antiquities. The most wonderful of Aldakhla monuments was "Marzouka" graveyard which was named by the Egyptian archeologist Dr. Ahmed Fakhri. It included two important graves one of "Body Ozeen" and the other of "Body Best". Their walls were wonderfully decorated by engravings seeming to have just been finished, though they date back to the first centuries AD in the Roman age.

In the far sight, Daer El Hagan appeared. It was a Roman temple standing in a place teeming with monuments of the Roman age. These were some of the monuments of Alwadi Elgadid. The museum Crowning these monuments was Alwadi Elgadid museum. It is a huge museum, consisting of three stories teeming with remains discovered in that historical place.

El-Ghoweta, El-Kharga
The pieces exhibited there date back to the Pharaonic, the Greek, the Roman, the Coptic, the Islamic and the modern eras.
The White Desert

It lies 40 Km. north of Farafra. It is characterized by its snow-like limestones. It is an international open museum for sculptors, artists, and photographers.


An old village of El-Farafera
Al-qaraa Cave
It lies 140 km. north of Farafrah. It is one of the most ancient and remarkable caves in the world. Every morning, rays of sunshine are let into the cave through a hole for a few seconds.

The New Valley Oases boast of a combination of originality and modernity. In this context, reference may be made to the old Dakhla which is famed for its mud-brick houses and ancient streets, and the new Dakhla with its wide paved streets and arrayed trees. Likewise, new Mut is the capital of Dakhla but Pharaonic Mut derived its name from God Amun's wife 'Mut'. There are also the new Balat Village and the old one which is famed for its ancient houses on which gates names of owners and dates of building are written, and the new Farafrah and the old one known for its small houses which are surrounded by trees and palms.

However, the most magnificent among all in Dakhla is Al-qasr Village. It is the first village in the oases that hosted the Muslim tribes in 50 AH. It has the remains of a mosque which dates back to the 7th century AD. It was the capital of the oases in the Ayyubid period and contained the palace of the ruler at the time. The gate of such palace is that of a Pharaonic temple. There are still some Pharaonic houses bearing hieroglyphic inscriptions.

In Farafrah, it is still a tradition that women wear gorgeous clothes, particularly red clothes, during condolence ceremonies. The best time for women to visit each others is still during Friday prayer. The Museum of Heritage in Dakhla, thought simple, illustrates the lives and houses of families in the Oases hundred years ago. It represents a magnificent picture of how houses were designed, what tools were farmers using, what places of entertainment people went to, what places harim(women) stayed in, and what costumes people wore at the time.

Ancient Egyptians drilled the first water wells in the Oases. In recent times, water wells started flowing in the 1960's, thus reviving the area. The Oases are now on the verge of a promising future provided that the 50,000 billion metre square of ground water will be perfectly used. Water in the Oases is a source of life, beauty, and health. The verdant oases are irrigated through water wells flowing everywhere. Roman wells and springs which flowed 2000 years ago are surrounded by gardens and resthouses. Dakhla contains several wells. In the Mut wells temperature reaches 43c.