Farafra
Coordinates: 27 ° 3 ' N , 27 ° 58' E
The al-Farafra valley ( Arabic الفرافرة, DMG al-Farāfra ) with its largest town Qasr el-Farafra is located about 300 km west of Asyut in Egypt and was also known as Ta-iht (Ta-íḥu) or The Land of the Cow during the times of the Pharaohs . It is only sparsely populated with around 2500 inhabitants.
history
The depression was already settled in the wet times in the early and middle Holocene 10,000 to 6,000 years ago (8,000–4,000 BC), also in Pharaonic times.
However, only inscribed certificates are available for this. The oldest testimony is the story of the eloquent farmer : a farmer from the Natron Valley is said to exchange various products in the Nile Valley for food, including sticks made from an unknown material from the Ta-íḥu oasis. Further evidence can be found in various Egyptian temples (temple inscription from the time of Ramses II in the Luxor temple , inscription of Merenptah in the Karnak temple , list of oases in the temple of Edfu ).
The structural evidence that still exists comes from Roman or Coptic times. The few inscriptions come from Coptic times. Ahmed Fakhry suspected that the Roman settlement lasted roughly from the first century BC to the second century AD. Christians settled the valley from around the first to the seventh century, but their share of the total population is unknown.
Badr Museum Farafra
The local artist Badr exhibits his works in a small museum. He uses all materials found in nature, from different colored sand to sandstones and roots. Badr also has a small guest lodge where interested artists can work.
White Desert National Park ( as-Sahra al-baida )
The White Desert to the north of the Farafra oasis is particularly impressive . Limestone formations of huge monoliths stimulate the desert visitor's imagination and are reminiscent of a stone camel, a mushroom, a hare or a cup. The findings on the ground indicate that there was once an ocean floor here. The desert is only accessible with off-road vehicles.
One of the most important neighboring oases is Bahariyya , about 180 kilometers north of Farafra. Between these two oases also home to the Crystal Mountain (Crystal Mountain), one of centimeter to dezimetergroßen crystals framed rock breakthrough.
literature
(sorted chronologically)
- Ahmed Fakhry: The oases of Egypt. Vol. II: Barīyah and Farafra Oases . Cairo: The American Univ. in Cairo Pr., 1974, ISBN 978-9774247323 , pp. 155-180.
- Lisa L. Giddy: Egyptian Oases: Bahariya, Dakhla, Farafra and Kharga During Pharaonic Times . Warminster: Aris & Phillips, 1987, pp. 13-17, 47, 89 f., 125 f., 152 f., 164.
- Frank Bliss : Artisanat et artisanat d'art dans les oasis du désert occidental Egypt . Publications of the Frobenius Institute. Cologne 1998.
- Barbara E. Barich: Farafra Oasis. In: Kathryn A. Bard (Ed.): Encyclopedia of the Archeology of Ancient Egypt. Routledge, London 1999, ISBN 0-415-18589-0 , pp. 298-300.
- Joachim Willeitner : The Egyptian oases: cities, temples and graves in the Libyan desert. von Zabern, Mainz 2003, ( Ancient World , special issue; Zabern's illustrated books on archeology ), ISBN 3-8053-2915-6 .
- Frank Bliss: Oasis life. The Egyptian oases of Bahriya and Farafra in the past and present , The Egyptian Oases , Volume 2. Bonn 2006.
