What Ancient Wonders Are Hidden In The Sahara | Eternal Egypt | Timeline

three centuries after the first discoveries Egypt continues to fascinate us with each passing month it reveals new treasures buried under the desert sand the nose fragment was found in the area during an archaeological excavation so we cling to it we had not gone very far temples pyramids , necropolises and

ancient

cities are just some of the Wonders that bear witness to the Splendor of the pharaohs of the past and the Greeks used to make cakes called pyramids and when they arrived in Egypt they found colossal stone structures in the shape of their cakes to give them the same name this

ancient

civilization that was believed lost is constantly reinvented in the Egypt of the 21st century we will travel through time and space to Rediscover it when it crossed the land of the Phos around the year 450 BC Herodotus proclaimed that Egypt was a gift from the visitors from the past and present.

He was struck by the contrast between the exuberance of the banks of the Great River and the aridity of the desert that surrounded them. These inhospitable expanses cover 96% of the country and only 1% of the population lives there since the beginning of time. The Egyptians have feared the desert. It is the world of the dead, the kingdom of the god Seth who tried to kill his brother Osiris who It symbolized the fertile and nutritious land. This religious myth reflects the ancient fatigue of the Egyptians with these hostile lands, and yet no pharaoh, sultan, or modern leader has been able to rest until they have attempted to tame the Sahara, which means desert in Arabic.

It is essential. For the Egyptian economy since ancient times, slaves, precious woods and wild animals have passed through it along paths linking the oases, it is also a gateway for foreign invaders and the land of nomads. which sedentary Egyptians are so wary of despite the military presence. The Egyptians of the Nile have never managed to control this arid land today, it is still a place fraught with danger and rebellion In Cairo, the overcrowded capital of modern Egypt, the desert and its dangers seem far removed from the everyday concerns of the people and yet it is there, on the outskirts of the city, as you go up the river.

To the south the Nile River takes the appearance of a green snake surrounded by hostile lands 1 hour from Cairo the oasis of smoke is the first refuge of the living among the dead the desert that surrounds it is a particularly arid part sometimes not It rains for 5 years and when the heavens finally open, all hell breaks loose, the water rushes along these Wy with incalculable violence leaving a lunar landscape in its wake. W al-hitan has not always been the desolate land we see long ago today. It was a sanctuary for some huge animals, you find wonderful bones preserved and if you go there you will also see bones still in the Rock and you will see the tissue, maybe it's a whale vertebra, look here, one here, one there, basically everywhere.

That's why it's called Whale Valley. 40 million years ago we were standing at the bottom of the ocean, so water covered most of Egypt at the time and all these beautiful creatures were swimming around. Here we are. Looking at the most beautiful Whitan fossils, this is the largest whale, the largest marine mammal, 80 M long, which lived 40 million years ago in this place. You can hear the skull over there and the tail is right there, so we're in the stomach area, you see the arms there, the B arms, the fins and the legs would be really there, really small legs.

Compared to this, this huge animal. Professor Salam has crossed a vast area of ​​the Egyptian deserts in search of fossils for some years. He was recently lucky to be the first Egyptian to find a new species of dinosaur. He has been something of a celebrity in his country since we found a dinosaur skeleton in the late Cretaceous zone in 2018 that is actually 73 million years old. skeleton is a herbivorous dinosaur we call it mansourasaurus in honor of my university and we also call it shahini species in honor of my wife's name. It took millions of years for the sea to retreat from Wadi alhan giving way to Tera FMA.

A series of different climates followed in Egypt. First the jungle, then the forests colonized this part of the world, but in the year 5,000 BC. C. the temperature suddenly skyrocketed and desertification occurred, forcing the majority of the population to settle along the banks of the Nile River. Perhaps this change in climate is the origin of the Egyptian civilization in this space. confined it was necessary to organize a society by creating a strong royal power around a pharaoh. It took a while for the desert to colonize Egypt. The Giza Plateau did not become arid until 1,000 BC. The foot of the pyramids was in the Egyptians of the savanna often rubbed shoulders with the type of animals now found in East Africa.

They are depicted in bus reliefs offering their dead various species of gazelles and hyenas that are believed to have domesticated and even eaten desert animals such as horned vipers or jackals. Also present of all the Egyptian deserts, the Libyan Desert is the most feared. It covers an area of ​​more than 3 million square kilometers. Chances of survival are slim for travelers who get lost in its immensity. Your only hope is to find an oasis like this. Ducka Dua is a true paradise of peace, exuberance in the face of chaos. The Oasis owes its exuberance to the work of human beings who have irrigated and landscaped it for millennia.

These palm groves that extend as far as the eye can see are the fruits of their work. The desert climate is perfect for dates. La Granja El Noir has planted 50,000 date palms. This plant is the emblem of the oases. It has so many uses, including for knitting hats and protection against the sun while you, its inhabitants, depend on dates, you grow other crops such as wheat and rice, which are mainly for your own consumption, but your main source of income comes from the date. Our dates are exported all over the world, to the Arab world, of course to Morocco and the United Arab Emirates, but also to Russia. even starting to be exported to Europe thanks to the quality of our daa dates Oasis is on the regional and even international map I have not left the Oasis for 2 years before I was traveling for 5 years I was an engineer in the oil industry I used to travel a lot to Cairo but I prefer life in the oasis with its calm and serenity away from the crowds and noise the technique used to pick dates has hardly changed since the days of the pharaoh dates remain popular products in representations of ancient Egypt In his visions of paradise, date palms occupied a place of honor alongside fields of fla and wheat.

Oasis full of goodness like daa's could well have inspired everyone's sensual paradise, a shady garden in which it is only necessary to reach out. hand to pick the juicy fruits of this oasis may not be that Nana, but the 8,000 inhabitants of Daaka have still chosen to stay here far from a world that is in perpetual motion. Here they are spread over 17 towns of which Casa is the oldest and the most beautiful. Built on the ruins of a Roman fortress, this medieval town has preserved part of the character of those fortifications. Today Sai is practically uninhabited. The site's guardian is one of the few visitors to this abandoned labyrinth.

This medieval town is the symbol of The Dakla Oasis. Many tourists love this ancient city, it is atypical and its houses and streets radiate a unique atmosphere. Discover the past with exclusive ancient history documentaries and ad-free podcasts presented by world-renowned historians. Watch on your smart TV or on the Go with your mobile device, download the app now to explore everything from the

wonders

of Pompeii to the Buddika Rebellion and the mysteries of prehistoric Scotland. Immerse yourself in the captivating stories of this extraordinary era by registering through the link in the description you see. That is palm wood, that is the wood that was most used here.

There are very few houses with inscriptions like this. The rich put up these signs with poems or verses from the Koran. You no longer see this type of inscription on the facades, nor is it almost ever used. wood everything is modern CA was colonized in the 8th century AD. but it did not reach its peak until the 16th century during the Ottoman Empire. As demonstrated by the madrasa that served as a school in the mornings and a court of law in the afternoons. Muslim judges. or caddis used to try cases at Al Cove with the witnesses appearing before them the accused waited in two separate prisons the women's prison and the men's prison

what

surprises casual visitors to this ancient city is that everything has been preserved in its original state as if the inhabitants had just left here we are in a communal mill this is how it worked there was a cow turning the millstone to grind the wheat the other job was to pass grains of wheat through this hole using this pendulum this piece of Wood can be adjusted to suit the height of the millstone, which determines the fineness of the grain grain, this mill has been abandoned for over 100 years today.

Modern machinery is used to grind wheat or rice. Everything is electric. There were several reasons why the inhabitants abandoned this medieval mill. The city's adobe is a very fragile building material when it rains, which is rare, the walls need to be rebuilt. The modern also played an important role: running water, electricity and main drainage managed to convince the most reluctant, today only three or four families still live in this historic city center, some artisans have chosen to stay here to work. This Potter studio is less noisy than a blacksmith's, but still, for thousands of years pottery has been essential to life in the desert.

We make jugs and jars for CFFs, anything you can make with clay. There used to be no refrigerators or metal containers to store water, but people are rediscovering the benefits of ceramics. Doctors recommend drinking water from pots for its mineral properties. The ancient Egyptians used ceramics as coolers, backpacks, and thermoses. It served all purposes. People kept all kinds of food in it, such as meat or dried fish. Without it there would have been no trade. The jars were a means of exporting oil or wine. Wooden barrels were not invented until much later by the GS. . Unfortunately, the last generation of Potters after us there will be no one.

It is a difficult skill to master. You have to learn it when you are young. You can't do it when you're older. It's over. Nobody wants to learn anymore like with most oases. Mass tourism and tourist buses never go as far as dla. That's

what

Meged likes. This Egyptian has made a bold decision to show discerning travelers another off-the-beaten-path view of Egypt as you travel from one oasis to another. You only see desert and suddenly you arrive at another Oasis with its lush vegetation at that moment the Oasis acquires the full meaning of the term. I never cease to be amazed by the peace and serenity of this Return to Nature, the Purity, I come here to clean.

I free myself from all the stress of the city, from all the worries of everyday life. I come to this region to recharge my batteries. You might imagine that oasis inhabitants are completely self-sufficient, but there are many outside influences here. The most important one comes. From the inhabitants of the Nile Valley in Daa, archaeologists have discovered vestiges from the time of the pharaohs dating back to 246 BC. The majestic tombs of the ancient rulers show how important this region was to the central government. We find ourselves before the MBA of Rema, who was the governor of the Oasis during the sixth Dynasty under the reign of Pepe II, right next to it you can see another MBA, the word mastera now refers to the upper part, which is this rectangular shape to the MBA of Rema is missing that part, it is its collapse that led to the protection of the Master bar cave, which are these rectangular buildings, they crowned the tombs of the pharaohs of the first and second dynasties around 3000 BC.

C. until a genius architect arrived and revolutionized these royal cemeteries. Imotep, who worked for the pharaoh, came up with the idea of ​​stacking the masterb bars on top of each other, thus creating a pyramid shape. This pyramid with its different levels was the first of its kind in Egypt. There are more than 100 pyramids in the world. country, later the pharaohs chose to be buried in the Valley of the Kings. What all these periods have in common is that the cemeteries are always in the middle of the desert. The idea was to preserve the agricultural lands on the banks of the Nile, which were already limited, and also protect the mummies from humidity which is their worst enemy so the desert naturally became the kingdom of the Dead now we are about 7 M below ground level on this wall we can see a very traditional scene of the type found in all Old Kingdom tombs in the main hallway there was always a portrait of the owner of the Tomb, so it is REM with his wife in front of him, the scene is quite damaged but we can see that she takesa lotus flower to the nose to inhale its aroma from the Old Kingdom onwards to the walls of these private tombs.

It would have shown a variety of scenes depicting daily life and sometimes the funeral, while the walls of the royal tombs exclusively featured texts and funerary scenes, so if all that was left in Egypt were the royal tombs, we would have lost all the information obtained from them. fabulous scenes of daily life for example these plowing scenes we can see a plow here with some cattle there are hunting scenes here also like everywhere here in the middle of the desert it is even easier to go hunting it was one of their favorite sports The Governors representing the king's representatives built such elaborate tombs because oases were vital to the pharaohs.

This region is located on a very important trade route called D ARB, which means 40-day route. It was the caravan trail that connected what is now the region. from Asuk with DAR and Sudan all the goods from Africa that were coveted at that time, ebony, ivory, gold and exotics, were transported through that route and it was such an important trade route that the omnipresence and power of the state was very invisible, there were posts checkpoints and toll booths along the trade route, showing how important it was to the kings and pharaohs who lived miles away from this region because the seat of power was in Memphis, which was situated in what It is now Greater Cairo, but they felt the need to demonstrate their power along the DAR ARB trade route, so the administration was established in Daa very soon, but the same is not true for another Oasis located about 500 km from Cairo Egypt did not gain control of Siwa until the 6th century BC.

C. 70 km from the Libyan border SWA has long been protected by the Junes from the great sand sea that surrounds it and yet in the middle of this inhospitable world there are small lakes. They are gradually appearing, they are a reminder of the sea that once covered the desert millions of years ago. Egyptian tourists love the terrifying experience of coming here from Cairo, even with its hot springs. They see the desert as a fraudulent place with danger in the distance. You can make out the sewer, the water is so abundant here that due to the lack of drainage saltwater lakes are formed, the city center is a quiet place, the series is by Nature Placid, this is very far from the frenzy of the big cities, this Serenity.

It is captured in the 7th century Charlie Fortress, which dominates the city built of blocks of clay mixed with salt, which gradually crumbles over the centuries. DOA is a tour guide who encourages tourists to take their time and appreciate this special atmosphere when tourists first came here. They are fascinated by the fact that there is hardly any transition between the endless desert and this lush green oasis. There is a very clear dividing line between the two. Here there are 281 springs and the inhabitants of Sewa live between them. Some of these springs gush all over the Oasis.

As natural pools for passing bathers, there is one whose popularity has never diminished because here you feel as if you are swimming in the wake of the greatest Queen of Egypt. We are here next to a spring known as the spring of the sun or Cleopatra spring. They say that Cleopatra came here to bathe, she took great care of herself, she bathed in donkey's milk scented with lotus flowers. This spring is one of the springs most loved by the Egyptians because they feel that they are following in Cleopatra's footsteps and doing beautiful people love to swim. around the spring.

These springs are very relaxing places with the water and the palm trees that surround them. Patra, the penultimate queen of the Hellenistic Tomy dynasty, may never have bathed in Sewa, but Greek influence is evident particularly in the oases, the main necropolis, the Hill of the Dead overlooking the city, archaeologists have listed 1,500 graves there, many of them are damaged, the mountainside still bears the scars of all the unofficial excavations carried out by Seawe over the centuries, grave robbers removed the low reliefs and sold them. They give them to foreigners by some miracle. The tomb of the Moon remains intact.

The first thing you see when you enter is a typically Egyptian symbol of the goddess of the sky who eats the Sun every night and gives birth to it again every morning in the form falcon the decorations on the walls evoke the Hellenistic era curly hair beards and mustaches Greek togers the tomb dates back to the Libyan period a time when there were many Greeks later a goddess under a sycamore tree carries a vase from which between two streams of water A chain of anks flows, a sign of life in ancient Egypt, reminding us that in the past, as well as today, the inhabitants of these oases were aware of their Good Fortune but the 3,200 inhabitants of their have had to learn to live a life isolated from everything It was not until 1984 that a paved road was built that linked them to the rest of the world and it was not until 1987 that they discovered the pleasures of electricity.

Perhaps it is that isolation that preserves this unique culture. SWA is home. The only Berber community in Egypt, the easternmost community in North Africa, the Bers are present throughout the mreb, as far west as Morania and as far south as Niger. YF is an ardent defender of this culture and defends all aspects of it this lunchtime. entertaining the children of your family during your school holidays to please your nephews, nieces and your own children, you have chosen a typical sewa dish, now that I have covered them with sand, my work is done, we will take them out in about an hour .

Although the most important thing about this recipe is that it stays well sealed, if there is a leak the chickens will be too dry when Yousef talks to his brothers, sons and nephews, although they all speak Arabic, he prefers to use a local dialect called bber. sewe most people here speak sewe at home some people teach their children to say daddy in arabic but i teach them the word sewe which they need to learn so they don't forget their roots they will learn arabic at school anyway the advantage of the sea Oasis is that it's not all when tourists come here and spend a little time with us we influence them instead of them influencing us one thing is for sure if we lived near a city we would fight to preserve our traditions and customs The gentleness of Sewa's inhabitants contrasts sharply with the harshness of their surroundings.

The lake, a symbol of the Oasis, is not the Refuge of Peace. At first glance it seems that in this salt water, no fish or amphibian can survive. Salt covers the edges and surface. of water like a shroud, but the seas have taken advantage of it. The Egyptians have been eating salt since the Neolithic, supplied by the inhabitants of the Oasis. Salt mining remains the main industry of the sea. You start by digging a pond and then you reach the Salt layer. In this stage, the salt you extract is still brown because it contains soil. To wash it, you have to rinse it with water.

We use the mechanical excavator to give it about 15 Rin when the salt is nice and white. We pile it up and leave it Seawa dry salt is prized for its flavor, but large quantities are exported to Europe or Canada, where it is simply used to repair roads in winter. This big machine is a crusher. This is where the salt crystals are ground. This is a 12 gauge grinder. There are many different gauges, from the highest to the lowest, used to make table salt. For us, salt is a gift from God since it was discovered here in Sewa, everyone has benefited from it, plus everything we care about is replaced every year.

Thanks to the presence of the nearby lakes, it is truly a blessing for the Oasis and for the local economy. The export of salt has existed for a long time in the 1st century. This product began to circulate in the Mediterranean basin. The Sewa Oasis like all oases. derives most of its income from trade since ancient times sewa has been forging links between North Africa and Egypt by exporting salted dates, olive oil and wine four kilos for ten pounds four kilos for ten pounds four kilos for only ten pounds has heard four kilos for ten pounds this is the best there is boss you won't find it cheaper you won't find it cheaper anywhere else The Caravan Routes of Egypt have been trade routes for 4,500 years today goods are transported on paved roads All you need is a truck, but for a long time caravans were made up of donkeys until they were replaced by another animal that became domesticated later, in the year 1,000 BC.

The dromedaries have adapted to the desert. This animal brought wealth to the oases. It can carry a load of 250 kg and swallow 135 liters of water in just a few seconds, allowing it to last several days under the scorching sun. The BNS has made it its pet. These nomads rarely go near the oases unless it is to take care of the well-being of their favorite animals. We have rented this land in the Oasis to use as pasture. The dromedaries need to eat fresh grass. We accompany the animals. This is more than a job. It is ours. life we ​​take care of our animals because our lives depend on these dromedaries in the past everything was linked to dredging meat milk they even protected humans from storms and difficulties, people used to travel on their backs, they transported people's worldly goods, even crops, dromedaries can transport anything.

I'm getting you ready to spend the night here. I have to tie them up, otherwise they might move away and escape. lost to be honest with you I really have nowhere to put them I'm not really settled in the region that's how things are I don't settle anywhere every day I stay in a new place in theory all the BNS know how to take care of drad but the younger generation is losing this experience brings young Mahmud here his grandfather kept drader but he didn't have time to teach he has been accompanying me for a month now he is learning techniques to approach them and communicate with them but he is still a little bit scary, you will soon get used to them.

The nomads of the eastern and western desert filled the ancient Egyptians with fear and distrust. They had a reputation for being versatile, quick to aid invaders and taking up arms no matter the occasion. Invaders often came through the desert with the Nubians coming from the south and the Libyans from the west in Medan at the temple of Haru in Luxa Bass reliefs praising Rames III tell the story of his victories over the desert people the Libyans can be recognized by their beards and the Nubians by their black African features later a scribe performs a task maab counts a lot of safe hands to take inventory of the number of enemies killed throughout their long history the Egyptians have not always managed to contain The invaders, the Persians, the Greeks and the Romans, settled for long periods in the land of the pharaohs.

Everyone tried to control these arid expanses, a source of instability for the country, but very few conquerors dared to go there in person. It was the desert that stretched thousands of years ago. of kilometers behind this lake that almost killed Alexander the Great when he finally arrived here he consulted the Oracle of the God of Sewa this was around 33 31 BC. C. Alexander the Great had just overthrown the Persian Empire of which Egypt was part to legitimize his rule he appeared before the Oracle of Amun in SWA which together with the Oracle of Deli was the most prestigious Oracle of the ancient world in this Temple the Greek conqueror He hoped to direct his questions to Amun the most important god of ancient Egypt like anyone else who came here, including the priests who worked in these temples, Alexander the Great had gone down to this well to perform his ablutions before he could go to consult Amun .

This is the sanctuary in the middle was the statue of the god Amun. Alexander the Great went to ask. In his questions he had two questions in mind, the first was to ask the name of those who had killed his father and the second was to ask if he could avenge his father. Ammon told him repeatedly that his father was not dead, his father was with the gods. Alexander really liked that answer and the second answer was that he was the son of a god. That was the ideal answer, thinking that it was like the pharaohs thought he had the right to govern the entire country these questions were not just personal they were also political he needed validation and the agreement and acceptance of an Egyptian god Alexander must have heard a real voice answering his questions but it was not the voice of a God the priests in the oracles They used various devices to deceive their visitors, some even hid inside hollow statues and made them speak in Sewa.

The system was more rudimentary but just as effective. When Alexander the Great came here, the statue was there. The priest accompanied him to the Statue and then went up. there by a secondary route that was

hidden

of course. The priest was able to speak without Alexander the Great seeing him, although he thought it was the voice of the God who spoke to him, in reality more than the god Amun, it was the clergy that interested Alexander when find the favor of the priests, he was assured of their precious support forreign over these mystical Egyptians in the oasis of Kaa in southern Egypt other invaders have left their mark the Romans were the last conquerors of the kingdom of the pharaohs following the example of their predecessors they did everything possible to protect this distant frontier of their vast Empire the imposing Roman Fortress overlooking the Oasis protected the nearby Caravan Road as Alexander the Great the Romans were willing to reconcile with Egyptian beliefs in the middle of the Fortress they erected a temple in the best ancient Egyptian tradition it is dedicated to Amun for the Egyptians and to Jupiter for the Romans a new religion soon upset this order established since the 3rd century AD.

C. The Kaga oasis became a refuge for the first Christians fleeing the violent persecution of the Romans. The El Bagawat necropolis with its 200 funerary chapels witnesses a surprising continuity. Like the ancient Egyptians, the Christians came to bury their dead in the desert. The oldest tombs at this site date from the late 3rd and early 4th centuries. Later, in the 5th century, the Nestorians arrived. Nestorius was the bishop of Constantinople and was declared a heretic in Ephesus in the year 431, so this site was occupied first by Christians fleeing the persecution of the pagan Romans and later by Christians fleeing the persecution of other Christians who had different ideas about the nature of Christ.

The historians declared that Mary was the mother of humanity and not the mother of God, this site is extraordinary, as you can see, these tomb chapels were more or less elaborate depending on the wealth of the families, some even have patios with columns at the tomb entrance, while others are actually quite modest, some of these tomb chapels have been carefully decorated Visitors can still admire these 1,600-year-old paintings that reflect the faith of these early Christians. Here we see Moses leading the people of Israel to their destiny of having to wander in the wilderness for 40 years in the Desert of Sin, pursued by an army of Pharaoh.

This is the scene that has made this Chapel famous. Perhaps there is a link between this flight to the Sinai desert and the flight.here to the WS another desert with its oases here we have a very interesting detail there are two normal Christian crosses here but below them we have the shape derived from ancient Egypt and the symbol of the life adopted by the first Christians in Egypt when they could not declare their Christian faith they replaced this for their crosses with a cross or anato inherited from ancient Egypt the exiled Christians finally became accustomed to their life in the desert vestiges can be found in the Oasis of Kaga who suggest they remained here until the 7th century AD.

For modern Egyptians living in the desert, this is not an obvious choice. 94% of the population still lives on the banks of the Nile, but demographic problems have caught up with them. In 1900, Egypt had 10 million inhabitants, today it has 100 million inhabitants and it is predicted that this number will increase to 200 million by the end of the century. Leaders have no choice but to free up more agricultural land as they try to feed everyone and ease congestion in Cairo's Old City, with its 20 million inhabitants 45 kilometers from Cairo a new capital is emerging like a mirage in the midst of the desert there is a huge project underway to build a city seven times larger than the interior of Paris we are building a new capital for Egypt behind me you can see the site of the new The Parliament in front of me is where the Ministries will be .

They are currently dispersed throughout Cairo, this way all the Ministries will be grouped in the same place every day, between 200,000 and 300,000 people come to work here, both engineers and builders. a good way to solve the problem of unemployment obviously it is easier to live on the banks of the Nile than in the middle of the desert but with 100 million inhabitants concentrated around the Delta and the banks of the river it was time to act, it was time to decide to conquer the desert, work has begun on the first residential neighborhood that covers an area of ​​420 hectares and 25 housing blocks are being built thanks to advertising campaigns that the authorities hope to attract some inhabitants of Cairo.

Within 20 years the new capital should be able to accommodate to about 6 million people. Convincing 6 million people to leave the historic city of Cairo to live in the middle of the desert will not be easy, but we are confident in our ability to transform this patch of desert into a paradise and that is what will make them want to come here like the pharaohs before them. Successive presidents of modern Egypt have attempted to build their city in the desert. Most of these new metropolises have not been as successful as they expected, whether you like it. or not, the Egyptians will one day have to make the desert habitable, they should seek inspiration from the Bnds and Berbers who have lived there in harmony with nature for thousands of years.