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DESERT BOATS
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Rock Art of the Egyptian Eastern Desert
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In 1998 and 1999 I participated in the Eastern Desert Survey (EDS) between the Nile and the Red Sea. The study area comprises the desert wadis between the Wadi Hammamat modern road from Quft to Quseir, and the Wadi Barramia road from Edfu to Mersa Alam. Now I am studying part-time for an Archaeology PhD at Durham University concerning this rock art.
I welcome views about the rock art. Any photos, especially from the Wadis Iqaydi, Hajalij, Wadi Abu Mu Awad and the "jacuzzi" site are welcome too.
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Location and Number of Sites
Running South to North the wadis with number of sites and abbreviations are: Abbad (Abb) 4, Barramiya (Bar) 16, Miya (Miy) 4, Umm Hajalij north (Haj[N]) 9, Umm Hajalij south (Haj[S]) 2, Umm Umm Salam (Sal) 46, Abu Mu Awad (Mua) 18, Shalul (Sha) 13, Abu Iqaydi (Iqa) 15, Dahabiyah (Dah) 2, Abu Wasil (Was) 24, Mineh (Min) 22, Qash (Qas) 2, Hammamat (Ham) 13, and Atwani (Atw) 12 for a total of 202 sites.
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The "chieftains" boat from Winkler's Site 26 in the Wadi Abu Wasil.
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This is the web page of Francis Lankester. You can email me at lankester2@aol.com
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My Links
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"There is no short-cut to an understanding of the ancients."
(Henri Frankfort)
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Links to other sites
Andie Byrnes' comprehensive site about Predynastic Egypt
Andie's Eastern Desert site
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THE DESERT BUG
Desert travellers long to be off road and into the wadis. Being stuck in a Red sea hotel is torture! Not only is the desert beautiful, it is quiet. Go a little distance away from your companions and the only sound you can hear is your own heartbeat. After a couple of days the ubiquitous flat bread has to be heated to make the green bits look black!
The Eastern Desert comprises a complicated wadi system. It is certainly not a sand sea. Camp has to be set up on a slope, just in case of flash floods. At night there is no light pollution. You can see the Milky Way, and the stars appear to hang like baubles from a tree. It is no wonder that the Egyptians believed the King could travel to be with the imperishable polar stars and live forever.
Since Gerald Fuchs' work in the Wadi Barramiya in the 80's, surveying has been done by "amateurs" (albeit many have high qualifications). I agree with Dr. Dirk Huyge, a pioneer in rock art study, that it is better the work is done by amateurs than not at all. It is due to their efforts that the rock art is in the public domain and can be properly studied. Like many archaeological sites in Egypt, those nearest to the modern roads and "civilisation" are under threat from vandalism and quarrying.
Both myself at Durham under the supervision of Drs. Penny Wilson and Margarita Diaz-Andreu, and Tony Judd at Liverpool are studying for PhD's concerning Egyptian rock art. It is ground up work, plotting the location and distribution of sites and their composition (boats, animals, figures) before moving on to interpretation by reference to the Naqada cultures.
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Location map for the Eastern Desert rock art sites. RME=Hans Winkler's work (1936/37), EDS=Eastern Desert Survey (1997-99), RATS=Rock Art Topographical Survey (2000-2002). The Winkler Archive, held by the EES, will be published by Bloomsbury Academy in Spring 2006.
My study covers the arguably predynastic sites (202 in total) by combining the EDS and RATS sites, which include 30 Winkler sites. Photos are my own. Location map courtesy of Bloomsbury Academy with thanks to Mike and Maggie Morrow.
Some of the original EDS team have surveyed in the Wadi Midriq area south of the Wadi Barramiya. This work is as yet unpublished.
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KANAIS TEMPLE
Survey work usually began with taking the convoy from Edfu and then turning East to go through a checkpoint and on to Kanais, 30 miles from the Nile. Seti I had a well dug here and there are the remains of a Roman fort. There is also a rock cut temple. The interior is blocked up, but the entrance reliefs are still colourful. Seti of course smites Vile Kush and the Asiatics, plus offering to the gods.
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Above: Kanais temple (rock art site left of temple), Left: Temple entrance with portico cut out of the rock, Right: Seti and the god Ammon Ra.
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