El-Dakhla .. Gem of Egypt's Oasis

By: Ahmed Yasser

CAIRO, Mar. 23. (SEE) –Dakhla Oasis is considered one of the most attractive Oasis in Egypt. The oasis boasts of over 500 hot springs, including Bir Tarfawi and Bir El-Gebel Hot Spring, charming mud-brick housing and ruins of medieval town. It is the farthest oasis out of Cairo.

Also, there is an Ethnographic Museum located in Dakhla Oasis; the small museum was built in 1875 AC. The museum also features areas for women and visitors, in addition to houses that display clothing, baskets and jewelry.

The museum includes specific exhibits in different rooms, some rooms are dedicated to the history of the women and men who lived in the oasis.

The watering place lies to the northwest of Kharga and is also about 310 km to the southeast of Farafra. It consists of 14 settlements and has a population of about 70,000 people.

The fields and gardens are filled mostly with mulberry trees, date palms, figs and other citrus fruits. Research has found that the Oasis has been inhabited since prehistoric times

There are neolithic rock paintings that indicate that the lake was frequented by elephants, buffaloes and ostriches. As the lake dried up, the inhabitants migrated to the Nile valley and were probably some of its first settlers. It is dominated on its northern horizon by a wall of rose Colored rock.

The wellspring includes Museum of the Inheritance, a traditional house with an intricate wooden combination lock, rooms with sculpted clay figures arranged to show different aspects of family life.

There is also Muzawaka tombs and Deir El Hagar, a temple which was originally dedicated to the Theban Triad and later rebuilt by the Romans. Tourists can visit Bashendi to see Roman tombs and a factory where carpets are still woven with scenes of Dakhlan life at nearby Balat village, and a trading post with ancient Nubia.