Abstract
In the course of the last ten years, the North Kharga Oasis–Darb Ain Amur Survey team, led by Salima Ikram (American University in Cairo), has been exploring a network of interconnected desert paths in Egypt’s Western Desert, known as Darb Ain Amur. These marked paths run between Kharga Oasis and Dakhla Oasis, linking them to Darb el-Arbain, a notorious caravan route facilitating contacts between Egypt and sub-Saharan Africa since prehistoric times. Ancient travelers using the Darb Ain Amur spent several days in the midst of the Western Desert and were thus forced to use areas around sandstone rock outcrops as makeshift stopovers or camping sites. During these much-needed breaks, ancient travelers identified accessible, inscribable surfaces on the towering sandstone massifs and left on them their personalized markings. In this essay, I examine two short rock graffiti carved by such travelers in a site north of Kharga Oasis, focusing on the types of information one may extract from such ancient epigraphic materials.
Highlights
Daring to cross the sea of sand that filled the space between Kharga Oasis and DakhlaOasis in Egypt’s Western Desert, ancient travelers had to stay on desert routes that were marked by a number of visible testimonies to earlier travelers’ usage
I examine two short rock graffiti carved by such travelers in a site north of Kharga Oasis, focusing on the types of information one may extract from such ancient epigraphic materials
I use a case study out of the rich corpus of ancient Egyptian rock graffiti carved by travelers who crossed these parts of the Western Desert as an opportunity to discuss the different types of information one may extract from such epigraphic materials
Summary
Daring to cross the sea of sand that filled the space between Kharga Oasis and Dakhla. Very close to the “shelter”, NKODAAS has discovered two sets of carved one-meter-long cascading lines, which are somewhat visible at the center of Figure 2 These enigmatic carvings, which look like hula skirts ( the name Hula Rock), are unique and cannot be linked with any certainty to a specific function or message [4]. These enigmatic carvings, which look like hula skirts ( the name Hula Rock), are unique and cannot be linked with any certainty to aofofspecific function or message [4]. June by a visit thatworth was recorded by two on the rock’s face
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