Egypt And The Desert

Download or read book Egypt and the Desert written by John Coleman Darnell and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2021-06-10 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Deserts, the Red Land, bracket the narrow strip of alluvial Black Land that borders the Nile. Networks of desert roads ascended to the high desert from the Nile Valley, providing access to the mineral wealth and Red Sea ports of the Eastern Desert, the oasis depressions and trade networks of the Western Desert. A historical perspective from the Predynastic through the Roman Periods highlights how developments in the Nile Valley altered the Egyptian administration and exploitation of the deserts. For the ancient Egyptians, the deserts were a living landscape, and at numerous points along the desert roads, the ancient Egyptians employed rock art and rock inscriptions to create and mark places. Such sites provide considerable evidence for the origin of writing in northeast Africa, the religious significance of the desert and expressions of personal piety, and the development of the early alphabet.

Download or read book Egypt’s Desert Dreams written by David Sims and published by American University in Cairo Press. This book was released on 2018-09-18 with total page 560 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Egypt has placed its hopes on developing its vast and empty deserts as the ultimate solution to the country’s problems. New cities, new farms, new industrial zones, new tourism resorts, and new development corridors, all have been promoted for over half a century to create a modern Egypt and to pull tens of millions of people away from the increasingly crowded Nile Valley into the desert hinterland. The results, in spite of colossal expenditures and ever-grander government pronouncements, have been meager at best, and today Egypt’s desert is littered with stalled schemes, abandoned projects, and forlorn dreams. It also remains stubbornly uninhabited. Egypt’s Desert Dreams is the first attempt of its kind to look at Egypt’s desert development in its entirety. It recounts the failures of governmental schemes, analyzes why they have failed, and exposes the main winners of Egypt’s desert projects, as well as the underlying narratives and political necessities behind it, even in the post-revolutionary era. It also shows that all is not lost, and that there are alternative paths that Egypt could take.

Download or read book Rome in Egypt's Eastern Desert written by Hélène Cuvigny and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2021-08-21 with total page 347 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A detailed archaeological study of life in Egypt's Eastern desert during the Roman period by a leading scholar Rome in Egypt’s Eastern Desert is a two-volume set collecting Hélène Cuvigny’s most important articles on Egypt’s Eastern Desert during the Roman period. The excavations she directed uncovered a wealth of material, including tens of thousands of texts written on pottery fragments (ostraca). Some are administrative texts, but many more are correspondence, both official and private, written by and to the people (mostly but not all men) who lived and worked in these remote and harsh environments, supported by an elaborate network of defense, administration, and supply that tied the entire region together. The contents of Rome in Egypt’s Eastern Desert have all been published earlier in peer-reviewed venues, but most appear here for the first time in English. All of the contributions have been checked or translated by the editor and brought up to date with respect to bibliography, and some have been significantly rewritten by the author, in order to take account of the enormous amount of new material discovered since the original publications. A full index makes this body of work far more accessible than it was before. This book assembles into one collection thirty years of detailed study of this material, conjuring in vivid detail the lived experience of those who inhabited these forts—often through their own expressive language—and the realia of desert geography, military life, sex, religion, quarry operations, and imperial administration in the Roman world.

Download or read book The History of the Peoples of the Eastern Desert written by Hans Barnard and published by Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press. This book was released on 2012-12-31 with total page 521 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The last quarter century has seen extensive research on the ports of the Red Sea coast of Egypt, the road systems connecting them to the Nile, and the mines and quarries in the region. Missing has been a systematic study of the peoples of the Eastern Desert--the area between the Red Sea and the Nile Valley--in whose territories these ports, roads, mines, and quarries were located. The historical overview of the Eastern Desert in the shape of a roughly chronological narrative presented in this book fills that gap. The multidisciplinary perspective focuses on the long-term history of the region. The extensive range of topics addressed includes specific historical periods, natural resources, nomadic survival strategies, ancient textual data, and the interaction between Christian hermits and their neighbors. The breadth of perspective does not sacrifice depth, for all authors deal in some detail with the specifics of their subject matter. As a whole, this collection provides an outline of the history and sociology of the Eastern Desert unparalleled in any language for its comprehensiveness. As such, it will be the essential starting point for future research on the Eastern Desert. Includes a CD of eleven audio files with music of the Ababda Nomads, and six short videos of Ababda culture.

Download or read book Desert Songs written by Arita Baaijens and published by American Univ in Cairo Press. This book was released on 2008 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Arita Baaijens gave up her job as an environmentalist nearly twenty years ago, and has been exploring the deserts of Egypt and Sudan with her small camel caravan ever since. In Desert Songs she recounts her passion for the desert, the place she loves and fears. On one level Desert Songs reads as an ode to camels, vistas and horizons, nomads and exploration. On another it is a story about an inward journey, a rite of passage. It is about leaving the world you know to venture into the unknown where you discover your true strength. How strong are you when there's no backup? Where do your limits lie? Baaijens sets out on a voyage of self-discovery and unrelenting physical trials to find the answers. The experience changes her forever.

Download or read book River in The Desert written by Paul William Roberts and published by Harvard Common Press. This book was released on 2006-06-30 with total page 420 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The cultural hub of the Middle East, Egypt is the world's oldest country and home to the world's grandest, most enigmatic monuments. This eloquent observation explores the teeming crossroads of both ancient and modern Egypt, revealing its magnificent, bizarre, and ever-captivating aspects.

Download or read book Desert Plants of Egypt's Wadi El Gemal National Park written by Tamer Mahmoud and published by American Univ in Cairo Press. This book was released on 2010 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The vegetation in Wadi El Gemal National Park in Egypt's Eastern Desert is more diverse than might first be expected, but even more surprising is the relationship that the desert dwellers continue to have with the plant life in their habitat, despite the increasing modernization of their world. As a ranger in the park, Tamer Mahmoud quickly realized the importance of surveying, identifying, and documenting the indigenous plants, and recording the information he compiled from interviews with the local community about how they use the plants for food, healing, animal fodder, and fuel. The result is this detailed and colorful guide, which includes photographs of each plant, the scientific name and local name in Arabic and English, and information on location, distribution, uses, and ecology. A glossary, bibliography, visitors' information section and distribution maps make this a comprehensive reference work that will interest visitors, scientists, anyone interested in the flora of arid areas, and even anthropologists.