Bahariya Oasis - White Desert Tour

Bahariya Oasis Of Egypt

Bahariya Oasis is approximately 360 km away from Cairo. Located in 6Th of October Governorate, it has an art museum and the main agricultural products are guavas, mangos, dates, and olives.

Bahariya consists of many villages of which Bawiti is the largest and the administrative center. Qasr is Bawiti’s neighboring/twin village. To the east, about ten kilometers away are the villages of Mandishah and el Zabu. A smaller village called Aguz lies between Bawiti and Mandishah. Harrah, the eastern most village, is a few kilometers east of Mandishah and el Zabu. Hiez is the last village, but it may not always be considered as part of Bahariya because it is so far from the rest of the villages, about fifty kilometers south of Bawiti.

The people of the oasis, or the Wahati people ( meaning “of the oasis” in Arabic), are the descendants of the ancient people who inhabited the oasis, Bedouin tribes from Libya and the north coast, and other people from the Nile Valley who came to settle in the oasis.

The majority of Wahati people in Bahariya are Muslims. There are many mosques in Bahariya. The nature of social settings in the oasis is highly influenced by Islam.

Also, traditional music is very important to the Wahati people. Flutes, drums, and the simsimeyya (a harp-like instrument) are played at social gatherings, particularly at weddings. Traditional songs sung in rural style are passed down from generation to generation, and new songs are invented as well. Music from Cairo, the greater Middle East, and other parts of the world are now easily accessible to the people of the oasis.

Agriculture is still an important source of income, though now the iron ore industry close to Bahariya provides jobs for many Wahati people. Recently there has also been an increase in tourism to the oasis because of antiquities (tombs, mummies and other artifacts have been discovered there), and because of the beautiful surrounding deserts. Wahati and foreign guides lead adventure desert tours based out of Bahariya to the surrounding white and black deserts, and sometimes to Siwa or the southern oases. Tourism is a new and important source of income for locals, and it has brought an international presence to the oasis.

Here is also the ruin of a temple to Alexander the Great located within the Bahariya Oasis. It is believed by some Egyptologists that the Greek conqueror passed through Bahariya while returning from the oracle of Ammon at Siwa Oasis. Excavations of the Greco-Roman necropolis, known as the Valley of the Golden Mummies began in 1996. Approximately thirty-four tombs have been excavated from this area

In the spring of 2010, a Roman-era mummy was unearthed in a Bahariya Oasis cemetery. The 3-foot-tall female mummy was found covered with plaster decorated to resemble Roman dress and jewelry. In addition to the female mummy, archaeologists found clay and glass vessels, coins, anthropoid masks and 14 Greco-Roman tombs. Director of Cairo and Giza Antiquities Mahmoud Affifi, the archaeologist who led the dig, said the tomb has a unique design with stairways and corridors, and could date to 300 B.C. This find came as a result of excavation work for the construction of a youth center

Carcharodontosaurus & Bahariasaurus(meaning “Bahariya lizard”) dinosaur found in the Bahariya Formation, which date to about 95 million years ago. It was a huge theropod, it was described by Ernst Stromer in 1934, though the type specimen was destroyed during World War II.

in Bahariya oasis Artifacts have been discovered there), and because of the beautiful surrounding deserts. Wahati and foreign guides lead adventure desert tours based out of Bahariya to the surrounding white and black deserts, and sometimes to Siwa or the southern oases.Tourism is a new and important source of income for locals, and it has brought an international presence to the oasis. here is also the ruin of a temple to Alexander the Great located within the Bahariya Oasis. It is believed by some Egyptologists that the Greek conquerorpassed through Bahariya while returning from the oracle of Ammon at Siwa Oasis. Excavations of the Greco-Roman necropolis, known as the Valley of the Golden Mummies began in 1996. Approximately thirty-four tombs have been excavated from this area.In the spring of 2010, a Roman-era mummy was unearthed in a Bahariya Oasis

The 3-foot-tall female mummy was found covered with plaster decorated to resemble Roman dress and jewelry. In addition to the female mummy, archaeologists found clay and glass vessels, coins, anthropoid masks and 14 Greco-Roman tombs. Director of Cairo and Giza

Antiquities Mahmoud Affifi, the archaeologist who led the dig, said the tomb has a unique design with stairways and corridors, and could date to 300 B.C.

Gebel El Dist
{ Pyramid Mountain }- in the northern part of the Baharyia Oasis, Egypt, seen from southwest. The flanks of that hill expose the type section of the Bahariya Formation, a siliciclastic unit of earliest Upper Cretaceous (early Cenomanian) age.

find came as a result of excavation work for the construction of a youth center.
Carcharodontosaurus & Bahariasaurus(meaning “Bahariya lizard”) dinosaur found in the Bahariya Formation, which date to about 95 million years ago. It was a huge theropod, it was described by Ernst Stromer in 1934, though the type specimen was destroyed during World War II.

Bahariya Oasis if famous for its numerous hot (and by hot we mean 45°C/113°F) and cold springs. As with all springs in the Western Desert of Egypt, the mineral content is high and the water can stain your swimwear.