Rock art in the northern Gilf Kebir

Rock art is abundantly found in the whole of the Sahara, the most prolific site in all of Africa is perhaps Wadi Mathendous in Libya (Vivian, 2002). North African rock art overall can be categorised into 5 periods (Vivian, 2002; Scott, 2004):

• The Bubalus or Hunting period (engravings) from 12,000 to 7,500 years ago.
• The Archaic or Pre-pastoralist (or Roundhead) period (painting) from roughly 10,000 to 6,000 years ago.
• The Cattle period (both engravings and paintings, cattle dominates depicted animals) from 7,500 to 4,500 years ago.
• The Horse and Chariot period from roughly 3,200 to 1,200 years ago (horses were introduced in 1,200 BC/3,200 years ago).
• The Camel period from 2,000 to 1,000 (or present) years ago (camels were introduced around 450 BC / 2,450 years ago).

In Egypt, rock art is found in the Eastern Desert, the oases Kharga and Dakhla, and in the wadis of the Gilf Kebir and Gebel Uweinat in the south-western region of Egypt.

The wadis of Gebel Uweinat are the sites where most of the rock art has been found, varying from engravings to paintings with white, red and yellow colours. In these wadis, in addition to the engravings and paintings, tool-sharpening marks and pottery have occasionally been found.

During our journey, we crossed the Great Sea of Sand and reached the northern Gilf Kebir from the eastern side. There we passed Gebel Almasy and crossed difficult stretches of dunes to the other side to reach Wadi Hamra. This wadi is one of the three wadis that Count Ladislaus Almasy claimed to form the legendary lost oasis of Zerzura (more information about this will be added to this website soon). This wadi is special in that it has reddish sand and a fair number of trees, to contrast the dark Gilf Kebir rocks, which makes it stunningly beautiful.

In this wadi, we visited three sites with rock art. One was on a hill in a side branch from the main wadi, with good views to all directions, possibly a good hunters spot to watch the animals from. Probably the site is the same as discovered by Friedrich Berger and party in 1998 (www.fjexpeditions.com).

Two giraffes together, detail of a larger slab with lots of engravings © Corine & Jurriaan

Human figure and cow © Corine & Jurriaan

Cow © Corine & Jurriaan

Ostrich © Corine & Jurriaan

Another site was further along the wadi, in another arm of the wadi, at a site where the wadi branched, again with good views in all directions (Rochert, 1935). This site was the richest in rock art.

Giraffes and a dog, detail of a larger slab with lots of engravings © Corine & Jurriaan

Gazelles, dogs and human figure(s) © Corine & Jurriaan

Gazelle with curley horns © Corine & Jurriaan

Ostrich © Corine & Jurriaan

A third site was along the wadi wall, not far from the 1st site, on our way out on the eastern side of the wadi, with very weathered engravings mostly low on the rock face. Probably the site is the same as discovered by Giancarlo Negro & party, 1991 (www.fjexpeditions.com).

All sites have only engravings, and the second site has also numerous tool-sharpening marks. There was neither pottery nor spearheads nor axes found, but we saw a possible grinding stone at the first site.

Slab with engravings and tool-sharpening marks © Corine & Jurriaan

Most engravings show animals, such as giraffes, gazelles or antilopes with long or curley horns, cows or oxes with short horns, dogs, ostriches and possibly one elephant. Only some engravings represented human figures.

Although most of the rock art in Uweinat and other wadis of the Gilf Kebir are from the Cattle period, we think that these engravings are from the hunting period and therefore likely to be older than 7,500 years and younger than 10,000. Giraffes and gazelles are mostly seen but there are also scenes that look like hunting scenes with dog-like figures running around them. Cows, indicative for the cattle period, are relatively rare.

This section on rock art will be updated these coming weeks with more on rock art in Uweinat and southern wadis of the Gilf Kebir.

References

Scott, C., 2004. Sahara Overland - A route and planning guide. Published by Trailblazer publications, Hindhead, 672p.

Vivian, C., 2002. The Western Desert of Egypt. The american University in Cairo Press. Cairo, 426p.