Bahariya Oasis

{{Infobox settlement  | name = Bahariya Oasis | other_name = | native_name = {{native name list |tag1=arz |name1=الواحات البحرية |tag2=cop |name2=ϯⲟⲩⲁϩ mⲡⲉⲙϫⲉ}} | nickname = | settlement_type = | image_skyline = Bahariya-oasis.jpg | image_caption = View of Bahariya Oasis from Black Mountain | image_flag = | flag_size = | image_seal = | seal_size = | image_shield = | shield_size = | image_map = | mapsize = | map_caption = | pushpin_map = Egypt | pushpin_label_position = bottom | pushpin_mapsize = 300 | pushpin_relief = 1 | pushpin_map_caption = Location in Egypt | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = {{flag|Egypt}} | subdivision_type1 = Governorate | subdivision_name1 = Giza Governorate | subdivision_type2 = | subdivision_name2 = | subdivision_type3 = | subdivision_name3 = | | government_footnotes = | government_type = | leader_title = | leader_name = | leader_title1 =  | leader_name1 = | established_title =  | established_date =  | area_magnitude = | unit_pref = Imperial  | area_footnotes = | area_total_km2 =  | area_land_km2 =  | population_as_of = 2006 | population_footnotes = | population_note = | population_total = 32815<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q738878 | title=Bahariya Oasis }}</ref> | population_density_km2 = | population_density_sq_mi = | population_metro = | population_density_metro_km2 = | population_density_metro_sq_mi = | population_blank1_title = Ethnicities | population_blank1 = | population_density_blank1_km2 = | population_density_blank1_sq_mi =  | timezone = EET | utc_offset = +2 | timezone_DST = EEST | utc_offset_DST = +3 | coordinates = {{coord|28|21|5.36|N|28|51|44.6|E|region:EG|display=inline}} | elevation_footnotes =  | elevation_m = | elevation_ft =  | postal_code_type =  | postal_code = | area_code = | blank_name = | blank_info = | blank1_name = | blank1_info = | website = | footnotes = }} '''Bahariya Oasis''' ({{langx|arz|الواحات البحرية|El-Wāḥāt El-Baḥrīya}}, "the Northern Oases") is a depression and a naturally rich oasis in the Western Desert of Egypt. It is approximately 370 km away from Cairo. The roughly oval valley extends from northeast to southwest, has a length of 94 km, a maximum width of 42 km and covers an area of about 2000 km<sup>2</sup>.

The valley is surrounded by mountains and has numerous springs. Located in Giza Governorate, the main economic sectors are agriculture, iron ore mining, and tourism. The main agricultural products are guavas, mangos, dates, and olives.

==Names== {{Hiero |''wḥꜣt mḥt''<br />"The Northern Oasis"<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gauthier |first1=Henri |title=Dictionnaire des Noms Géographiques Contenus dans les Textes Hiéroglyphiques |volume=1 |date=1925 |page=[https://archive.org/details/Gauthier1925_1/page/n107/mode/2up 203] |url=https://archive.org/details/Gauthier1925_1}}</ref>|<table><td><hiero>w-Aa2:t-T14:xAst</hiero></td><td>{{egy-glyph|V23A|h=13}}<hiero>t*N21</hiero></td><td><hiero>A40</hiero></td></table>| align=left |era=egypt }} In Ancient Egypt, the oasis had two names. The name ''''ḏsḏs'''' (''Djesdjes'') is first mentioned on a scarab dating back to the Middle Kingdom. In the New Kingdom, this name is rarely found, although it does appear for example in the Temple of Luxor and in the account of King Kamose, who occupied the oasis during the war against the Hyksos. From the 25th Dynasty, it was almost the only name used. Another name ''wḥꜣt mḥtt'' ("the Northern Oasis") was almost exclusively used in the New Kingdom; it appears for instance on the local grave of Amenhotep, and is found again in the list of oases in the Temple at Edfu.{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}}

From 45 CE, the depression was known in Latin as ''Oasis parva'' (Small Oasis). The Greek historian Strabo called it the "Second Oasis", and the 5th century CE historian Olympiodorus of Thebes called it "the Third Oasis".

In Coptic times, it was known as the "Oasis of Oxyrhynchus" ({{Langx|cop|ϯⲟⲩⲁϩ `ⲙⲡⲉⲙϫⲉ}} ''Diwah Ēmbemdje'') or ''Tast(s)'' ({{Langx|cop|ⲧⲁⲥⲧ(ⲥ)|}}), which is derived from Ancient Egyptian ''ḏsḏs''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Osing|first=Jürgen|title=Hieratische Papyri aus Tebtunis I|year=1998|location=Copenhagen|page=55}}</ref> After the Islamization of Egypt, it was called the Oasis of ''Bahnasa'', "Oasis of Oxyrhynchus".{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}}

The modern name is {{lang|ar|الواحات البحرية}}, ''al-Wāḥāt al-Baḥriyya'' meaning "the Northern Oases". The southern part of the depression around El Heiz apparently never had a separate name.{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}}

==Towns== Bahariya consists of many villages, of which El Bawiti is the largest and the administrative center. Qasr is el-Bawiti's neighboring/twin village. To the east, about ten kilometers away are the villages of Mandishah and el-Zabu. A smaller village called el-'Aguz lies between El Bawiti and Mandishah. Harrah, the easternmost village, is a few kilometers east of Mandishah and el-Zabu. El Heiz, also called El-Hayez, is the southernmost village, but it may not always be considered part of Bahariya because it is so far from the rest of the villages, about 50 kilometers south of El Bawiti. There is an oasis at El-Hayez<ref>{{cite web|title=El-Hayz|url=https://egyptsites.wordpress.com/2009/03/14/el-hayz/|website=Egyptian Monuments|access-date=6 June 2017|date=14 March 2009}}</ref> where mummies have been found on which genetic studies have been conducted.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Kujanová|first1=M|last2=Pereira|first2=L|last3=Fernandes|first3=V|last4=Pereira|first4=JB|last5=Cerný|first5=V|title=Near eastern neolithic genetic input in a small oasis of the Egyptian Western Desert.|journal=American Journal of Physical Anthropology|date=October 2009|volume=140|issue=2|pages=336–46|doi=10.1002/ajpa.21078|pmid=19425100}}</ref>

==History== thumb|Map sheet showing Bahariya Oasis [[File:Light railway with British soldiers in Egypt, 1916.jpg|thumb|Transport of troops on the Baharia Military Railway, 1916]] The depression has been populated since the Neolithic, although archaeological evidence is not continuous. In El Heiz, a prehistoric settlement site of hunter-gatherers was found with remains of grindstones, arrowheads, scrapers, chisels, and ostrich eggshells. In Qārat el-Abyaḍ, a Czech team led by Miroslav Bárta discovered a settlement of the Old Kingdom.<ref name="barta">Nevine El-Aref: ''[http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2007/857/hr1.htm The tale of a city]'', report of the Al-Ahram Weekly of August 9, 2007.</ref> Rock inscriptions in el-Harrah and other records date to the Middle Kingdom and upwards.<ref name="giddy">Giddy, Lisa L.: ''Egyptian Oases : Bahariya, Dakhla, Farafra and Kharga During Pharaonic Times'', Warminster: Aris & Phillips Ltd., 1987, pp. 15 sq., 40–44, 62–64, 66, 95, 146–149, 161–163.</ref><ref name="harra">Castel, Georges ; Tallet, Pierre: ''Les inscriptions d'El-Harra, oasis de Bahareya'', in: ''Bulletin de l'Institut français d'archéologie orientale'', vol. 101 (2001), pp. 99–136, 612 sq.</ref> The tomb of Amenhotep called Huy was erected in Qarat Hilwah at the end of the 18th dynasty.<ref name="siclen">Siclen III, Charles Cornell van: ''Wall scenes from the tomb of Amenhotep (Huy) governor of Bahria Oasis'', San Antonio, Texas: VanSiclen, 1981.</ref> In the 26th dynasty, the depression was culturally and economically flourishing. This can be learned from the chapels in 'Ain el-Muftilla, the tombs in Qārat Qasr Salim and Qarat esh-Sheikh Subi,<ref name="seeFakhry">Fakhry, ''op. cit.''</ref> and the site of Qasr 'Allam.<ref name="allam">Colin, Frédéric: ''Qasr Allam : a Twenty-Sixth Dynasty settlement'', in: ''Egyptian archaeology : the bulletin of the Egypt Exploration Society'', {{ISSN|0962-2837}}, vol. 24 (2004), pp. 30–33.</ref>

The Greco-Roman period was a time of prosperity. There is the ruin of a temple dedicated to Ammon by Alexander the Great located in Qasr el-Miqisba ('Ain et-Tibniya). It is believed by some Egyptologists that Alexander passed through Bahariya while returning from the oracle of Ammon at Siwa Oasis.<ref name="megisba">Fakhry, Ahmed: ''Baḥria Oasis'', vol. II. Cairo: Government Press, 1950, pp. 41–47, 85, figs. 29 [map], 30, 71, plates XXIV–XXXV, XLIV.B.</ref><ref>Pfeiffer, Stefan: ''Griechische und lateinische Inschriften zum Ptolemäerreich und zur römischen Provinz Aegyptus.'' Münster: Lit, 2015, pp. 18–22.</ref> Excavations of the Greco-Roman necropolis found in 1995<ref name="ap">Associated Press: ''Zweitausend Jahre alte Mumien in ägyptischer Oase entdeckt'', in: ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'', Nr. 132, 1995, Friday, 09.06.1995, p. 11.</ref> and known as the Valley of the Golden Mummies began in 1999. Approximately thirty-four tombs have been excavated from this area.<ref>Zahi Hawass, ''The Valley of the Golden Mummies'', New York 2000.</ref> In Roman times, a big military fort was erected at Qarat el-Toub.<ref name="toub">Colin, Frédéric; Laisney, Damien; Marchand, Sylvie: ''Qaret el-Toub : un fort romain et une nécropole pharaonique. Prospection archéologique dans l'oasis de Baḥariya 1999'', in: ''Bulletin de l'Institut français d'archéologie orientale'', vol. 100 (2000), pp. 145–192.</ref>

In the spring of 2010, a Roman-era mummy was unearthed in a Bahariya Oasis cemetery in el-Harrah. The female mummy was 3 feet tall and covered with plaster decorated to resemble Roman dress and jewellery. In addition to the female mummy, archaeologists found clay and glass vessels, coins, anthropoid masks and fourteen Greco-Roman tombs. Director of Cairo and Giza Antiquities Mahmoud Afifi, the archaeologist who led the dig, said the tomb has a unique design with stairways and corridors, and could date to 300 BC. This find came as a result of excavation work for the construction of a youth center.<ref name="ahram">Nevine El-Aref: ''[http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2010/996/he1.htm In the sands of time]'', report of Al-Ahram Weekly of April 29, 2010.</ref>

In 2019, archaeologists discovered 19 structures and a church carved into the bedrock from the fifth century CE. The church was decorated with religious inscriptions in Greek.<ref name="Christian-ruins">[https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/ancient-christian-ruins-discovered-in-egypt-163109 Ancient Christian ruins discovered in Egypt]</ref> In 2021, archaeologists discovered a complex with the ruins of three churches and monks cells date back to the fifth century CE.<ref name="Christian-ruins"/><ref>[https://www.nrk.no/norge/forskere-fra-norge-har-gjort-oppsiktsvekkende-funn-i-egypt-1.15336020 Forskere fra Norge har gjort oppsiktsvekkende funn i Egypt] (13 March 2021) NRK</ref>

During World War I, the Baharia Military Railway was built to provide access to the oasis. In the early 1970s, an asphalt road connecting Bahariya to Cairo was finished. With the new road came electricity, cars, television, phone lines, a more accessible route to Cairo, and, more recently, internet. The spread of people and ideas between Bahariya and Cairo has increased dramatically since the road was constructed. Also, the language of the Waḥātī people has changed under the influence of the Cairo dialect, as heard on television and in music.<ref name="bliss">Bliss, Frank: ''Oasenleben : die ägyptischen Oasen Bahriya und Farafra in Vergangenheit und Gegenwart'', Bonn: Politischer Arbeitskreis Schulen (PAS), 2006, (Beiträge zur Kulturkunde; 23), {{ISBN|978-3-921876-27-5}}.</ref>

==People and culture== thumb|upright=0.6|Friday mosque, El-Bawiti, Bahariya Oasis. The people of the oasis, or the ''Waḥātī'' people (meaning "of the oasis" in Arabic), are the descendants of the ancient people who inhabited the oasis, ancient tribes with connections to western Egypt, eastern Libya, and the north coast, as well as people from the Nile Valley who settled in the oasis.

The majority of Waḥātī people in Bahariya are Muslims. The nature of social settings in the oasis is highly influenced by Islam, and there are several mosques in the area.

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

Bahariya used to be a major center for Coptic Christians; however, most of the Oasis population converted to Islam centuries ago. Copts who live in Bahariya today are largely new transplants from the Nile Valley.<ref name=":0" />

The traditional dress of women in Bahariya is called ''Magaddil'' (braids) after the striped pattern of the embroidery. Another dress style was lightly embroidered, with a border of telli embroidery around the neck, which was made separately and sewn onto the dress. In recent times, these have largely been phased out by floral print dresses.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Mehrez |first=Shahira |title=Costumes of Egypt: The Lost Legacies |pages=275–301}}</ref>

==Economy== thumb|Cows in the Oasis. Agriculture remains an important source of income, though 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 due to the discovery of antiquities (tombs, mummies and other artifacts have been discovered there), and because of the beautiful surrounding deserts. Wahati and foreign guides lead desert adventure tours based out of Bahariya to the surrounding White and Black Deserts, and occasionally 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.<ref name="bliss" />

==Fossils== [[File:Paralititan stromeri by Hatem Moushir 3.JPG|thumb|left|First caudal vertebra of ''Paralititan stromeri'' in the Egyptian Geological Museum.]] Fossils of the dinosaurs ''Tameryraptor,''<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kellermann |first1=Maximilian |last2=Cuesta |first2=Elena |last3=Rauhut |first3=Oliver W. M. |date=2025-01-14 |editor-last=Spekker |editor-first=Olga |title=Re-evaluation of the Bahariya Formation carcharodontosaurid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) and its implications for allosauroid phylogeny |journal=PLOS ONE |language=en |volume=20 |issue=1 |article-number=e0311096 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0311096 |doi-access=free |issn=1932-6203|pmc=11731741 }}</ref> ''Spinosaurus, Bahariasaurus'' (meaning "Bahariya lizard"),<ref name="stromer34">{{cite journal |last=Stromer |first=E. |author-link=Ernst Stromer |year=1934 |title=Ergebnisse der Forschungsreisen Prof. E. Stromers in den Wüsten Ägyptens. II. Wirbeltier-Reste der Baharije-Stufe (unterstes Cenoman). 13. Dinosauria |journal=Abhandlungen der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften Mathematisch-naturwissenschaftliche Abteilung |series=Neue Folge |language=de |volume=22 |pages=1–79}}</ref> ''Aegyptosaurus,'' and ''Paralititan'' have been found in the Bahariya Formation.<ref name="smith2001">{{cite journal |vauthors=Smith JB, Lamanna MC, Lacovara KJ, Dodson P, Smith JR, Poole JC, Giegengack R, Attia Y |date=June 2001 |title=A giant sauropod dinosaur from an Upper Cretaceous mangrove deposit in Egypt |url=http://doc.rero.ch/record/14792/files/PAL_E1924.pdf |journal=Science |volume=292 |issue=5522 |pages=1704–6 |bibcode=2001Sci...292.1704S |doi=10.1126/science.1060561 |pmid=11387472 |s2cid=33454060}}</ref> The rock layers of this formation date to the Cenomanian stage of the Late Cretaceous period, around 100 to 95 million years ago. North Africa during this period bordered the Tethys Sea, which transformed the region into a mangrove-dominated coastal environment filled with vast tidal flats and waterways.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hamed |first1=Younes |last2=Al-Gamal |first2=Samir Anwar |last3=Ali |first3=Wassim |last4=Nahid |first4=Abederazzak |last5=Dhia |first5=Hamed Ben |date=March 1, 2014 |title=Palaeoenvironments of the Continental Intercalaire fossil from the Late Cretaceous (Barremian-Albian) in North Africa: a case study of southern Tunisia |journal=Arabian Journal of Geosciences |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=1165–1177 |bibcode=2014ArJG....7.1165H |doi=10.1007/s12517-012-0804-2 |s2cid=128755145}}</ref> Underwater life diversity exploded during this period in the mangroves of North Africa, with turtles represented by the pleurodian ''Apertotemporalis'', large bony fish like ''Mawsonia''<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Wang |first1=Shuo |last2=Stiegler |first2=Josef |last3=Amiot |first3=Romain |last4=Wang |first4=Xu |last5=Du |first5=Guo-hao |last6=Clark |first6=James M. |last7=Xu |first7=Xing |date=January 9, 2017 |title=Extreme Ontogenetic Changes in a Ceratosaurian Theropod |url=https://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(16)31269-6 |journal=Current Biology |language=English |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=144–148 |bibcode=2017CBio...27..144W |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2016.10.043 |issn=0960-9822 |pmid=28017609}}</ref> and ''Paranogmius'',<ref name=":023">{{cite journal |last=Weiler |first=Wilhelm |year=1935 |title=Ergebnisse der Forschungsreisen Prof. Stromers in den Wusten Aegyptens. II. Wirbeltierreste der Baharije-Stufe (unterstes Cenoman). 16. Neue Untersuchungen an den Fischresten |trans-title=Results of Prof. Stromer's research trips to the deserts of Egypt. II. Vertebrate remains of the Baharije stage (lowest Cenomanian). 16. New studies on the fish remains |url=https://www.zobodat.at/pdf/Abhandlungen-Akademie-Bayern_NF_32_0001-0057.pdf |journal=Abhandlungen der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Abteilung |language=German |volume=32 |pages=1–57}}</ref> sawskates ''Onchopristis'' and ''Schizorhiza'',<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Xu |first1=Xing |last2=Clark |first2=James M. |last3=Mo |first3=Jinyou |last4=Choiniere |first4=Jonah |last5=Forster |first5=Catherine A. |last6=Erickson |first6=Gregory M. |last7=Hone |first7=David W. E. |last8=Sullivan |first8=Corwin |last9=Eberth |first9=David A. |last10=Nesbitt |first10=Sterling |last11=Zhao |first11=Qi |last12=Hernandez |first12=Rene |last13=Jia |first13=Cheng-kai |last14=Han |first14=Feng-lu |last15=Guo |first15=Yu |date=June 2009 |title=A Jurassic ceratosaur from China helps clarify avian digital homologies |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/nature08124 |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=459 |issue=7249 |pages=940–944 |bibcode=2009Natur.459..940X |doi=10.1038/nature08124 |issn=1476-4687 |pmid=19536256 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> sharks like ''Squalicorax'' and ''Cretolamna,'' and a broad selection of invertebrates.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Pierossi |first1=Felipe Ferreira |last2=Delcourt |first2=Rafael |last3=Casali |first3=Daniel de Melo |last4=Leme |first4=João Alberto |last5=de Oliveira Martins |first5=Neurides |last6=Manzig |first6=Paulo |last7=Langer |first7=Max Cardoso |date=2025 |title=Convergent evolution among non-carnivorous, desert-dwelling theropods as revealed by the dentary of the noasaurid Berthasaura leopoldinae (Cretaceous of Brazil) |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/pala.70014 |journal=Palaeontology |language=en |volume=68 |issue=4 |article-number=e70014 |bibcode=2025Palgy..6870014P |doi=10.1111/pala.70014 |issn=1475-4983}}</ref> Additionally, several crocodylomorphs like the stomatosuchid ''Stomatosuchus<ref name="SE25">Stromer, E. (1925). [http://publikationen.badw.de/008681374.pdf Ergebnisse der Forschungsreisen Prof. E. Stromers in den Wüsten Ägyptens. II. Wirbeltier-Reste der Baharije-Stufe (unterstes Cenoman). 7. ''Stomatosuchus inermis'' Stromer, ein schwach bezahnter Krokodilier und 8. Ein Skelettrest des Pristiden ''Onchopristis numidus'' Haug sp.] Abhandlungen der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Mathematisch-naturwissenschaftliche Abteilung 30(6): 1–22.</ref>'' and the eunotosuchian ''Libycosuchus'' are known from the formation.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Roy E. |last2=Martill |first2=David M. |last3=Kao |first3=Alexander |last4=Zouhri |first4=Samir |last5=Longrich |first5=Nicholas |date=February 1, 2021 |title=A long-billed, possible probe-feeding pterosaur (Pterodactyloidea: ?Azhdarchoidea) from the mid-Cretaceous of Morocco, North Africa |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195667120303293 |journal=Cretaceous Research |volume=118 |article-number=104643 |bibcode=2021CrRes.11804643S |doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2020.104643 |issn=0195-6671}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Cavin |first1=Lionel |last2=Boudad |first2=Larbi |last3=Tong |first3=Haiyan |last4=Läng |first4=Emilie |last5=Tabouelle |first5=Jérôme |last6=Vullo |first6=Romain |date=May 27, 2015 |title=Taxonomic Composition and Trophic Structure of the Continental Bony Fish Assemblage from the Early Late Cretaceous of Southeastern Morocco |journal=PLOS ONE |language=en |volume=10 |issue=5 |article-number=e0125786 |bibcode=2015PLoSO..1025786C |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0125786 |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=4446216 |pmid=26018561 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Holliday |first1=Casey M. |last2=Gardner |first2=Nicholas M. |date=January 31, 2012 |title=A New Eusuchian Crocodyliform with Novel Cranial Integument and Its Significance for the Origin and Evolution of Crocodylia |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=7 |issue=1 |article-number=e30471 |bibcode=2012PLoSO...730471H |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0030471 |pmc=3269432 |pmid=22303441 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Remains of ''Tameryraptor, Spinosaurus, Bahariasaurus,'' and ''Aegyptosaurus'' were unearthed in the 1910s by crews working for Austro-Hungarian paleontologist Richard Markgraf and were described by German paleontologist Ernst Stromer in the 1910s, 20s, and 30s.<ref name="smith20012">{{cite journal |vauthors=Smith JB, Lamanna MC, Lacovara KJ, Dodson P, Smith JR, Poole JC, Giegengack R, Attia Y |date=June 2001 |title=A giant sauropod dinosaur from an Upper Cretaceous mangrove deposit in Egypt |url=http://doc.rero.ch/record/14792/files/PAL_E1924.pdf |journal=Science |volume=292 |issue=5522 |pages=1704–6 |bibcode=2001Sci...292.1704S |doi=10.1126/science.1060561 |pmid=11387472 |s2cid=33454060}}</ref><ref name="stromer1931">{{Cite journal |last1=Stromer |first1=Ernst |date=1931 |title=Ergebnisse der Forschungsreisen Prof. E. Stromers in den Wüsten Ägyptens. II. Wirbeltier-Reste der Baharîjestufe (unterstes Cenoman). 10. Ein Skelett-Rest von ''Carcharodontosaurus'' nov. gen. |trans-title=Results of Prof. E. Stromer's research trips in the deserts of Egypt. II. Vertebrate remains from the Baharîje stage (lower Cenomanian). 10. A skeletal remains of ''Carcharodontosaurus'' nov. gen. |url=https://www.dinochecker.com/papers/Stromers-Egypt-expedition_Carcharodontosaurus_Stromer_1931.pdf |journal=Abhandlungen der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften Mathematisch-naturwissenschaftliche Abteilung |series=Neue Folge |language=de |volume=9 |pages=1–31 |translator-last1=Carrano |translator-first1=Matthew}}</ref> However, the fossils of these dinosaurs were destroyed during the 1944 Bombing of Munich during World War II. ''Paralititan'' on the other hand was discovered by an American-led expedition by American paleontologist Joshua Smith.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ibrahim |first1=N |last2=Dal Sasso |first2=C |last3=Maganuco |first3=S |last4=Fabbri |first4=M |last5=Martill |first5=D |last6=Gorscak |first6=E |last7=Lamanna |first7=M |date=2016 |title=Evidence of a derived titanosaurian (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) in the 'Kem Kem beds' of Morocco, with comments on sauropod paleoecology in the Cretaceous of Africa |url=https://econtent.unm.edu/digital/collection/bulletins/id/5964 |journal=Cretaceous Period: Biotic Diversity and Biogeography. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin |volume=71 |pages=149–159}}</ref>

The region between the Bahariya and Farafra depressions used to have volcanic activity during the Jurassic Period. In addition, the landscape contains some hills made of barite or calcite crystals, and also golden limestone boulders which became a sanctuary for species, such as white foxes, gazelles and rams.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20200329-bahariya-and-farafra-egypts-bizarre-desert-landscape|title=Bahariya and Farafra: Egypt's bizarre, desert landscape|website=BBC|date=29 March 2020}}</ref>

==Climate==

{{Weather box|width=auto |metric first=y |single line=y |collapsed = Y |location = Bahariya Oasis (Baharia) (1971–2000) |Jan high C = 19.8 |Feb high C = 21.8 |Mar high C = 24.8 |Apr high C = 30.7 |May high C = 34.5 |Jun high C = 36.9 |Jul high C = 37.1 |Aug high C = 36.8 |Sep high C = 34.4 |Oct high C = 30.3 |Nov high C = 25.5 |Dec high C = 20.7 | year high C = |Jan low C = 5.2 |Feb low C = 6.6 |Mar low C = 9.6 |Apr low C = 13.8 |May low C = 17.5 |Jun low C = 20.3 |Jul low C = 21.3 |Aug low C = 21.4 |Sep low C = 19.4 |Oct low C = 16.2 |Nov low C = 10.6 |Dec low C = 6.6 | year low C = |precipitation colour = green |Jan precipitation mm = 1.0 |Feb precipitation mm = 1.0 |Mar precipitation mm = 1.0 |Apr precipitation mm = 1.0 |May precipitation mm = 0 |Jun precipitation mm = 0 |Jul precipitation mm = 0 |Aug precipitation mm = 0 |Sep precipitation mm = 0 |Oct precipitation mm = 0 |Nov precipitation mm = 0 |Dec precipitation mm = 0 |year precipitation mm = | Jan humidity = 52 | Feb humidity = 44 | Mar humidity = 39 | Apr humidity = 31 | May humidity = 29 | Jun humidity = 31 | Jul humidity = 36 | Aug humidity = 38 | Sep humidity = 43 | Oct humidity = 46 | Nov humidity = 51 | Dec humidity = 55 | year humidity = | source 1 = FAO<ref name=FAO>{{cite web | url = https://www.fao.org/land-water/databases-and-software/climwat-for-cropwat/en/ | title = CLIMWAT climatic database | publisher= Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations | access-date = 23 June 2024}}</ref> }}

==Notes== {{Reflist|2}}

==See also== * Bahariasaurus (meaning "Bahariya lizard") * Bahariya Formation (fossil bearing geologic formation) * Ernst Stromer

==References== * Fakhry, Ahmed. ''Bahria Oasis'', Cairo: Government Press, 1942–1950 (2 volumes). * Fakhry, Ahmed. ''The oases of Egypt. Vol. II: Bahrīyah and Farafra Oases'', Cairo: The American Univ. in Cairo Pr., 1974, reprinted 2003. * Hawass, Zahi A. ''Valley of the golden mummies : the greatest Egyptian discovery since Tutankhamen'', London: Virgin, 2000.

==External links== {{Commons category|Bahariya Oasis}} {{Wikivoyage|Bahariyya}} *{{in lang|de}} [http://www.wikivoyage.org/de/Ba%E1%B8%A5r%C4%ABya Baḥrīya on Wikivoyage]

Category:Populated places in Giza Governorate Category:Oases of Egypt Category:Western Desert (Egypt)