Gilf Kebir

Gilf Kebir ( _ar. جلف كبير) (var. Gilf al-Kebir, Jilf al Kabir ) is a plateau in the remote southwest corner of Egypt. Its name translates as "the Great Barrier". This 7770-square-kilometre limestone and sandstone plateau roughly the size of Switzerland rises 300m from the desert floor. It is known for its rugged beauty, remoteness, geological interest, and the dramatic cliff paintings and rock carvings which depict an era of abundant animal life and human habitation.

Kebira Crater

The Gilf Kebir contains the Kebira Crater, a 950-meter (3,100-foot) impact crater, dating to 50 million years ago crater, and part of a field that spreads over 4,500 square kilometers (1,750 square miles) — more than 75 times larger than Earth's next largest known crater field.

Uweinat

The Uweinat mountain range at the very south of the plateau is shared between Egypt, Libya and Sudan.

Fossilised river vallies

The area is crisscrossed by Wadis (dry riverbeds). These include:

* Wadi Akhdar _ar. وادى الاخض
* Wadi Bakht _ar. وادى البخت
* Wadi Dayiq _ar. وادى الضيق
* Wadi Firaq _ar. وادى فراق
* Wadi Gazayir _ar. وادى الجزائر
* Wadi Maftuh _ar. وادى مفتوح
* Wadi Mashi _ar. وادى مشى
* Wadi Wassa _ar. وادى وسع

Literary setting

The Gilf Kebir is the setting for part of in Michael Ondaatje's novel 'The English Patient'.

WWII archeology

The plateau was the site for various British logistical operations during the Second World War, and due to the extremely dry conditions and lack of population, remains of this occupation are often found intact. A large airbase, including huge navigation arrows laid out in army petrol cans, can still be seen.

It was also the site of the recent discovery of a bag which had been lost in the Second World War by a dispatch rider (Alec Ross) of the Long Range Desert Group, part of the British Army. This contained the rider's personal letters and photographs, and had been well preserved.

Petroglyphs

The Gilf Kebir is known for its prehistoric (Neolithic) petroglyphs

* Karkur Talh and Karkur Murr: major eastern valleys of the Uweinat contain one of the richest concentrations of rock art in the whole Sahara.
* Western Uweinat: Shelters under the huge granite boulders in the western Uweinat contain numerous paintings, including the famous sites of Ain Doua.
* Jebel Arkenu, Jebel Kissu & Yerguehda Hill, the lesser granite massifs around Uweinat have many smaller sites.
* Mogharet el Kantara in the southern Gilf Kebir contains only one known rock art site, a cave discovered by Shaw & party in 1936.
* Wadi Sora in the northwestern Gilf Kebir: the "Cave of Swimmers", discovered by the Hungarian Count László Almásy ("The English Patient"), plus many other paintings nearby.
*The North-western half of the Gilf Kebir aside from Wadi Sora has only a few scattered engravings, of an apparently very ancient age.
*In January 2003, Zarzora Expeditions and Jacopo Foggini independently announced the discovery of a major new rock art site in the Western Gilf Kebir (Foggini-Mestekawi Cave).

References

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7633450.stm Legends haunt remote nomad's land] , Matthew Davis, BBC. 25 September 2008.
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/lancashire/7118650.stm 'WWII Army Bag is found in Desert']
* [http://www.fjexpeditions.com/frameset/project.htm Libyan Rock Art Documentation Project]

External links

* [http://maps.google.com/maps?q=&t=h&ie=UTF8&om=1&ll=24.47715,25.658569&spn=2.109684,3.416748 google map]
* [http://www.btinternet.com/~buckleburyweb/ade/port_ecards.htm McOran E-Cards based on the 'Cave of Swimmers']