KHARGA (WAI1 EL-KHARGA, the

See also:

• OUTER

outer

See also:

• OASIS (Gr. &toss, the name given by Herodotus to the fertile spots in the Libyan desert: it probably represents an Egyptian word, cf. Coptic ouahe, ouih, to dwell, from which the Egyptian Arabic sod is derived)

oasis)  , the largest of the Egyptian oases, and hence frequently called the Great Oasis . It lies in the Libyan desert between 24° and 26° N. and 30° and 31° E., the chief town, also called Kharga, being 435 m... by rail S. by W. of Cairo . It is reached by a narrow-gauge line (opened in 1908) from Kharga junction, a station on the Nile' valley line near Farshut . The oasis consists of a depression in the desert some 1200 sq. m. in extent, and is about 100 m. long N. to S. and from 12 to 5o broad E. to W . Formerly, and into historic times, a lake occupied a considerable part of the depression, and the thick deposits of clay and sand then laid down now form the bulk of the cultivated lands of the oasis . It includes, however, a good deal of desert land . The inhabitants numbered (1907 census) 8348 . They are of Berber stock . Administratively the oasis forms part of the mudiria of Assiut . It is practically rainless, and there is not now a single natural flowing spring . There are, however, numerous wells, water being obtained freely from the porous sandstone which underlies a great part of the Libyan desert . Some very ancient wells are 400 ft. deep .

In water-bearing sandstones near the

surface there are underground aqueducts dating from Roman times . The oasis contains many groves of date palms, there being over 6o,000 adult trees in 1907 . The dom palm, tamarisk, acacia and wild senna are also found . Rice, barley and wheat are the chief cereals cultivated, and lucerne for fodder . Besides agriculture the only industry is basket and mat making—from palm leaves and fibre . Since 1906 extensive boring and land reclamation works have been undertaken in the oasis . The name of the oasis appears in hieroglyphics as Kenem, and that of its capital as Hebi (the plough) . In Pharaonic times it supported a large population, but the numerous ruins are mostly of later date . The principal ruin, a temple of Ammon, built under Darius, is of sandstone, 142 ft. long by 63 ft. broad and 3o ft. in height . South-east is another temple, a square stone building with the name of Antoninus Pius over one of the en-trances . On the eastern escarpment of the oasis on the way to Girga are the remains of a large Roman fort with twelve bastions . On the road to Assiut is a fine Roman columbarium or dove-cote .

Next to the great temple the most interesting ruin in the oasis is, however, the

necropolis, a burial-place of the early Christians, placed on a hill 3 M . N. of the town of Kharga . There are some two hundred rectangular tomb buildings in unburnt brick with ornamented fronts . In most of the tombs is a chamber in which the mummy was placed, the Egyptian Christians at first continuing this method of preserving the bodies of their dead . In several of the tombs and in the chapel of the cemetery is painted the Egyptian sign of life, which was confounded with the Christian cross . The chapel is basilican; in it and in another building in the necropolis are crude frescoes of biblical subjects . Kharga town (pop . 1907 census, 5362) is picturesquely situated amid palm groves . The houses are of sun-dried bricks, the streets narrow and winding and for the most part roofed over, the roofs carrying upper storeys . Some of the streets are cut through the solid rock . South of the town are the villages of Genna, Guehda (with a temple dedicated to Ammon, Mut and Khonsil), Bulak (pop . 1012), Dakakin, Beris (pop .

1564), Dush (with remains of a fine temple bearing the names of

Domitian and Hadrian), &c . Kharga is usually identified with the city of Oasis mentioned by Herodotus as being seven days' journey from Thebes and called in Greek the Island of the Blessed . The oasis was traversed by the army of Cambyses when on its way to the oasis of Ammon (Siwa), the army perishing in the desert before reaching its destination . During the Roman period, as it had also been in Pharaonic times, Kharga was used as a place of banishment, the most notable exile being Nestorius, sent thither after his condemnation by the council of Ephesus . Later it became a halting-place for the caravans of slaves brought from Darfur to Egypt . About roo m . W. of Kharga is the oasis of Dakhla, the inner or receding oasis, so named in contrast to Kharga as being farther from the Nile . Dakhla has a population (1907) of 18,368 . Its chief town, El Kasr, has 3602 inhabitants . The principal ruin, of Roman origin and now called Deir el Hagar (the stone convent), is of considerable size . The Theban triad were the chief deities worshipped here . Some 120 M .

N.W. of Dakhla is the oasis of Farafra, population about r000, said to be the first of the oases conquered by the Moslems from the Christians . It is noted for the fine quality of its

olives . The Baharia, or Little Oasis (pop. about 6000), lies 8o m . N.N.E. of Farafra . Many of its inhabitants, who are of Berber race, are Senussites . Baharia is about 250 M . E.S.E. of the oasis of Siwa (see EGYPT: The Oases; and SiwA) . See H . Brugsch, Reise nach dem grossen Oase el-Khargeh in der Libyschen Waste (Leipzig, 1878) ; H . J . L . Beadnell, An Egyptian Oasis (London, 19o9); Murray's Handbook for Egypt, 11th ed .

(London, 1907);

Geological and Topographical Report on Kharga Oasis (1899), on Farafra Oasis (1899), on Dakhla Oasis (1900), on Baharia Oasis (1903), all issued by the Public Works Department, Cairo . (F . R .