By donkey train to Kufra?—How Mr Meri went west

Antiquity ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 75 (290) ◽  
pp. 801-802 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rudolph Kuper
Keyword(s):  
Western Desert ◽  
Middle Kingdom ◽  
Short Text ◽  
Ancient Egyptian ◽  
Dakhla Oasis

In 1990, about 30 km southwest of Dakhla oasis, the most remote settlement in Egypt’s Western Desert, a hieroglyphic rock inscription was discovered that turned out to be the first clear evidence of an Ancient Egyptian presence so far into the Sahara (Burkard 1997). The short text states that a higher official named Meri went out to meet (?) oasis dwellers. Details of translation, interpretation and palaeographic dating of the text are a matter of discussion among Egyptologists, but it clearly seems to be of Old or Early Middle Kingdom origin. The home of the ‘oasis dwellers’ can reasonably be inferred as lying further west or southwest. However, the nearest places with permanent water in these directions are the Kufra Oasis in Libya and the wells of Djebel Uweinat, which lie, respectively, some 600 km and 500 lan away. How was it possible to master such distances under the then already prevailing hyperarid conditions by the only available means of transportation, a train of donkeys that have to drink at least every three days?

Benthic foraminiferal response to relative sea-level changes in the Maastrichtian–Danian succession at the Dakhla Oasis, Western Desert, Egypt

2016 ◽  
Vol 155 (3) ◽  
pp. 729-746 ◽  
Author(s):  
SHERIF FAROUK ◽  
SREEPAT JAIN
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Western Desert ◽  
Level Curve ◽  
Sea Level Changes ◽  
Low Oxygen ◽  
Benthic Environment ◽  
Oxygen Conditions ◽  
Early Paleocene ◽  
Dakhla Oasis ◽  
Regional Tectonics

AbstractThe Maastrichtian–Danian benthic foraminiferal diversity and assemblages through sequence stratigraphy were studied at Dakhla Oasis, Egypt. Benthic foraminifera numbers (BFN), high-flux species and characteristic benthic foraminiferal species and genera distribution are also incorporated to assess palaeobathymetry, palaeoenvironment and palaeoproductivity. All these proxies are then taken together to construct a sea-level curve and interpreted in terms of regional tectonics, climate and eustasy. Data suggest a remarkably highly equitable benthic environment deposited in a brackish littoral and/or marsh setting with moderate (?) to low oxygen conditions and reduced salinity (oligotrophic), possibly due to increased precipitation and terrestrial runoff. The interrupted dominance of calcareous forms and high-organic-flux species suggests occasional marine incursions and high palaeoproductivity, due to local upwelling. The inferred sea-level curve replicates the global eustatic curve and suggests that the curve is more influenced by the prevailing climate and global eustasy rather than by regional tectonics. The post-Cretaceous–Palaeogene boundary displays improvement in the environment in terms of diversity and number of species and specimens, with a marked reduction in the abundance of high-organic-flux species during early Paleocene (Danian) time, indicating a shift from a more mesotrophic open marine environment to much reduced oligotrophic conditions.

The Social Network(s) of the Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period Treasurers: Rehuerdjersen, Siese, Ikhernefret and Senebsumai

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-287
Author(s):  
Danijela Stefanović
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Traditional Approach ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Social Setting ◽  
Middle Kingdom ◽  
Intermediate Period ◽  
Ancient Egyptian ◽  
Social Settings ◽  
Or Groups ◽  
The Social

Abstract Studies on the ancient Egyptian administrative system(s) are usually based on analysis of the institutions and officials attached to them. The present paper focuses on the social settings of the four Middle Kingdom / Second Intermediate Period highest ranking officials, i.e., treasurers. Starting with the traditional methodological approach, which focuses on collecting the prosopographic data, this paper further addresses the implementation of Social Network Analysis (SNA) tools for analyzing the obtained material. SNA is used to study people, or groups of people (nodes), linked together through social interaction, and relations or links between them (edges). SNA exemplifies various types of interaction through networks and analyzes them. By applying SNA methodology for studying the networks of the selected treasurers, it is possible to reconstruct more precisely their social setting (both private and institutional) and interrelations, which complement the traditional approach, but also provide new possibilities for research into ancient Egyptian administration.

scholarly journals From Powerlessness to Control: Psychosis, Spirit Possession and Recovery in the Western Desert of Egypt

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 10-26
Author(s):  
M. A. Rashed
Keyword(s):  
Spirit Possession ◽  
Symptom Control ◽  
Western Desert ◽  
Control Factors ◽  
Values And Beliefs ◽  
Dakhla Oasis ◽  
The Subject

This article explores an aspect of the cultural modulation of recovery in psychosis. It begins with the idea that recovery hinges on the ability of subjects to relate to their distressing experiences in ways that expand rather than diminish agency.  Based on fieldwork in the Dakhla oasis of Egypt and subsequent analysis, it is argued that interpretations of psychosis as spirit possession offer a broader range of intentionality than biomedical interpretations and therefore broader possibilities of relating to psychotic states. Modes of relating to spirits may take active or passive forms, the former consistent with the recovery goal of symptom control. Factors constitutive of the active, agency-expanding mode of relating include: the nature of spirits; the values and beliefs of the subject; the broader cultural/religious discourses which may make it either more or less likely for the subject to achieve the desired state of control over symptoms.

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