Gilf Kebir

23.44138888888925.839722222222Koordinaten: 23 ° 26 ' N, 25 ° 50'

The Gilf El -Kebir (including The Great Barrier; Arab الجلف الكبير, DMG al - Ǧilfu l - Kabīr ) is a sandstone coated basalt plateau in the far southwest of Egypt 's borders with Libya. It rises about 300 feet above the surrounding desert up and extends over 15,770 square kilometers. The Gilf El -Kebir is composed of two parts, the Abu Ras Plateau in the north- west and the Kamal -al-Din Plateau in the south-east. They are separated by the ' Aqaba Pass and the Wada ' Assib. In the southeast of the plateau is dominated by massive rock formations and deeply incised wadis. The northern part of the plateau is significantly more rugged, which is due to the debilitating forces of the sand of the north adjoining the Great Sand Sea. The wadis are particularly wide here. The Gilf El -Kebir impresses with its rugged scenery, its remoteness and its geological significance. The area is marked by volcanism, tectonics and erosion. During the wet phases of the Sahara, there were forests, livestock and cattle nomads. Stone tools of the hunt can be found today. Drained from the plateau mighty rivers by long wadis in the plains. A aridization the region did not occur until late.

History

In prehistoric times the wadis of the Gilf el -Kebir were still inhabited.

History of exploration

The rock formations of the Gilf el -Kebir fell in the years 1909 and 1911 for the first time on the researchers WJ Harding -King.

1917 was the desert explorer John Ball the region to face. He was followed in 1918, a certain Lieutenant Moore.

The first part of cartographic collection was 1923-1926 by the Egyptian researchers Prince Kamal al -Din Hussein.

The Hungarian Sahara and explorer Ladislaus Eduard Almásy explored along with three Britons, Sir Robert Clayton - East - Clayton, Commander Hubert Jones Penderel and surveyors Patrick Clayton in the years 1932/1933 for the first time various vegetation-rich wadis of the plateau, whose research later groups of researchers attracted. Almásy was 1933 prehistoric rock paintings of mammals and floating people. Already during the first reconnaissance flights, the expedition members were Sir Robert Clayton - East - Clayton and Hubert Jones Penderel nearly round, crater-like hills, whose character is recognizable only from the air, the so-called Clayton crater ( N25 ° 22 ' E25 ° 24' and N22 ° 30 ' E25 ° 54'), discover. The craters are of volcanic origin.

Surveyed in 1938, the British engineer and Sahara Ralph Alger Bagnold who cross the area. The founder and first commander of the Long Range Desert Group of the British Army in World War II was thereby appointed and supported by the Royal Geographical Society, a learned society whose member he was, and it had taken on the task, " the mineral structure of the earth to explore ".

The remoteness of the region allowed for a completion of the cards work only in the 1970s. As NASA also sought in these years for a landscape on Earth, which would benefit made ​​for scientific purposes Mars Photos comparable, it was found that the Gilf el -Kebir these expectations came the next. On the basis of satellite images in 1977 for the Russian military maps were created.

In 2002, the Italian Jacopo Foggini discovered a rock overhang, which was indeed named after him Foggini Mestekawi Cave, but was better known as the New Cave and the Cave of the Beasts. It is the largest configured with rock art cave of the Gilf el -Kebir. The representations include hunting scenes, animals like giraffes, ibex and gazelles as well as several headless animal figures - possibly mythical beings. The performances of hand outlines have been going on over the entire wall area.

Petroglyph

The most famous prehistoric rock paintings and engravings are found in the Wadi Sura. Particularly spectacular is the Cave of the Swimmers. Their discovery is the researcher László Almásy (today though alienated, but better known as The English Patient, based on a novella by the Canadian novelist Michael Ondaatje ), attributable. In most cases, people are represented. Some of these people seem to swim (in groups ), suggesting the earlier high fertility of the region and on lakes landscapes. Other motives are giraffes, ostriches and dogs.

The wadis

The wadis of the Gilf el -Kebir are vielzahlig and very diverse.

  • A particularly impressive Wadi Wadi Hamra ( Red = valley ), which contrasts with its red sand against the black rock landscape. The Wadi slots deep into the plateau, and is divided into a north-easterly course of direction in three separate valleys. There are also at least three acacias and petroglyphs. One of these is most likely three rhinos. As recently as the 1930s, the Wadi was planted, and the Tebu Bedouin could let their animals, for example, camels and cattle grazing there.
  • In Wadi Sura, also Wadi Sora (Valley of images ) ( وادي صورة ) are the Cave of the Swimmers and the Cave of the Archers.
  • In Wadi Abd al -Malik vegetation is found.
  • The remains of trucks and cars of the Long Range Desert Group and an abandoned army truck from the Second World War (the latter now at Al Alamein Museum) impressive (t ) s in Wadi Dayyiq ( وادى الضيق ).
  • More wadis in the Kamal - ed- Din Plateau are the Wadi al - Bacht ( وادى البخت ) and Wadi What ʿ ( وادى وسع ).
  • Wadi al - Akhdar وادى الاخض
  • Wadi Firaq وادى فراق
  • Wadi al - Gazayir وادى الجزائر
  • Wadi Maftuh وادى مفتوح
  • Wadi machine وادى مشى

The traditional ascent to the plateau is handled over the nearly 60 km eastern from the Wadi Sura Aqaba Pass ( N23 ° 24.46 ' E25 ° 41.91 '). The pass was discovered in 1932 by Penderel and called " Gap ". Almásy, the name comes from ' Aqaba Pass " steep rise ". As runs the Wadi Abd el -Malik or the Wadi Hamra north apply.

Gilf el -Kebir National Park

The Gilf El -Kebir plateau is part of the homonymous National Park, which includes the Great Sand Sea and the Gabal Oweinat massif belong. In the great sand sea lies the silica glass box. Here you will find the unique Libyan desert glass whose origin is still controversial. There were both a meteorite impact ( Impaktit glasses ), but from which there is no trace, as well as a hydrovulkanische explosion, arrived at the SiO2 gel to the surface are discussed. Primarily on Sudanese and Libyan border terrain is the 1934 meter high Jabal Oweinat. Overall, the park covers an area of 48 523 square kilometers.

DIN 31635 The English Patient (film)
264875
de