- Kharga Oasis
[
Egypt : Site of Kharga Oasis (lower center).]"El-Kharga"' (meaning the outer oasis) (Arabic الخارجة) is the southernmost of
Egypt 's five western oases. It is located in theLibyan Desert , about 200 km to the west of theNile valley, and is some 150 km long. It is located in and is the capital of El Wadi el Gedid governorate. [Ball, J. 1900. Kharga Oasis: its topography and geology. Survey Department, Public Works Ministry, Geological Survey Report 1899, Part II. Cairo: National Printing Department, 116 pp.]All the oases have always been crossroads of caravan routes converging from the barren desert. In the case of Kharga, this is made particularly evident by the presence of a chain of fortresses that the Romans built to protect the Darb el-Arbain, the long caravan route running north-south between Middle Egypt and the Sudan. The forts vary for size and function, some being just small outposts, some guarding large settlements complete with cultivation. Some were installed where earlier settlements already existed, while others were probably founded anew. All of them are made of mud bricks, but some also contain small stone temples with inscribed walls.
Kharga is the most modernized of Egypt's western oases. The main town is a highly functional town with all modern facilities, and virtually nothing left of old architecture. Although framed by the oasis, there is no oasis feeling to it; unlike all other oases in this part of Egypt.
A regular bus service connects the oasis to the other Western oases and to the rest of Egypt. A railway line Kharga -
Qena (Nile Valley) -Port Safaga (Red Sea) has been in service since 1996.References
External links
* [http://www.northkhargaoasissurvey.com Information on the forts and archaelogical work]
* [http://looklex.com/egypt/kharga.htm Travel guide]
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