Dakhla is considered to be one of the oldest inhabited places in Africa, or rather Mut, its main town is. Mut, which means mother in the Ancient Egyptian tongue, is really the mother of all dwelling places. Houses carbon dated to 13,000 years ago have been unearthed there.
Qasr
Dakhla is home to many ancient remains, hot springs and towering over it – the escarpment which dominates the skyline on the northern side. In the oasis town of Qsar (like many of the Oases, the main town is called Qsar after the fortress) a Dutch lead team of locals have succeeded in almost completely rebuilding the dark mud walled old town. This place of narrow alleys and secret passages is one of the great sights of Dakhla.
In the maze of streets you’ll easily get lost so take one of the unpaid guides and give him a tip- they are not at all pushy and really very helpful. There is also a small museum on the edge of the mudwalled town.
Deir El Haggar
A few kilometres before Qasr is the intriguing Roman ruin of Deir El Haggar. This place was once under sand- which helped preserve the paint on the carvings. There is something very recent about paint and to see some that is 2000 years old is quite amazing.
Amheida Wall Paintings
Between Qasr and Mut lie the extensive Roman ruins of Amheida, perhaps one of the largest and most significant within the oasis of Dakhla. In Roman times it was a major city, relying for its wealth on the good farming in the oasis. The old city remains as sand buried buildings, a temple and over 3000 graves. Most recently a marvelous series of wall paintings have been unearthed. They depict in great detail scenes of Greek and Roman mythology in a large 15 room building dug from the sand by a Canadian team of archeologists. These are the first wall paintings to be found in Dakhla and one of the main paintings tells the story of Perseus and Andromeda which supposedly occurred itself in the Western Desert.
Did you know?
Desert raiders originating in Chad attacked Dakhla up until the 19th century using iron boomerangs. These are not so different in design to the boomerangs used by the Ancient Egyptians to catch small birds.
