Other Roads.Besides the routes already mentioned, there are several other roads connecting Baharia with Siwa Oasis, the Fayum, and the Nile Valley. Of the principal of these we have a fairly accurate knowledge from the records of scientific travellers, such as Jordan and Ascherson, and it may be well to mention briefly the chief points concerning them.
The road from Siwa[30] was traversed by Jordan in 1874, the march occupying ten days. Leaving Siwa (N. lat. 29° 12′ 0″, long. 25° 31′ 0″ E. of Greenwich, altitude 25 metres below sea-level), the road follows an east-south-east course for about 80 kilometres; it then turns slightly more southwards, rounding the corner of the plateau (Pacho Mt. of Rohlfs) and afterwards passing through the deep depressions of Aradj (- 70 m.) and Uttiah (- 20 m.) to the south side of Lake Sittra (- 25 m., N. lat. 28° 42′ 40″, long. 27° 4′ 23″ E. of Greenwich, 170 kilometres distant from Siwa). From Sittra an easterly course is taken for some 52 kilometres, when another slight turn to the south is made, the oasis of Baharia being entered by descending the scarp some 3 kilometres slightly north of west of El Qasr. Between Sittra and the edge of the oasis the ground, which is of nummulitic limestone, rises gradually but steadily, the level at the edge of the oasis being 194 metres above sea. The distance from Sittra to El Qasr is about 180 kilometres, making the total distance along the route taken from Siwa about 350 kilometres.
The road from the Fayum to Baharia, taken by Belzoni in 1819, Pacho in 1823, and Ascherson in 1876, has a total length of about 240 kilometres, and occupies some six days in marching. Leaving Medinet el Fayum the road proceeds south-west via Gharag to Wadi Rayan (29 m. below sea-level, about 75 kilometres from Medinet el Fayum) where a supply of water is obtainable from several different springs. From Ain Rayan the road proceeds south-west over a rising nummulitic limestone plateau, crossing the so-called Bahr bela Ma a little north of the Maghagha-Baharia road. At “El Bahr” (100 kilometres from Ain Rayan) a turn is made to the W.S.W.; the sand-dunes of Abu Moharik are crossed a little further on, and the oasis is entered at the northern extremity by the same “agaba” as that taken by the Maghagha road. Within the oasis the road branches as already described, the west branch leading to El Qasr and the east one to Zubbo.
Another route making use of the same point of entry into the oasis as that just described is marked on Ascherson’s map as coming from Bahnessa, a large village on the Bahr Yusuf, near the western edge of the Nile Valley. This road, which is some 190 kilometres in length, leads almost due west over a monotonous plateau till near the oasis, where it joins the roads from the Fayum and Maghagha.
The road between Baharia and Samalut, traversed on his return journey by Ascherson in 1876, appears to be the shortest connection between the oasis and the Nile Valley. Its course is due west, and its total length to Mandisha about 180 kilometres. Leaving Samalut the cultivation is crossed via Mangatin to Rubi; this latter village is on the edge of the desert, about 5 kilometres west of Samalut. The road proceeds over a monotonous rocky and gravelly plateau, crossing the great sand-dune belt of Abu Moharik about 122 kilometres west of Samalut, and entering the oasis near Ain Gelid by the same descent as that used by the Survey party from Minia. The journey from Bawitti to Samalut occupied Ascherson four days.
Still another road from the Nile Valley, likewise entering the oasis near Ain Gelid, is marked on Ascherson’s map as coming from Delga, a village near the west edge of the valley-cultivation. This road has a N.N.W. course, and a total length from Delga to Mandisha of about 190 kilometres. It crosses the sand-dunes of Abu Moharik about 130 kilometres from Delga, i.e., about 40 kilometres before reaching the edge of the oasis.
Several other roads start from points still further south, such as Der el Maragh, Beniadi, Assiut, etc., and most of the villages along the west side of the Nile Valley between Assiut and the Fayum have branch tracks which join the main roads at different points.
[17]For remarks on the surveying of desert roads, and on the possibility of traversing the open desert, see Ball Kharga Oasis (Reports of the Geolog. Survey for 1899, Part II) Cairo, 1901, p. 16.
[18]For details of these hills and Wadi Muailla see Beadnell, The Topography and Geology of the Fayum, etc., Survey Dept. P. W. M. Cairo, (in the press).