Oasis of Art

An Oasis of Art in the Egyptian Desert

U. of I. team discovers rock art, but source remains a mystery

When Douglas Brewer ventured deep into the Egyptian desert this year, he expected to find possibly 100 examples of “rock art”—evidence of ancient civilization. What he actually found were well over 1,000 examples—a treasure trove of rock art. The desert art, which was pecked or sometimes incised into large rock faces, depicted elephants, ostriches, giraffes, and many hunting scenes. But perhaps strangest of all was the abundance of boats depicted in the art. After all, this area was far from any body of water, says Brewer, a University of Illinois professor of archaeology and director of the Spurlock Museum in Urbana. According to Brewer, this find may have raised more questions than it answered. “I went out to demonstrate the existence of the desert culture in ancient Egypt,” he says. But after preliminary evaluation of the rock art, it is hard to tell whether it is the work of an independent desert culture.

The two photos on gray rock are both part of a large scene about 50 feet up a mountain side. Many boats were depicted, and the location is presently 200 km from any source of water. The other rock art shows a multitude of critters and people in perfect stylized form as seen on early pottery.

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