Friday, September 29, 2006

An Oasis of Art in the Egyptian Desert

This important item dates back to the 21st September, so thanks to Kat for finding it and bringing it to my attention: "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. . . . Brewer says the desert people of ancient Egypt lived in the shadow of the great culture that developed in the famed Nile Valley. . . . Even today many people do not believe a complex culture existed in the eastern desert of ancient Egypt. But evidence of rock art could shatter this image, especially if the art depicts domesticated animals and crops—as was the case with the rock art discovered by the Illinois team."
Please see the above article for full details.

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