American Geographical Society

Egyptian-Libyan Borderlands Author(s): R. H. Forbes Source: Geographical Review, Vol. 32, No. 2 (Apr., 1942), pp. 294-302 Published by: American Geographical Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/210277 . Accessed: 10/07/2011 09:07
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EGYPTIAN-LIBYAN BORDERLANDS
R. H. Forbes
IN

the course a month's of stay' in the desert that triangle includes Sollum,

Siwa,andMersaMatruhthe writer has had opportunityto observeconditions of land surface, water supply, plant and animal life, and human welfare within the region. In general, the Egyptian-Libyandesert area is laid down in alternating layers of sandstonesand limestones (of mid-Miocene age) rich in fossil corals and marine shells. A narrow coastalplain rises to e, _ . fqeights metes a plateau with an average BGard Wa e7 altitudeof some six hundred F I e m of tn pSidiBarrani t E e feet. West of the EgyptianCYRENAICA. 0e Matruh Libyan boundary, in Cyrenaica,the plateaualsoreaches an altitude of six hundred feet, but coastwise it drops in a steep escarpmentto the
-2

(Fig. Mediterranean i). On

Giarabub

Qa,&i-a ra
o
$ sf

0ep r e
24 GEOGR.REVIEW,APR.1942

IS

a0

the south the plateau breaks down in cliffs to the great east-west depression in which lies the oasis of Siwa,

miles south of Sollum, is aptly describedas "the heart of Libya." To the south is the Great Sand Sea with its long lines of sand dunes that presentso formidable a military obstacle. Through erosion, by both wind and water, the plateau sandstones have been reduced to a level terrainideal for caravantrails or automobile roads and for mechanizedwarfare. The hard limestones, less easily eroded than the softer sandstones,tend to remain at higher levels. Soils that may once have blanketedthe rocky foundation have been blown away except in depressionswhere scanty vegetation may grow.
'R. H. Forbes: Siwa Oasis, Cairo Scientificjourn., Vol.
I0, I92I-I922, pp.

i-Sketch map of the northernpart of the BgyptianThe Egyptianside is basedon the Matrcih Libyanborderlands. (I933) and Baharyla (I935) sheets of the Survey of Egypt map, i: 500,000.
FiG.

below sea level. Siwa, I90

i-8o.

EGYPTIAN-LIBYAN BORDERLANDS WATER SUPPLIES

295

A coastalwinter rainfallof six to seven inches2(more at higher altitudes) makes possible the cultivation of scanty dry-farmed crops, including a variety of barley that, normally, is in part exported to GreatBritainfor the manufactureof "Scotch" whisky. A part of this rainfallbecomes available from shallow wells, which, at greaterdepths,become so impregnatedwith saltsas to be unusable.A part, as storm-waterrunoff, is caught in reservoirs, dating back to the Roman occupationof the region. Siwa obtainsits water
TABLE I-PARTIAL ANALYSES OF WATERS FROM THE SOLLUM-SIWA-MATRUH AREA

Partsper 1 00, 000

TOTAL SOLUBLE SOURCE SALTS COMMON SALT LIME MAGNESIA ALKALINITY AS SODIUM CARBONATE

waters Surface from Romancisterns

Bir Kenayis Bir Hakfa
27 45.2

6.7 6.7

0.6 5.6

3.4 6.8

4.2

I7.0

Shallowwells in coastal plain nearMatruh

At Matruh Near Matruh
47.0 I42. 8
2I. 6

2.8

4.4

8.5
2I .2 HARDNESS AS

83.9

6.6

I4.4

Deep seepage nearSollum

Qattara spring
477-2 368.2
26.6 3I.I

CALCIUM SULPHATE

III.5

Artesianwaters Siwa oasis of Fourteenbest

waters; averages Four saltiest waters; averages
2I9.5

I39.3 234.I

I9.5
22.9

I2.9

44.5 56.5

337.0

i6.5

from artesian wells. Variousoriginshave been ascribedto this water; present opinion refersit to a vast subterranean water sheet originatingin the highlandssouthwestof the LibyanDesert.4 Waters of cisternsand shallow wells are comparativelypure and soft, as
2 The average annual rainfall of Sidi Barrani (9Igo-I9I5)

is 15I mm.; of Sollum

(I9I9-I932),

I07

mm.; of Mersa Matruh (I920-I934), I67 mm.; of Siwa (I9II-I9I5, I920-I934), 8 mm., though in one December storm 28 mm. fell ("Climatological Normals for Egypt and the Sudan, Cyprus and Palestine,"Ministry of Public Works, Egypt, PhysicalDept., Cairo, I938). 3 See the descriptionof cisternsand an ancient aqueductat MersaMatruh in John Ball: The Water Supply of MersaMatruh, Survey Dept. [of Egypt] Paper No. 43, I935, reprintedI937. 4John Ball: Problems of the Libyan Desert, Geogr. Journ., Vol. 70, I927, pp. 2I-38, I05-I28, and 209-224; idem: The QattaraDepression of the Libyan Desert and the Possibility of Its Utilization for Power-Production,ibid., Vol. 82, I933, pp. 289-3I4, referenceon p. 292.

296

THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

is shown by alkalinity expressedas sodium carbonate.Deep seepage from Qattaraspring, near the sea and probably affected by marine infiltration, is prohibitively salty and very hard. Most of the artesianwaters of Siwa are potable, and all of them, with good drainage,can be used for irrigation. Table I gives some analysesof waters made by the writer.5

FIG.

2-Overlooking Siwa towards the east. September, i919. ANIMAL AND PLANT LIFE

The narrow coastal zone of rainfall, extending in western Egypt some supportsa sparsegrowth of camel'sfifty miles south of the Mediterranean, thorn, alfa grass, and desert forages, on which the Bedouins graze their sheep, goats, camels, donkeys, and horses. In favored areasfigs, olives, and date palms survive precariously.In the oasis,where irrigationis practiced,a great variety of crop plantsand trees is grown. The wildlife of the region includes gazelles, which are sometimes run down in open country by hunters in automobiles.jackals and jerboas are featureof the rainfall common. Snails,at least two species,are a remarkable zone. During the winter rainy season,October to March, when food plants
desLaboratoires l'Hygiene de 5 For other analysessee A. Azadian:Les eaux d'Egypte, Noteset Rapports Publique No. 7, Ministere de l'Interieur, Dept. de l'Hygiene Publique, 3 Vols., Cairo, 1930, Vol. 2,
pp. 462-464.

EGYPTIAN-LIBYAN BORDERLANDS

297

are their the areavailable, snails active,feedingandaccomplishing life cycle. a each snailsecretes drop of waterwithin the When hot weatherarrives, across opening, the openend of its shell,spinsa glairycurtain(operculum) or itselfto the coolestplaceit canfind-shrubbery a pointof rock attaches for -and estivates the summer.

? >,.s ... X ..... ,w_ ; ' .......

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FIG. 3Notables

of Siwa, Berber and negroid elements. Sept 4,199

Snails are an important food for desert travelers,who gather them and consume them at their camping places. In the FirstWorld War the hostile Senussi,pursued by British patrols, lived largely on snails,as witness their discardedpiles of shells along the road south of Sollum (Fig. 9). just as the Senussi,in ffight from the British in western Egypt, lived on snails,so must the Israelitesof Exodus, wandering in similardesert country,, have been sustainedby snail manna.' Quail, also, are an important food resource of the region. The annual takes migration of the Europeanquail southwardacrossthe Mediterranean in Septemberand October. When the birds, tired by their long ffight, place land on the North Africancoast, they are easily caught by Arabsusing long tennislikenets, which they flop down over the resting birds. The captured
6The writer has traversedthe region between Egypt and Beershebaand has observed abundant snail life there. The usual explanation that manna was a sugary exudation from the tamarisk of that region is highly unsatisfactory.

FIG. 4

FIG. 5

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~6': fJ'. N:
FIG. 6 FIG. 7

i.;. ... _..____

~~~~~~~~~~~..

-%own_

FIG. 8

FIG. 9

FIG. 4-Rumns of the Egyptian temple of JupiterAmmon in Siwa. September,i9i9. FIG.5-Agourmi village in Siwa Oasis, from the north. September,i919. FIG.6-Sheikh Hammam and a guest at tea in an oasis garden-one cup for an ordinaryperson; two cups for a worthy but not distinguishedindividual;three cups for an importantpersonage;four cups for a very great man. September, i919. FIG.7-Amn Zie'dagardensin Siwa Oasis. September, 191i9. (CompareFig. i6.) FIG. 8-Garden in salt plain, Siwa. September,i919. the Britishpatrol. Sept. 3, FIG. 9-Shells of snailsgatheredand eaten by hostile Senussiin fight fromI91b9.

298

FIG. I 0

FIG. I I

1r~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~X
FIG. I 2 FIG. I 3

..

..: ..:......

.~
-detl.

~~~~~~ ~ ~~~~~~~~~~..............
. .

....

:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.
...

..

FIG

I3

ieoh

brcIs

spIn

at Qattra,

nea

Sollu.Ag28ii

FIG.

ii-Sit

e tb

of k

ng atdQattara ear Sollum. Aug. 28, i919.

FIG.

FIG. i5-Bedouin

I4-Sheep grazing on desert vegetation near Matruh. September,i919. tent on Siwa-Matruhroad; women preparingbarleymeal Sept. 23, 299

I919.

300

THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

birdsarethencrated and shipped alive,sometimes to distant markets. Here, again, Old Testament historyis repeated an as annual occurrence unof known antiquity (see
Numbers
II, 3I).

Alm4

THE SIWANSAND THEIRAGRICULTURE Since the Romans abandoned the region

some sixteen hundred years ago, the Siwans, left to themselves, have developed an interesting
semi-civilization, 7 with distinctive customs, lanAIN ZIEDA GARDENS
4 ACRES; 600 PALMS; 380 HODS-

guage, racial combinations, and local industries

and a remarkable agriculture.

The Siwans themselves are Berbers much hybridizedwith Negroes and, probably, with the Greek and Roman elements with which the oasis was anciently overrun. They are also much in contact with the Bedouins, who with their camels connect them with coastal markets for their dates. Egyptian, Greek, and Roman remains testify to successive occupations of the oasis. The Romans, in particular,excavated some two hundred of the artesian wells and curbed them with substantialmasonry, which remains today. These wells, 8 to 30 feet in diameter and curbed to a depth of 20 feet or more, are the life of the oasis. Although the water is salty to unaccustomedtaste
7 As one student of Siwan ethnography puts it, "Siwan culture has an eerie quality all its own" (Walter Cline: Notes on the People of Siwah and Et Garahin the Libyan Desert, GeneralSer. in AnNo. thropology 4, Menasha,Wis., I936, p. Io).

of Ain Zieda gardens, oasis of Siwa, showing FIG. I6-Survey the great well 30 feet in diameter; house and enclosures;ditches supplying water from Zieda and Msus; 380 hods (circles and squares); palms (dots); drains and new ground in process of reclamation (dashed lines).

EGYPTIAN-LIBYAN

BORDERLANDS

30I

(containing from I94.4 tO 363 parts in IOO,OOO of soluble salts in the i8 wells tested), the salts are "hard," containing an excess of calcium sulphate, less injuriousto vegetation than "blackalkaline"sodium carbonate, which has not been observed here.
of an oasis garden: artesianspringreachingsurfacethrough an earthquakecrack 2, hillock of accumulated wind-blown
FIG. I7-Genesis i, 1

debrisand vegetation 3, garden from leveled and built-up hill-, ock, with curbed artesian well, drainage, and crop trees and plants.

Fortunately,also, Siwan soils contain high percentagesof wind-blown

sand; for instance:
SOIL SAMPLES I
to

2 24.2

3 23.3

4
I2.9

Coarsesand-o.2
Finesand-o.o4to

I.O mm. diam.

2I.3%

0.2mm.diam.

39.3% 6o. 6%

38.7
62.9

53.5 76. 8

35 3 48 .2

Totalsands

Under these conditionsof soil andwater supply the genesisof Siwan gardens is most interesting. Through centuriesof artesianleakage the soils of the depression have become so incrustedwith saltsasto prohibitthe cultureof shocks,common in the region, fracturethe unusefulplants.But earthquake derlying strataand permit confined watersto appearas artesiansprings.The resultingwet surfacesaccumulatewind-blown dust until mounds of soil are formed. Hardy halophytic plants establishthemselvesin the moist soil, and the mounds grow with vegetation andwind-blown debrisuntil considerable Then the oasismaker, urged by necessity,levels the hillhillocksare formned. ocks at a sufficientheight above the plain to obtain drainage, sinks and curbswells on the sites of the springs,constructsditches, divides the leveled ground into small compartments,or "hods," and proceeds to leach and sweeten the soil with the overflow from the wells. Borders and unleached species, such as date palms, figs, and ground are planted to salt-resistant pomegranates,which shade and protect from the desert winds the many crop plants grown in the sweetened soil of the hods. In September olive trees, oranges,lemons, grapes,tomatoes, tobacco, peppers, squash, melons, cucumbers,parsnips,berseem, apricot trees, and tree cotton were seen in

302

THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

the hods. Winter crops of barley, wheat, onions, garlic, and broad beans are grown. The date palm is the main resourceof the oasis.The tree protectstender plants from heat, frost, and Saharanwinds; the trunk affordstimbers and fuel; the leaves are woven into mats and baskets,and the strong midribs are used to reinforce mud construction (primitive reinforced concrete!); the dates are the main export by means of which imports of needed breadstuffsare obtained.The native diet is deficientin fats; olive oil manufactured from fruit ground in heavy stone mills suppliesonly a fraction of the need. Meat is a luxury, since animals consume forages the production of which requires excessive amounts of water. Fruits and vegetables are relatively abundant,but the average ration is unbalanced,and the people as a whole are undernourished. Although protected in a measure by their isolation and by their defensively built towns, the Siwans are handicappedby the distancesfrom marketsfor their dates and licorice root (and, formerly, salt). Choked and abandoned wells indicate a larger population at some former time. The presentareaof the oasisgardensis only about eight hundredacres.Available figuresindicatea diminishedpopulationwithin recentyears.What effectcurrent events in their commercialneighborhoodwill have upon this remote people is conjectural.