Egyptian desert

FIGURE 11.19 The state of the carving on Cleopatra s Needle has deteriorated as a result of the action of acid rain tat after 3500 years in the Egyptian desert (b) after a further 00 years in Central Park, New York City. 

Unit C at Nekhen is clearly different from the sediments above and below it. Comparing all features (including the location of its occurrences), it is clear that Unit C is material washed from the wadi and deposited in a small alluvial fan during the period from 3200 to 2500 B.C. At this time, Nile flooding must not have reached the site, but there were substantial amounts of water to wash sediments from the wadi. This evidence supports other paleoclimatic studies that suggest periods of moist conditions on the Egyptian desert (18). 

Lucas, A. (1905) The blackened rocks of the Nile cataracts and of the Egyptian deserts, Cairo National Printing Department. 

Goodman, S.M. and J.J. Hobbsi988. The ethnobotany of the Egyptian desert A comparison of common plant usage between two culturally distinct Bedouin groups Journal of Ethrwpharmacology... 

Dry sites, too, are rich sources of organic artifacts. Burial sites in the Egyptian desert are famous for the condition of wood, viable seeds, and human and animal mummies that have been protected from degradation by very dry conditions. Sites in the deserts of the American southwest have... 

The fungus Emericella desertorum contains several related indoles such as emindole DA (248) <88JCS(P1)1689>, and E. nivea has yielded the isomeric pollen growth inhibitor emeniveol <92TL6987>. Emindole PA (249) was found in E. purpurea from an Egyptian desert soil sample <94JCS(Pi)1673>. 

Madder, also known as Turkey red, is a scarlet dye extracted from perennial herbaceous plants of the order Rubiacea, of which there are about 35 species (Chenciner 2001 Farnsworth 1951). A well-known plant from this order is Rubia tinctorum, found naturally in Palestine and Egypt, abundant in Asia and Europe, and extensively cultivated in the ancient world, was widely used for production of the dye since remote antiquity. The use of madder for dyeing seems to have originated in the Middle East it was identified in many textiles found in Egyptian tombs and in woolen fabrics from the Judean Desert in Palestine. It was also used by the ancient Persians, Greeks, and Romans. Madder from other varieties of Rubiacea plants were used by the Incas in ancient Peru (Schaefer 1941 Fieser 1930). 

In 1658, Jan van Riebeeck, the first governor of the Dutch colony at the Cape of Good Hope, described the use of cannabis by yet another tribe, the Hottentots. These were a yellowish-skinned people who spoke a "click" language. They were not a "pure" native tribe, but rather the offspring of Egyptian soldiers who had deserted their posts in Ethiopia around 650 B.C. and Bushmen women. 

We always observe the Tradition. The Tradition saved Egypt from famine in those days, and made the Egyptians the wealthiest of peoples. The Tradition teaches men how to cross the desert, and how their children should marry. The Tradition says that an oasis is neutral territory, because both sides have oases, and so both are vulnerable."... 

Because spontaneous evaporation into a dry atmosphere causes cooling of the remaining water, the damp clothes on the washing line freeze in cool weather, and early peoples were afforded the equivalent of modem refrig-eration. The early Egyptians, living in the exceptionally dry desert air, were probably quite familiar with ice manufactured by this method. 

Compounds that can liberate ammonia have a fascinating history. Many centuries ago, desert nomads noticed that, when they burned dried camel dung, the ancient fuel of desert peoples, a white substance sublimed from the soot that formed. They called it sal ammoniac after Ammon, the patron god of the Egyptian city of Thebes, and it became prized as smelling salts. By the Middle Ages, people had discovered that they could isolate the stuff from any burned animal matter — dried vipers were a favorite. The unusual source of the substance undoubtedly lent it a mystical aura and credibility as a medicinal substance. 

In the biblical story of Abraham, an Egyptian slave, Hagar, bore Abraham a son. But when Sarah, his wife, had her own son, she demanded that Abraham send Hagar away. Hagar and the child wandered in the desert, but they managed to survive. According to the Islamic account, the son, Ishmael, founded a line of his own the Arabs. Out of this line, ca. 570 ce, came Mohammad ibn Abdullah Mohammad, the founder of Islam. 

Melons Cucumis melo) are relatives of cucumbers. The first melons were bitter, but they were bred to produce sweeter fruit and introduced into Europe from Africa by the Moors. They reached France in the fifteenth century and were taken to the New World by Columbus. Melons and cantaloupes contain high levels of carotenes. Watermelons Citrullus lanatus) are distant relatives of melons, widely spread throughout Africa. They were known to the Egyptians and wild watermelons grow in the Kalahari Desert. Watermelons were introduced to Europe in the fifteenth century. Watermelon can contain high levels of carotenes, particularly lycopene 23-72 mg/1 have been reported (van den Berg et al. 2000). 

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