An Archaeological Study Tour

The Oases of The Western Desert
October 5 – 22, 2007
Led by Professor Lanny Bell


We will explore the fabled oases of the Western Desert, beginning in the romantic city of Alexandria, a bustling metropolis in which the remains of the Great Lighthouse and sister Library can still be seen. We continue, tracing the epoch-making footsteps of Alexander the Great as he made his way to Siwa Oasis, the archaeological remains of which are set within a landscape of indescribable beauty. Traveling through drifting sand dunes and chalk formations, we cross Farafra Oasis, renowned for its “inselbergs,” and visit the new archaeological sites in Bahariya Oasis. Several days are spent in the oases of Kharga and Dakhla, visiting tombs dating to the Old Kingdom as well as others, vividly painted, from the Roman and Early Christian periods. We visit the temples at Deir el-Hagar, Hibis, and Doush, picturesquely erected at the end of the desert caravan route to the Sudan. This visually spectacular tour ends at Thebes, touring Malqata, the harbor and palace of Amenhotep III, and the tomb of Nefertari.

Friday, Saturday, Sunday, October 5, 6 & 7: CAIRO: Our Lufthansa flight departs New York in the evening, arriving into Cairo Saturday afternoon. Our touring on Sunday will be to the Egyptian Museum, where we will examine the objects that pertain to this special tour, particularly those in the numerous side galleries on the second floor. We will spend two nights at the Mena House Oberoi Hotel, situated near the Giza plateau.
Meals: Breakfast daily & 1 dinner

Monday, Tuesday, October 8 & 9: ALEXANDRIA: We will spend the next two days in Alexandria, the city founded by Alexander the Great in 331 BC. Touring includes Qait Bey Citadel, the site of the Great Lighthouse, lavishly painted tombs dating from about 200 BC, the Ptolemaic necropolis at Shatby, the lovely Hellenistic painted tombs at Mustapha Pasha, the catacombs of Kom el-Shuqafa, Tigranes’s Tomb, Pompey’s Pillar, the Serapeum, and Kom el-Dikka with its wonderful Roman odeon made of fine white marble and large bath complex. We will also visit the newly excavated mosaics on the site of the Great Library of Alexandria and the Graeco-Roman Museum. Renaissance Hotel.
Meals: Breakfast & lunch daily & 1 dinner

Wednesday, October 10: MERSA MATROUH: Driving through the newly reclaimed desert and along the Mediterranean coast, we stop at Abu Menas, a pilgrimage site known for its exceptional basilica, which flourished in the 5th to 7th centuries. Touring continues at Abusir (Taposiris), with its temple dedicated to Osiris and Roman lighthouse, and the war memorials at El-Alamein. San Giovanni Hotel.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch & dinner

Thursday, October 11: SIWA OASIS: This morning we will visit Cleopatra’s Bath at Mersa Matrouh and continue along the route Alexander took from Memphis to the Siwa Oasis in order to consult the oracle of Zeus-Ammon. Our journey today will be much faster! We enter a flat stony expanse of desert and finally see the reddish hills and date palm groves of Siwa Oasis and the new Siwa Safari Paradise Hotel, located on the edge of the village. During our stay we will visit many sites within the oasis. This afternoon we will begin our touring at the ancient town of Aghurmi, site of the Temple of the Oracle. Already famous in the 26th Dynasty, this temple was consulted by many great men before Alexander. Lastly, we will visit the 30th Dynasty temple at Umm Ubayda and, at the Spring of the Sun, a second Cleopatra Bath.
Meals: breakfast, lunch & dinner

Friday, October 12: SIWA OASIS: This morning we will concentrate on sites in eastern Siwa, including the painted tombs at Gebel el-Mawta. The last inhabited hatiya on the eastern side of Siwa is el-Zaytun, which was constructed around a stone temple. This land was given to the Senussis and was worked by their former slaves. The village that we will visit is now abandoned, but remains of interest for its intact houses, mosque and mill. After stopping at the lovely spring at Abu Shurouf we return to the hotel for lunch. This afternoon’s touring will be to sites west of town. In Hatiyat Khamisa, one of the most fertile parts of Siwa, we find over 100 rock-cut tombs. Many treasure hunters have ravaged the area looking for valuables that the Queen of Khamisa is said to have buried here. As this site is situated amidst small villages, our presence will provide great entertainment for the community. Our last stops of this full day will be at the Siwa House Ethnographic Museum and the medieval fortress of Shali, the deserted central village of the oasis founded in AD 1203 and built of blocks of salty lake mud.

Meals: breakfast, lunch & dinner

Saturday, October 13: BAHARIYA OASIS: This morning we re-enter the Western Desert, also known as the Libyan Desert, crossing the rough desert track to Bahariya Oasis. Although Bahariya is only 225 miles from Cairo, it has been the least touched by the modern world and survives today on its date palms and hot springs. We will overnight in el-Bawiti, the largest village in the Bahariya depression, at the new Palm Village Hotel.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch & dinner

Sunday, October 14: BAHARIYA OASIS: This exciting day will bring us to the newly opened archaeological sites in Bahariya Oasis, including the temple dedicated to Alexander the Great, the 26th Dynasty chapel of Ain el-Muftilla, the tomb of the 19th Dynasty Governor Amenhotep, and the 26th Dynasty tombs of the merchants Bannentiu and his father Djed-Amun-Iufankh. We will visit the Golden Mummy Museum, where the mummies from the recently discovered “Valley of the Golden Mummies” are displayed. This valley contains several thousand tombs with remarkably well-preserved mummies dated to the Graeco-Roman period. Excavations have revealed many mummies that are partially covered in lavishly guilded cartonnage.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch & dinner

Monday, Tuesday, October 15 & 16: DAKHLA OASIS: From Bahariya we traverse a rugged landscape until, finally, the famous white chalk “inselbergs” of the Farafra Depression come into view. The inselbergs rise majestically to a considerable height and, together with the eerie chalk formations of the White Desert to the south, comprise one of the natural wonders of Egypt. We continue on to Dakhla Oasis, known for its fruit orchards, pink cliffs, and traditional village architecture. We skirt vast stretches of drifting dunes that often overrun the road, evoking images of the camel caravans and the charging armies of romantic old films. En route we will visit a Roman temple dedicated to the Theban Triad at Deir el-Hagar.Our touring Tuesday includes the Old Kingdom necropolis of Qila el-Dabba at Balat, the relief-decorated Roman tomb of Kitnes at Bishendi and a visit to the abandoned medieval town of Qasr. Desert Lodge Hotel.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch & dinner daily

Wednesday, Thursday, October 17& 18: KHARGA OASIS: We continue to the most populated and developed of the oases, Kharga, and the Pioneers Kharga Hotel, set in a lovely garden. Touring here will include the fascinating Bagawat Christian Cemetery, where mud-brick tombs are painted with biblical scenes, the new Museum of the Oases, as well as the Roman temple of Nadura. In the 1920s, it took a day and a half to reach Doush (ancient Kysis). Our trip will be a bit shorter! Here we will visit a large Roman fortress and the stone temple built during the reigns of Domitian and Trajan and decorated during the reign of Hadrian. We will stop at two Ptolemaic and Roman temples: the fortress-like Qasr el-Ghueita, built of red sandstone, and Qasr el-Zaiyan, a small Roman temple with splendid pylons bearing a Greek inscription commemorating its restoration during the reign of Antoninus. We will also have time to explore the oases on our own.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch & dinner daily

Friday, October 19: LUXOR: Leaving our wonderful oases behind, we travel through the Western Desert for the last time and re-enter the Nile Valley just south of Luxor. After lunch at our hotel, we will spend a full afternoon visiting Karnak Temple. This will be a second-timers visit and will include the late structures not visited on our other Egypt tours. One can never have too much time to contemplate the wonderful reliefs and monumental architecture of this magnificent temple. Meridien Hotel.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch & dinner

Saturday, October 20: LUXOR: This morning we will ferry to the West Bank of the Nile in order to visit a few of the many sites not usually seen, including Malqata, the royal residence of Amenhotep III, the newly restored temples of Seti I (Old Qurna) and Merenptah. We will visit Medinet Habu, Deir el-Medina and one of the worker’s tombs. Although most of us will have visited these sites, today’s touring will be to structures related to these temples. There will be time for independent visits to the Luxor Museum and to explore the local suq for last-minute shopping.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch & dinner

Sunday, Monday, October 21 & 22: CAIRO: After a morning at leisure we fly to Cairo and transfer to the Meridien Heliopolis Hotel, where we will have our farewell dinner. Monday we depart early on Lufthansa connecting in Frankfurt to our flight to New York.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch & dinner