The geography and geology of south-eastern EgyptBall, John
Science
The geography and geology of south-eastern Egypt
Ball, John
Geology -- Egypt; Physical geography -- Egypt
Some five kilometres further down, =Wadi Um Akra=, draining the
mountains of the same name, enters Khoda from the south, while another
two kilometres brings us to the place of influx of =Wadi Shut=, an
important feeder from the north. The head of Wadi Shut is on the west
side of Gebel Kalalat, whence its course is westward for about ten
kilometres; it is then joined by the =Wadi Abu Hugban=, coming from
the south-west, and from this point it runs south-south-east for some
twenty-three kilometres to its junction with Wadi Khoda. Wadi Shut is
a rather wide wadi with a sandy floor, fed by many tributaries from
the mountains of Dahanib, Um Hegilig, Reyan, and Shut. Its principal
feeder in the lower part of its course is =Wadi Um Tawil lil Shut=,
which drains the south part of Gebel Dahanib and enters Shut from
the west about five kilometres above its junction with Khoda. The
Wadi Shut has a fair growth of trees, and is said to possess also
a large water source, the exact locality of which has not, however,
been ascertained.[94]
Just below the place where Wadi Shut joins it, Wadi Khoda receives
a small feeder called =Wadi Um Gubur=, entering from the north
and marked by several graves near its mouth. On the other side,
two kilometres further on, =Wadi Shib= enters from the south, and
five kilometres further the =Wadi Um Seyal lil Khoda= enters Khoda
from the north.
The =Wadi Gumudlum=, the next great feeder of Khoda, enters from the
north four kilometres below Wadi Um Seyal. It is a wadi some eighteen
kilometres in length, coursing south-south-east, and having its head
on the west side of Gebel Kalalat. A little below wadi Gumudlum,
near a boss of white quartz, several small feeders, of which the two
principal are called =Wadi Buluk= and =Wadi Um Lassaf=, enter Wadi
Khoda from the south; these drain the north side of the high hills
called Gebel Um Etli.
The last feeder of Wadi Khoda, the =Wadi Shenshef=, enters the main
wadi some three kilometres above the place where it debouches on
to the coast-plain, or eight kilometres from the coast. It is a
narrow and very tortuous gorge winding among high hills. If it be
followed up for about ten kilometres, one comes to several small
wells called =Bir Shenshef=, which contained water in 1907, and a
little above the wells, where the wadi becomes more open, there are
ruins, called =Hitan Shenshef=, which attest the former existence
of a town or large village. The ruins are on both sides of the wadi,
and many of them are extremely well built of slabs of quartz schist;
besides the houses in the wadi itself, there are small towers on
the hills. As there are apparently no mines in the hills here, the
origin of the ruins is not clear; from the strong situation and the
watch towers, and its proximity to fresh water and the sea, it may
possibly represent an old slave dealer’s stronghold.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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