Ain Amur
Vivian, Cassandra (2000) The Western Desert of Egypt, pp. 104-5:
"Ain Amur, Spring of the Lovely One, is not within any oasis. Kharga lies to the east and Dakhla lies to the west. Its significance is that it was the only water source on the Darb Ain Amur, one of two desert tracks connecting Kharga to Dakhla. Because of its strategic importance, a stronghold was established at Ain Amur.
Ain Amur is totally isolated. It is not a place that one stumbles across, and how it was ever found in the first place is baffling. It is dominated by the elements. When the wind blows there is a howling which seems to penetrate the very soul and when it dies the silence is unbearable. In the stillness, if one places pencil to paper the graphite sounds like running a fingernail down a chalkboard. Ain Arnur is awesome.
The spring, called Muallekeh, 'the hanging,' by Cailliaud, is found in a slight depression two thirds of the way up the side of the 371 meter (1,187 foot) northwestern cliffs of the Abu Tartur Plateau. It is 525 meters (1,680 feet) above sea level, an unusually high elevation for any spring. There are two springs in the Western Desert that do not lie on the depression floor, close to underground water sources - this one and Ain Tafnis, also in Kharga. Neither is fed by underground water, but by surface water trapped in the limestone scarp.
The area surrounding the spring is unexpectedly flat with several palm trees and ancient ruins. The most impressive are the ruins of a Roman temple/fortress which is only decorated on the back wall. There is graffiti on the jambs of the main gateway. In fact there is plenty of graffiti to be found at Ain Amur, some dating as far back as Paleolithic times. The Coptic graffiti found on the jambs of the temple was left there by hermits living in the caves around Ain Amur during the Christian era. Part of this graffiti tells of an Arab traveler in early Christian times who took on the Darb Ain Amur by himself and on foot. He was "faint from thirst" and "came to [Ain Amur) in the latter part of the night ... and it saved him."
Winlock found the entrance and back chambers well preserved in I908. They are made of sandstone blocks excavated from the escarpment. The roof and lintels were of larger limestone blocks.
Explorers of the nineteenth century also left their mark. Among the most noteworthy are A. Edmondstone in February 1819 and I. Hyde, 17 December 1819, Droveni - Rosingana, one above the other with only the year. There is one other name here at Ain Amur worth talking about, that of Ismail Abu Shanab. He traveled with Frederic Cailliaud, was French by birth, but became a soldier for the Pasha. These men were called French Mamluks. He chose the name Ismail Abu Shanab as his Islamic name. It means, Ismail, Father of a Moustache (that is, he had a moustache). Here he signed his name Le Torzec, Ismael Bouchenape, 1820, a bastardized French version of the Arabic.
Ain Amur has yet to be adequately excavated and a plethora of artifacts await the archaeologist, including tombs with mummies, and a great quantity of shards. There is a temple that once measured 53 feet 10 inches by 25 feet (English team) or 70 feet long (French team). Sculptures covered the back of the building. There were a few houses, too."
"Ain Amur, Spring of the Lovely One, is not within any oasis. Kharga lies to the east and Dakhla lies to the west. Its significance is that it was the only water source on the Darb Ain Amur, one of two desert tracks connecting Kharga to Dakhla. Because of its strategic importance, a stronghold was established at Ain Amur.
Ain Amur is totally isolated. It is not a place that one stumbles across, and how it was ever found in the first place is baffling. It is dominated by the elements. When the wind blows there is a howling which seems to penetrate the very soul and when it dies the silence is unbearable. In the stillness, if one places pencil to paper the graphite sounds like running a fingernail down a chalkboard. Ain Arnur is awesome.
The spring, called Muallekeh, 'the hanging,' by Cailliaud, is found in a slight depression two thirds of the way up the side of the 371 meter (1,187 foot) northwestern cliffs of the Abu Tartur Plateau. It is 525 meters (1,680 feet) above sea level, an unusually high elevation for any spring. There are two springs in the Western Desert that do not lie on the depression floor, close to underground water sources - this one and Ain Tafnis, also in Kharga. Neither is fed by underground water, but by surface water trapped in the limestone scarp.
The area surrounding the spring is unexpectedly flat with several palm trees and ancient ruins. The most impressive are the ruins of a Roman temple/fortress which is only decorated on the back wall. There is graffiti on the jambs of the main gateway. In fact there is plenty of graffiti to be found at Ain Amur, some dating as far back as Paleolithic times. The Coptic graffiti found on the jambs of the temple was left there by hermits living in the caves around Ain Amur during the Christian era. Part of this graffiti tells of an Arab traveler in early Christian times who took on the Darb Ain Amur by himself and on foot. He was "faint from thirst" and "came to [Ain Amur) in the latter part of the night ... and it saved him."
Winlock found the entrance and back chambers well preserved in I908. They are made of sandstone blocks excavated from the escarpment. The roof and lintels were of larger limestone blocks.
Explorers of the nineteenth century also left their mark. Among the most noteworthy are A. Edmondstone in February 1819 and I. Hyde, 17 December 1819, Droveni - Rosingana, one above the other with only the year. There is one other name here at Ain Amur worth talking about, that of Ismail Abu Shanab. He traveled with Frederic Cailliaud, was French by birth, but became a soldier for the Pasha. These men were called French Mamluks. He chose the name Ismail Abu Shanab as his Islamic name. It means, Ismail, Father of a Moustache (that is, he had a moustache). Here he signed his name Le Torzec, Ismael Bouchenape, 1820, a bastardized French version of the Arabic.
Ain Amur has yet to be adequately excavated and a plethora of artifacts await the archaeologist, including tombs with mummies, and a great quantity of shards. There is a temple that once measured 53 feet 10 inches by 25 feet (English team) or 70 feet long (French team). Sculptures covered the back of the building. There were a few houses, too."
Bibliography
Winlock, H. E. (1936) Ed Dhakleh Oasis. Journal of a Camel Trip Made in 1908. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Winlock, H. E. (1936) Ed Dhakleh Oasis. Journal of a Camel Trip Made in 1908. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Page last updated, 3rd June, 2011