North Kharga Oasis Survey. Explorations in Egypt’s Western Desert

The North Kharga Oasis Survey (NKOS) presents the results of archaeological exploration carried out over seven years in the northern part of Kharga Oasis, the largest and most southern oasis of Egypt’s Western Desert. This area had seen limited archaeological exploration until 2001, when NKOS began. NKOS has discovered and documented sites dating to all eras, ranging from the Prehistoric to the Late Antique. They include temporary camps, rock art sites, settlements, tombs, temples, industrial areas, Roman forts, fields, complex irrigation systems, and a network of routes that connect the sites together, as well as linking Kharga to the Nile Valley, Dakhla Oasis, the Sudan, and beyond. The distribution, types of sites, and water acquisition strategies illustrate the changing interactions between humans and the landscape, which has fluctuated between wet and dry over time. Illustrated with maps, plans, drawings and photographs, the archaeological heritage of North Kharga is revealed for the first time.