The largest of the oases ” Kharga Oasis “
Kharga, the largest of the oases, rose to prominence as the penultimate stop on “The Forty Days Road”, the infamous slave-trade route between Sudan and Egypt.
Today the modern, sprawling city of El-Kharga is capital of the New Valley governorate, which covers Kharga, Dakhla and Farafra oases. The city lacks charm, but its Antiquities Museum displays impressive archaeological finds from Kharga and Dakhla.
Standing in palm groves just north of the city, the Temple of Hibis, built by Persian emperor Darius I in the 6th century BC, is the only sizeable Persian temple left in Egypt. Also north of the city is the Necropolis of al-Bagawat.
This Christian cemetery contains hundreds of domed, mudbrick tombs decorated with Coptic murals, dating from around the 4th to 6th centuries AD. The best-preserved paintings are in the Chapel of the Exodus and portray Moses leading the Jews out of Egypt, away from Pharaoh’s pursuing troops.
Perched on a hill on the road south to Baris are the ruins of the 25th-Dynasty Temple of al-Ghueita. Further south, the villages of Nasser and Bulaq are known for their thermal springs, reputed to treat rheumatism.
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