TOURISTS are destroying prehistoric sites in Egypt鈥檚 Western Desert, the
Eighth International Congress of Egyptologists heard last week in Cairo. 鈥淯nless
urgent measures are taken, Egypt will be left with not one prehistoric site
intact,鈥� Rudolph Kuper of the University of Cologne warned delegates in
Cairo.
Almost all the known prehistoric sites along the Nile valley have been lost
to land reclamation and building projects. Now, Kuper says, tourists in the
Western Desert are destroying the country鈥檚 remaining prehistoric sites 鈥渨ith an
intensity never seen before鈥�.
Between 10 000 and 5000 BC, the vast Western Desert was a patchy savannah
scattered with settlements. All 10 of the major prehistoric sites excavated by
Kuper鈥檚 team have been damaged by tourism.
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In the far south-west of the desert is Wadi Sura or the 鈥淰alley of Pictures鈥�.
Two main caves in the side of the valley, which featured in the film The
English Patient, contain hundreds of paintings that date from between 7000
and 5000 BC. Kuper says tourists are pouring water over the figures to make them
more easily visible. This draws salts to the surface and accelerates the flaking
off of the rock surface. 鈥淭he paintings are being destroyed,鈥� says Kuper. 鈥淚 saw
pieces of the paintings two or three centimetres across that have fallen.鈥�
Remains of a large prehistoric settlement, with many stone artefacts, lie
around the Cave of Djara, 150 kilometres west of the Nile valley. 鈥淚nside the
cave, tourists are breaking the stalactites. Outside, they are collecting the
artefacts,鈥� says Kuper, adding that elsewhere in the desert, tour operators鈥�
off-road vehicles are scattering the artefacts at thousands of unexcavated
sites.
Kuper is calling for funds from UNESCO and the European Commission to save
Egypt鈥檚 prehistoric sites. Zahi Hawass, Egyptian undersecretary of state for the
Giza monuments, says: 鈥淭here is a very big threat to the desert and this area
has to be conserved.鈥�