2023-10-11 08:00:34
Rock painting in the Swimmers Cave. Roland Unger / Wikimedia Commons
Egypt is famous for its pyramids, hieroglyphs, and rich history under the reign of the pharaohs. However, there are archaeological treasures prior to this era that few know about: prehistoric cave paintings. These artistic representations, reminiscent of European cave art, offer a unique and surprising vision of an Egypt very different from the one we usually imagine. Between giraffes, antelopes, lions, boats and people swimming, Egyptian cave paintings connect the Paleolithic and Neolithic with the era of the pharaohs.
A discovery that defied time
In 1933, Hungarian explorer Lázló Almásy made a discovery on the Gilf Kebir plateau in southwestern Egypt that baffled the world. In a cave in the middle of the Sahara desert, Almásy found cave paintings depicting human figures swimming, an enigma in such an arid place. However, these paintings went unnoticed until the film “The English Patient” popularized them in 1996.
Egyptian prehistoric engraving with people dragging a boat. By Mohamed Abdel Hay Abu Baker / uni-bonn.de
The cave paintings, dating back more than 10,000 years, shed light on a past in which the Sahara was a different environment than today, with lakes and vegetation. These narrative paintings are believed to represent scenes of daily life of the time.
Rock art in northeast Africa
Egyptian rock art is not limited to a single site. Near the Cave of the Swimmers, the Cave of the Beasts was discovered in 2002, with paintings from about 7,000 years ago, when the region still harbored life. Antelopes, ostriches and giraffes appear in these works.
In 2011, petroglyphs at Qurta in the Nile Valley were dated to be at least 15,000 years old, challenging doubts about the existence of Paleolithic art in North Africa. Furthermore, in 2015, hunting scenes were discovered in Qubbet el-Hawa, near Aswan, dating back to the 4th millennium BC. These representations include a boat dragged by 25 men, possibly related to ancient Egyptian rituals and beliefs.
Egypt’s rock art is a hidden gallery that offers a unique insight into the region’s history, long before the era of the pharaohs. We hope that more films and archaeological projects continue to reveal these fascinating specimens of ancient human creativity.
#Cave #Paintings #Egypt #Journey #Millennia #Land #Pharaohs