Bahariya Oasis

Located in the western desert of Egypt, in the Giza governorate about 420 km from Cairo, in a depression surrounded by mountains and natural springs.

The oasis of Bahariya, inhabited since predynastic times , was an important agricultural center during the Pharaonic era, being famous for its wine already in the Middle Kingdom. During the 26th dynasty the oasis flourished as an important agricultural and trade center. At the end of the Greek period, perhaps as Greeks and Romans fought for control of the oases, irrigation systems were reduced, beginning economic decline. In the fourth century, in the absence of Roman troops, incursions by violent tribes in the region caused a decrease in population in several areas of the oases, which were flooded by sand.

In July 2022 , the tenth cervical vertebra of a species of dinosaur that lived in the Bahariya area 98 million years ago was discovered. According to Egyptian researchers, the animal was six meters tall, was carnivorous and had the peculiarity of having a face similar to that of a bulldog. It is believed that the abelisaurid lived in the Cretaceous period approximately between 145 and 66 million years ago.