Control of the water resources and management of the Routes in the Eastern Desert of Egypt. Contribution of the accounts of modern travelers (1769-1920), archaeological data and ancient textual sources (Old Kingdom – Roman Times)

Maël Crépy (1, 2) , Alexandre Rabot (2) , Isabelle Goncalves (2) , Bérangère Redon (2)

1 Archéorient - ARCHEORIENT - Environnements et sociétés de l'Orient ancien
2 HiSoMA - Histoire et Sources des Mondes antiques

Since the last great period of aridification of the Sahara about 5,000 years ago, crossing or inhabiting the North African desert regions has meant being able to locate, maintain and protect water points that are essential nodes in the exchange networks. These challenges are particularly important in the Eastern Desert of Egypt, which separates the Nile Valley from the Red Sea, because there are no perennial oases, nomadic populations have long escaped the control of successive states, and routes are constrained by topography, especially in the mountainous eastern area. The region has nevertheless retained a strategic character, at least since the Old Kingdom and up to the present day, for its natural resources (particularly mineral and mining resources and, to a lesser extent, vegetal resources) and for its essential place in the networks of movement and trade (Red Sea ports and access to the Indian Ocean, pilgrimages to Mecca). Since the voyage of James Bruce in 1769, many European and North American travellers and explorers have travelled through the Eastern Desert of Egypt and produced accounts and maps whose critical analysis and cross-checking make it possible to assess the methods of water management and route control in the 18th and 19th centuries. They thus make it possible to document very precisely this period preceding the introduction of motorised vehicles and water pumping and to provide points of comparison with earlier periods and with current networks. These elements, combined with ancient archaeological and textual data in a regressive approach, open up new perspectives for the diachronic study of the Eastern desert, which are articulated around three main axes: knowledge and control of the water points, orientation along the itineraries and interactions with the nomadic populations.

Domaines: Géographie; Etudes de l'environnement; Archéologie et Préhistoire; Environnement et Société; Histoire

Maël Crépy, Alexandre Rabot, Isabelle Goncalves, Bérangère Redon. Control of the water resources and management of the Routes in the Eastern Desert of Egypt. Contribution of the accounts of modern travelers (1769-1920), archaeological data and ancient textual sources (Old Kingdom – Roman Times): Contribution of the accounts of modern travelers (1769-1920), archaeological data and ancient textual sources (Old Kingdom – Roman Times). Red Sea Conference IX - Networked Spaces, 2019, Lyon, France. ⟨hal-02984173⟩