Der Abu Ballas-Weg. Eine pharaonische Karawanenroute durch die Libysche Wüste

• Applicant: Dr. Frank Carsten Förster
• Subject Area: Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies
• Term: from 2013 to 2016
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 248331518

The thesis presents the finds and features of a Pharaonic caravan route, only discovered in 1999, which leads from the Dakhla Oasis in Egypt deep into the Libyan Desert, and therefore brings this area into the focus of Egyptological research for the first time. The route, well-signposted by stone markers and partially well-preserved donkey tracks, is mainly characterised by several supply stations consisting of large deposits of storage jars, most of which contained water. Without the logistically most demanding creation of such chains of artificial "filling stations" it would have been impossible to conduct large-scale caravan traffic across hundreds of kilometres through barren desert regions in a time when no camels, but only donkeys were available. Based on archaeological investigations carried out within the scope of the Collaborative Research Centre 389 ACACIA at Cologne, the finds and features are thoroughly analyzed (part I of the thesis), followed by studies on the practical use of the trail (part II), and on the possible purpose and historical significance of the caravan route (part III). As the main result it turned out that the so-called Abu Ballas Trail was an extremely difficult Pharaonic caravan route through the Libyan Desert that was used over many centuries, and repeatedly took a greater significance under very specific geopolitical circumstances. It appears to have served, at least temporarily from the late third millennium BC onwards, as a trade route in order to import luxury items – such as incense, ivory, skins of exotic animals, valuable oils, and others – from sub-Saharan regions first to Dakhla and then further on to the Egyptian Nile Valley, probably in cooperation with 'Libyan' nomadic groups. The route therefore represents the earliest evidence of trans-Saharan trade currently known. Its existence proves that the known world of the ancient Egyptians did not end beyond the oases of the Western Desert. This fact therefore demands a broadening of the Egyptological scope of view at least up to the point where the modern borders of Libya, Egypt, and Sudan converge. Pharaonic contacts to inner Africa, both cultural and commercial, and their impact and significance to both sides will have to be reevaluated. The same holds true for the extent of the ancient Egyptians' capabilities, both in terms of organization and logistics, to render such contact possible, without camels, across vast arid wastes.

• DFG Programme: Publication Grants