11-02-2009

Wadi Gongoi is a very special place in the Gilf Kebir. To put it plainly it is special because it simply does not exist. Therefore we can safely claim we were the first explorers to enter this non-existent wadi.

We looked for new rock art sites but our rock art hunting ended without results and without recriminations. Our "Wadi Gongoi" is located to the extreme north of the Gilf Kebir, far beyond the last rock art site know. Before visiting Wadi Gongoi we asked ourselves why the northernmost fringes of the Gilf Kebir are not decorated by the same kind of engravings found in Wadi Hamra. The answer to this question is complex. It is related to the geology and environment. Wadi Gongoi could have been the blessed place in and otherwise not favourable environment. Unfortunately it was not.

Eventually we reached our "Wadi Gongoi"

In Wadi Gongoi there were some shelters, many prehistoric stone structures, some (few) stone implements here and there but not engravings. We did not expected paintings. However it is also one of the last place to the north where living acacias are present along with vegetation and Barbary sheep bones. We found also old gueltas and spectacular paths that, being sided by prehistoric stone structures, do not look like animal tracks.

Old dead Acacia in Wadi Gongoi

We spent two full days in Wadi Gongoi. The place was certainly frequented and exploited in the prehistoric past. It could be a nice place to dig for the professional archaeologists.

A stone circle on the plateau, near the Wadi Gongoi slopes

The nature was "almost" pristine... In fact, Wadi Gongoi is obviously known to the Libyan poachers frequenting the Gilf Kebir. This wadi is many days away from Cairo but just a couple of hours from Cufra. Few tens of kilometres to the north of Wadi Gongoi we met in Egyptian territory a Libyan car with some hunters training their falcons.

Wadi Gongoi as viewed from a minor tributary

On the top of a very conspicuous hill shaped as a trunk of cone we documented a stone circles settlement. This settlement is served by a very well defined path. There are no doubt that some path visible on high resolution satellite images really date back to the Neolithic.

Stone Circle Settlement

Very likely we were the first human beings to visit this village after 6000 or 8000 years.

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Gongoi Expedition. October-November 2009