OASES, certain Cultivated. spots in the Libtan i.leSert (called also Auas2s, Ouasis, or "(oasis) which produce vegetation, owing to the presence of springs issuing from the ground. The principal oases are those lying to the w. of Egypt, a few days' journey from the Nile, and known to the ancients lying the name of the greater and lesser oases, and that of Amnion. It is supposed that they were known to the Egyptians during the 12th dynasty under the name of but no evidence of their occupation by the Egyptians earlier than Darius has been found in situ. By some of the ancients they were culled the islands of the blessed, or compared to the spots on a panther's skin. Their name is supposed to be the Coptic Ouah4 (inhabited place). They are first mentioned by Herodotus in his account of the destruction of the army of Cam byses by the storm of sand, or simoom. Equally celebrated is the visit of Alexander the great to the oasis, which he successfully accomplished after the conquest of Egypt, and passed through the desert a nine days' journey before he reached the temple of Ammon, the priests of. which declared him the son of that god, and the future con queror of the entire world. Herodotus describes that of El VA, or the oasis Magna of the Romans, which contained the oracle of Ammon, and which lies seven days' journey w. of Thebes. It appears to have beep anciently frequented by caravans going to the pillars of Hercules. Strabo mentions three oases: the first seven days' journey w.'of Abydos; the second, w of the lake Morris; We third, near the oracle of Ammon. Pliny mentions two oases; so does Ptolemy, who calls them the lesser and greater. Under the Homan empire, they were u3ed for temporary banishment of criminals of state, and the poet Juvenal was sent there. Olympiodorus, a native of the Thebiad, gives a glowing description of them in the days of Theodosius the younger. Under the Byzantine emperors, the emperors banished there the heads of the Catholic party, at the instigation of the Arians, in the 4th c., and Athanasius himself is supposed to have taken refuge in them. In the 5th c., Nestorius the bishop of Constantinople, was banished there. He was rescued by an excursion of the Blemyes, but expired soon after his arrival at the Nile. The oases were then a place of desolation and horror, occasionally plundered by Bedouins. They fell, 943 A.D., into the power of the Arabs, after having been held by the Egyptian monarchs and their successors till that period; and they are described by Edrisi (1150 A.D.) as uninhabited; by Abulfeda (1240 A.D.) and by Leo Africanus (1513 A.D.), as inhabited and cultivated, and quite independent, having three fortresses. The first modern travtler who visited them is supposed to have been Poncet (1698 A.D.). Sub sequently, in 1792, Browne discovered the oasis of Ammon at El Siwah; and it was visited in 1798 by Hornemann, and in 1819 by Cailliaud. It lies in 29° 12' 20" n. lat., and 26° 6' 9" e. long. Drovetti and Minutoli also visited the same spot.
These oases are now held by Muggrebi Arabs, a powerful race in the desert, capable of raising. 30,000 men, Ivho supply camels and guides to travelers. The principal oases are: 1. El Rhargeh, or the Oasis Magna, the Greater Oasis of Ptolemy; 2. El Kasr, or Oasis Perm the Lesser Oasis; 3. Siwah, or the Oasis of Amnion, the most northerly; 4. The Western Oasis. or Dakkel. mentioned by Olympiodorus, and visited by sir Archi bald Edinonstone in 1819. and Hohlfs in 1874. Of El Khargeh full particulars have been given by M. Hoskins, who discovered it lying about 125 m. w. of the Nile,
having a stream of water rising near the village of Genah, on the north-west of the oasis, and lost in the sand. It is rising on the e. by Hagel-bel-Badah. North of El Gem lies the metropolis, El Khargeh, which consists of a series of covered streets and open bazaars. 'Nit temple lies two hours' journey from it, in a fine situation; the sekos has it vestibule of 500 f., with pylons, or gateways, the first of which has a decree in Greek, dated in the reign of Galba (68 A.D.), against forcing persons to farm the revenue, pre venting imprisonment for debt, preserving the dowries of women, and limiting the office of strategos for three years. The temple,has other decrees preventing the officers of government from smuggling. It has an avenue of sphinxes and three pylons; on the third, Darius is represented offering to Amen Ha, Osiris, and Isis; while Nekht-her-hcbi (Nectabes) continued the ornaments of the temple about 414-340 13.c. The sek, s is 140 ft. long, and represents Darius offering to Amen Ha, or Khnumis, the ram-head god, and Osiris: while in the accompanying scenes are seen Anta, or Anaitis, Haspu, or Heseph. In the vicinity is a magnificent necropolis of 150 sepulchers, of a late period, with Doric and Corinthian capitals. There are several temples at other spots of t•e oases. 2. El Kasr, the Oasis Parva, lies four or five days' journey s.e. of Siwah, called the Wah-el-Balmasa, or Wah-el-Menesheh, contains no monuments older than the Homan, consisting of a triumphal arch, suliterraneous and other aqueducts. several hot springs, a necropolis. and Christian church. This oasis was first conquered by the Arabs; and in its vicinity is another oasis called Wady Zerzoora, with others adjoining, of inferior interest. 3. Siwah, or the Oasis of Ammon—one of the first discovered, and repeatedly visited, has, unfortunately, not been seen by any one acquainted with hiero glyphics—lies w. of the Natron lakes. It would appear from Minutoli that the temple was built by Neklit-her-hebi, or Nectabes I., in honor of the god Khnum, Ammon Khnumis or Glinehis, who as the deity of water, presided over the water from which the oasis originated. The oasis is 9 m. long and 2 broad, contains El Garah Gharmy, and Menehyeh, has a population of about 8,000 inhabitants, possesses date and other trees, grows cereals, and has sulphurous springs, a salt lake at Arachieb, and many ruined temples, a necropolis, and other remains. The oracle of Ammon is supposed to have been at a place called OmsBeydith, or the temple of Neklit-lier,heN. .Prom this, it would seem that ilia oasis did 'nOt 4a11 into the rower of Egypt DU about the1.5th c. n. c. The /celebrated Fountain of the Sun is at Siwah Shargieh. It is 30 paces long, 20 broad, six fathoms deep, with bubbles constantly rising to the surface, steaming in the morning, and warmer at night. Close to it are the remains of the sanctuary of Ammon. 4. El Oakkel, or the Western Oasis, lies about 78 nt. s.w. of Shout. The principal ruin at Dar-el-Hadjar consists of a small temple, dedicated to Khnumis by the Rmuan emperora Nero and Titus. At MD Amoor, between this oasis and the Oasis Magna, is a temple built under the Roman empire.—Herodotus, iii, 26; Strait°, ii. p. 130, xvii. pp. 790, 791, 813, Ptolemy, iv. 5, 37; Minutoli, Reise zum Tempel des Jupiter Ammon (Berlin, 1824); Hoskins, Visit to the Great Oasis (8vo. Loud. 1837); Champollion, L'Eyypte, p. 282.