406 ANCIENT DESERT WELLS. 



permanent supplies of water of good quality, and of 

 these, many are probably specimens of works descending 

 from the patriarchal times, and even from that of the 

 Egyptian Empire ; others are possibly the work of the 

 Carthaginians, or of the Romans for the desert regions of 

 Northern Africa passed in succession beneath the 

 dominion of each of these powers. 



Many notable examples of these ancient wells exist 

 throughout the deserts of Syria and Egypt, and it is 

 stated " that the greater number of the oases of the 

 Libyan chain owe their existence to similar works." * 

 The French engineer Degousee, a high authority in 

 matters of this kind, mentions in his " Guide du Sondeur, " 

 that towards the middle of the present century, the 

 Pasha of Egypt undertook a series of works with a 

 view of improving and re-opening some of these ancient 

 wells, "whose original construction probably dated 

 back some four hundred years " and " on the completion 

 of the works it was found that the wells were lined 

 with brick or wood. " f 



A fine example of an ancient Roman work of this kind 

 is in existence at El Golea, an important city in an 

 oasis in the Algerian Sahara, where " a well of immense 

 size and depth, and well built from top to bottom, 

 furnishes an abundant water supply to the inhabitants. 

 The date of its construction is unknown, but there was 

 evidently a Roman station there. " A splendid example 

 of a great Roman well 400 feet deep is to be seen in 



* Treatise on Well-digging and Boring, by J. G. Swindell, Architect, 

 and Geo. R. Burnell, C.E., 1854, Ch. I. 



j- See Guide du Sondeur ou Traite Theorique et Practique de$ 

 Sondages, par Degousee. 



See Le Sahara Algerien, Etudes Geographiques et Historiques, 

 par M. le Lt.-Col. Daumas, Directeur Central des Affaires Arabes a. 

 Alger, Paris, 1845, p. 318. 



