The English Mountain’s 100-year-old memories carved on rocks

CAIRO- 15 May 2017: The English Mountain, this forgotten tourist attraction at Kharga Oasis in the Western Desert of Egypt, about 200 km to the west of the Nile valley, where English occupiers once made their camp.



The site still has remains of English troops who once carved memories into these rocks, dating back to 1916.The carvings document their arrival, their departure and the number of their battalion.



Despite most of Egyptians never having heard about the English Mountain of el-Kharga, English tourists usually come to the area to take pictures with the messages of their ancestors carved in the rocks.



“Despite the fact that the site documents an important period in Egypt’s history, embraces lots of memories of English soldiers and contain their residues of fuel plates and tools, the Egyptian government and antiquities authority neglect the area,” general manager of the Egyptian Authority to Promote Tourism in al-Wadi al-Gedid, Mohsen Abdel Moneim told Egypt Today, adding that the Antiquities Ministry never maintain the area or recognize it as a natural reserve.

“Most tourists feel really sad when they visit the English Mountain, due to its deteriorating state,” Abdel Moneim added.

Additional reporting: Maher Abul Nour