Desert Fossils

For the unprepared traveller, the Egyptian Desert (like any desert) can be merciless, and even deadly. However, for the prepared explorer, it has a vast store of treasures waiting to be discovered. In this page, we focus on fossils.

Below are some pictures

Pictures

The following pictures gives you an idea of what you can see in the desert in Egypt. They were taken by Minolta Dimage Digital camera. The scaled ruler in the photos shows both inches and centimeters. Click on any picture to see a larger image.

Prehistoric Flint Arrowhead. Found South-West of Alexandria. This confirms that a few millenia ago, the Egyptian Desert has seen more fertile times with animals and human settlements.

Portion of Petrified tree. There is a petrified forest South-West of Alexandria, Egypt.

Here is a larger piece of petrified wood.

This rock is from the Sinai peninsula, showing filigree like structure. Some think these are ancient plant fossils (ferns), but it seems these are structures within the rocks that at a later stage had some other impregnated liquids to fill the minute channel-like structures within the rocks.

Another piece of rock from the Sinai peninsula, similar to the above.

Another type of rock from the Western desert (South-West of Alexandria, Egypt). It is a translucent type of crystalline rocks, similar to quartz, but not as pure. This is not technically a fossil, but it is beautiful.

Other Items in the Egyptian Desert You can find other kinds of fossils in various parts of the Egyptian desert. These include:

• Fossilized shark teeth (not very large 1.5 to 2 cm long)
• Fossilized whales (I am not sure if they are mammalian whales or just sea dinosaurs)
• Underground caves with stalacites.

Various oasis areas provide fascinating scenery and some archeological sites (Siwa, El Wahat, ...etc.)