The Eastern Desert
Also known as the Arabian Desert, the Eastern Desert is
bounded by the Nile Valley to the west, the Nile Delta and Suez
Isthmus to the north, the Gulf of Suez and Red Sea to the east,
and the Sudan border to the south. With a total area of 82,900
square miles (214,710 square kilometers), the Eastern Desert
occupies about 21 percent of Egypt’s total area, but an area only
about one-third that of the vast Western Desert. The region is
made up of the Red Sea coastal plain, several limestone and
sandstone plateaus, and a north-south range of mountains.
Egypt’s highest peak (outside the Sinai region), 7,217-foot
(2,200-meter) Jebel Shayib al-Banat, crowns the rugged moun-
tain range. In general, the Eastern Desert is very dry, with
vegetation cover composed of desert grasses, woody trees, and
scrub being limited to the valley floors. But the high mountains
intercept moisture, producing a more productive set of plant
communities in the high elevations and in the larger drainages
separating the mountain ranges. Mammals of these mountains
and the plateaus to the west include the sand fox, hyena, sand
cat, hyrax (which looks like a large rodent, but is related to
the elephant), ibex (shrew), Barbary sheep, and dorcas gazelle.
Jebel Elba, a mountain in the extreme south near the Sudanese
border, gets more rain than anywhere else in the Eastern Desert
and has abundant plant and animal life, including ostrich and
leopards that sometimes follow rains across the border from
the Sudan. Overall, then, while it is a desert wilderness, the
Eastern Desert has more water and wildlife resources than the
Western Desert (except for the oases). In fact, pastoral nomads
(see Chapter 4) are able to make a living here.
Also known as the Arabian Desert, the Eastern Desert is
bounded by the Nile Valley to the west, the Nile Delta and Suez
Isthmus to the north, the Gulf of Suez and Red Sea to the east,
and the Sudan border to the south. With a total area of 82,900
square miles (214,710 square kilometers), the Eastern Desert
occupies about 21 percent of Egypt’s total area, but an area only
about one-third that of the vast Western Desert. The region is
made up of the Red Sea coastal plain, several limestone and
sandstone plateaus, and a north-south range of mountains.
Egypt’s highest peak (outside the Sinai region), 7,217-foot
(2,200-meter) Jebel Shayib al-Banat, crowns the rugged moun-
tain range. In general, the Eastern Desert is very dry, with
vegetation cover composed of desert grasses, woody trees, and
scrub being limited to the valley floors. But the high mountains
intercept moisture, producing a more productive set of plant
communities in the high elevations and in the larger drainages
separating the mountain ranges. Mammals of these mountains
and the plateaus to the west include the sand fox, hyena, sand
cat, hyrax (which looks like a large rodent, but is related to
the elephant), ibex (shrew), Barbary sheep, and dorcas gazelle.
Jebel Elba, a mountain in the extreme south near the Sudanese
border, gets more rain than anywhere else in the Eastern Desert
and has abundant plant and animal life, including ostrich and
leopards that sometimes follow rains across the border from
the Sudan. Overall, then, while it is a desert wilderness, the
Eastern Desert has more water and wildlife resources than the
Western Desert (except for the oases). In fact, pastoral nomads
(see Chapter 4) are able to make a living here.
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