Since prehistory and the forerunners of the pharaonic period, Egyptian civilization has extended beyond the valley of the Nile, right into the fringes of the desert. Hunters, bedouins, and farmers have inhabited these splendid virgin territories. This book carries us in their wake to the largely unknown origins of Egyptian civilization at the desert’s edge. The first part of the book takes us on a tour of the range of oases that stretches from north to south: remote and mythical Siwa; black Bahariya with its golden mummies; Farafra on the border of the ghostly White Desert;ancient Dakhla, the gateway to the desert; and finally the venerable Kharga, a place of exile and second gateway to the desert. Part two of the book allows us to penetrate into a hostile and feared universe: the desert. A mixture of sand and rocks, the Great Sea of Sand and the Gilf-Kebir massif offer stunning landscapes, rich in history and full of mystery. Thanks to the magnificent photographs of Pauline and Philippe de Flers, and the poetry of their well-researched text, we begin to feel at home in the sands of Egypt.

Pauline and Philippe de Flers, equally fascinated by historical and scientific research and by photography, are passionate travelers. Philippe has co-illustrated two books on Egypt, Le Roman du Nil by Bernard Pierre, and L’Égypte by Guy Rachet. Together they have published the book Madagascar, La Grande Ile in 1996.