Wadi Sura North Gallery (Gilf Kebir North)
Wadi Sura North · Wadi Sura II North · North Gallery Gilf Kebir
Neolithic rock art (6500–3200 BCE)·Gilf Kebir pastoral (Saharan Neolithic)·🇪🇬 New Valley Governorate, Gilf Kebir plateau, Wadi Sura north wall 80 m north of Cave of Swimmers, Egypt
About
About Wadi Sura North Gallery (Gilf Kebir North)
North rock-art gallery of Wadi Sura inlet, this 20 m wall shows Cave of Archers panel 80 m north of Swimmers: archers with recurved bows vs. herd of long-horn cattle, hand stencils (40), fezzes headgear figures, and pre-pastoral engraved giraffes beneath painting. UWE 3200–6500 BCE sequence. Shelter 10×5×3 m deep. Almásy 1933. Foogini survey NIF.
Why it mattersArcher-vs-herder violence scene plus hand stencils for Gilf Kebir chronology.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Painting vs engraving direct dating
- 02Stencils seasonality
Theories
- 01Le Quellec Gilf style
- 02Foggini Wadi Sura II
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- Engraved phase 6500 BCE; painted archers 3200–4000 BCE
- Period
- Neolithic rock art (6500–3200 BCE)
- Culture
- Gilf Kebir pastoral (Saharan Neolithic)
- Builders
- Saharan pastoralists
- Purpose
- Rock-art gallery illustrating archers–pastoral conflict and hand stencils
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
6500 BCE
Engraved giraffes and boats
4000–3200 BCE
Painted archers, cattle, hand stencils
1933 CE
Almásy discovery on Frobenius expedition
On the ground
Structures & features
23.5950° N · 25.2320° E · 680 m · 2 mapped features
Archers and Cattle Panel
rock artArcher frieze with recurve bows confronting long-horn cattle herd 6×2 m
23.5955° N · 25.2325° EHand Stencil Gallery
stencil40 hand stencils and fezzes figures on ceiling slab
23.5945° N · 25.2315° E