 Monument to Prince Kamal ed-Din | ||
| Monument to Prince Kamal ed-Din النصب التذكاري للأمير كمال الدين حسين | ||
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The Monument to Prince Kamal ed-Din Husein, Arabic:النصب التذكاري للأمير كمال الدين حسين, Is located at the southernmost tip of the Kamal-ed-Din plateau, which forms the eastern part of the Gilf Kebir Plateaus forms. It commemorates one of the most important pioneers in the exploration of the Western Desert. His life's work included mapping the Gilf Kebir Plateau and the Gebel el-ʿUweināt. The name el-Gilf el-Kabīr, the great barrier, comes from him.
getting there
Visiting the monument is usually part of a desert excursion to the Gilf Kebir National Park. An all-terrain four-wheel drive vehicle is required to travel through the desert. There are local drivers and vehicles e.g. in the depressions ed-Dāchla and el-Baḥrīya.
The memorial can be reached via the intermediate stations Samīr Lāmā rock, Abū Ballāṣ and Eight Bells.
A permit from the Egyptian military is required to drive into the national park. During the trip you will be accompanied by armed police officers and a military officer. For trips to the Gilf Kebir there is a separate safari department in Mū,, which also provides the necessary police escort and their vehicles. The mandatory service is of course chargeable.
Tourist Attractions
The 1 monument(22 ° 41 ′ 45 ″ N.25 ° 52 ′ 21 ″ E) consists of a small stone pyramid, in front of which there is a plaque for Prince Kamal ed-Din Husein (1874–1932) in a stone frame. The year 1932 was written in stones in front of the blackboard. This is the year of the prince's death. The memorial plaque once stood on the stone pyramid, but has now broken.
The Hungarian drove a year after the prince's death László Almásy (1895–1951) came here with members of the Royal Automobile Club of Egypt to erect the monument. It contains the Arabic memorial inscription:
- إحياء لذكرى
- المغفور له حضرة صاحب السمو السلطاني الأمير
- كمال الدين حسين المكتشف الكبير لصحراء ليبيا
- شيد هذا تذكارا من بعض مقدري مجهوده العظيم
The German translation is:
- In memory of
- the deceased, His Highness the Sultan Prince
- Kamāl ad-Dīn Ḥusain, the great discoverer of the Libyan desert,
- this memorial was erected by some [people] who appreciate his significant endeavors.
Behind the memorial is a small box with the visiting cards of some visitors.
Prince Kamāl ed-Dīn Ḥusein (also Kemal el Din / Dine Hussein / Husayn, Arabic:كمال الدين حسين) Was born as the son of Sultan Ḥusein Kamāl (1853–1917) on December 20, 1874 in Cairo born and was the actual heir to the throne. He later turned down the line of succession, making his half-brother the future King of Egypt Fuʾād I. (1868-1936, reign 1922-1936) was. The reason for the rejection was his lack of interest in a reign under a British protectorate, in which his wife Nimet Allah had certainly also encouraged him.
Since early childhood he was an avid supporter of horsemanship and hunting, which also led him to the Western Desert. The desire matured in him to intensively explore this desert. So in 1923 he started his first expedition with scientists, motor vehicle fitters and servants. The vehicles used were three P17 half-track vehicles from Citroën. In 1923/1924 he followed el-Baḥrīya, el-Farāfra and into the rain field, part of the Egyptian sand lake. In the winter of 1924/1925 he traveled over the Darb el-Arbaʿīn to Gebel el-ʿUweināt, which Ahmed Hasanein had discovered the year before. Parts of the Gebel el-ʿUweināt were mapped by Kamāl ed-Dīn Husein. In the following winter he mapped the Gilf-Kebir plateau, which he also gave the current name to.[1] His main merit is the creation of the appropriate maps. Later he also sponsored László Almásy by providing financial support for his desert expeditions.
Kamal ed-Din died childless on August 6, 1932 in France Toulouse. He was in a mausoleum in the Cairo neighborhood el-Muqaṭṭam buried.
A literary monument was set up by none other than the Egyptian Nobel Prize for Literature Nagib Mahfuz (1911–2006) in his novella “Between the Palaces”, the first part of the Cairo trilogy. He introduced Kamal ed-Din as a fine man and his merit in turning down the line of succession.
kitchen
You can have a picnic in the area of the monument. Food and drinks must be brought along. Rubbish must be taken with you and must not be left lying around.
accommodation
Tents must be brought along for overnight stays at some distance.
trips
The rock group and the British military airport are 40 kilometers to the northeast Eight Bells. In between there is an archaeological find area 2 22 ° 39 ′ 1 ″ N.26 ° 13 '40 "E with prehistoric artifacts (more under Eight Bells).
The route along the monument of Prince Kamal ed-Din is usually used for the onward journey past the Clayton craters to the Gebel el-ʿUweināt elected.
The monument can also be used as a starting point for visits to various wadis in the east of the Gilf Kebir Plateaus like that Wādī el-Bacht or at the southeast tip of the plateau like the cave Maghārat el-Qanṭara use.
literature
- : L’exploration du Désert Libyque. In:La geographie: bulletin de la société de geographie, ISSN0001-5687, Vol.50 (1928), Pp. 171-183, 320-336.
