Der Abu Ballas-Weg. Eine pharaonische Karawanenroute durch die Libysche Wüste

本文介绍了1999年才发现的一条法老商队路线的发现和特征，这条路线从埃及的达赫拉绿洲（Dakhla Oasis）深入到利比亚沙漠（Libyan Desert），因此，这一地区首次成为埃及学研究的焦点。这条路线有石头标记和部分保存完好的驴道，主要特点是有几个补给站，这些补给站由大量储存罐组成，其中大部分装有水。在没有骆驼，只有驴子的时代，如果没有这种对物流要求最高的人工“加油站”链，就不可能在贫瘠的沙漠地区进行数百公里的大规模商队交通。根据在科隆ACACIA 389合作研究中心范围内进行的考古调查，对这些发现和特征进行了彻底的分析（论文的第一部分），随后对这条小径的实际用途进行了研究（第二部分），并对商队路线的可能目的和历史意义进行了研究（第三部分）。主要的结果是，所谓的阿布巴拉斯之路是一条穿越利比亚沙漠的极其艰难的法老商队路线，被使用了许多世纪，并且在非常特定的地缘政治环境下一再具有更大的意义。至少从公元前三千年晚期开始，它似乎作为一条贸易路线，从撒哈拉以南地区进口奢侈品，如香、象牙、珍奇动物的皮、名贵的油等，首先到达赫拉，然后再到埃及的尼罗河谷，可能是与“利比亚”游牧群体合作。因此，这条路线是目前已知的跨撒哈拉贸易的最早证据。它的存在证明了古埃及人的已知世界并没有结束于西部沙漠的绿洲之外。因此，这一事实要求拓宽埃及学的视野，至少要扩大到利比亚、埃及和苏丹现代边界的交汇处。法老与非洲内部的文化和商业往来，以及它们对双方的影响和意义，都必须重新评估。这同样适用于古埃及人在组织和后勤方面的能力，使这种联系在没有骆驼的情况下跨越广阔的干旱荒原成为可能。

The thesis presents the finds and features of a Pharaonic caravan route, only discovered in 1999, which leads from the Dakhla Oasis in Egypt deep into the Libyan Desert, and therefore brings this area into the focus of Egyptological research for the first time. The route, well-signposted by stone markers and partially well-preserved donkey tracks, is mainly characterised by several supply stations consisting of large deposits of storage jars, most of which contained water. Without the logistically most demanding creation of such chains of artificial "filling stations" it would have been impossible to conduct large-scale caravan traffic across hundreds of kilometres through barren desert regions in a time when no camels, but only donkeys were available. Based on archaeological investigations carried out within the scope of the Collaborative Research Centre 389 ACACIA at Cologne, the finds and features are thoroughly analyzed (part I of the thesis), followed by studies on the practical use of the trail (part II), and on the possible purpose and historical significance of the caravan route (part III). As the main result it turned out that the so-called Abu Ballas Trail was an extremely difficult Pharaonic caravan route through the Libyan Desert that was used over many centuries, and repeatedly took a greater significance under very specific geopolitical circumstances. It appears to have served, at least temporarily from the late third millennium BC onwards, as a trade route in order to import luxury items – such as incense, ivory, skins of exotic animals, valuable oils, and others – from sub-Saharan regions first to Dakhla and then further on to the Egyptian Nile Valley, probably in cooperation with 'Libyan' nomadic groups. The route therefore represents the earliest evidence of trans-Saharan trade currently known. Its existence proves that the known world of the ancient Egyptians did not end beyond the oases of the Western Desert. This fact therefore demands a broadening of the Egyptological scope of view at least up to the point where the modern borders of Libya, Egypt, and Sudan converge. Pharaonic contacts to inner Africa, both cultural and commercial, and their impact and significance to both sides will have to be reevaluated. The same holds true for the extent of the ancient Egyptians' capabilities, both in terms of organization and logistics, to render such contact possible, without camels, across vast arid wastes.