Wadi Al-Hatin: Whale Valley, Egypt

A breath full of fine white sand, a wash of warm orange light swaddling the body like a childhood blanket from years past, and heat never to be forgotten for its purity; not a drop of water. Far past the cosmopolitan buzz and glimmer of electricity lies a valley of bleached history where, waiting patiently, are relics of life lost long ago…the valley of the whales. Antiquities and ancient discoveries are common features found in Egypt. Home to thousands upon thousands of years of ruins from great civilizations and ingenuity, it is a place that will always capture the hearts and attention of the world, but I wish to see beyond that if I ever have the opportunity. Whale Valley, otherwise known as Wadi Al-Hitan, is just one of those “beyond the norm” things I’d like to see. Proof that the earth is an ever-changing globe of life; Wadi Al-Hitan is a 64,000 acre (25,900 hectare) location in the Western Desert of Egypt that is the final resting place for scores of whale fossils. A major key to the progression of evolution, Whale Valley is a location which “portrays vividly the form and life of these whales during their transition” between sea and land mammal. Discovered in 1905 and only just recently a site of archeological study in the 1980’s.
As a designer I find the sight to be extremely intriguing for the “in your face” kind of reaction I had when I discovered this place. A location encapsulated by vast expanses of sand that was once accessible by whales! I find it a fantastically honest wake-up call, so to speak, for the human race: The world does not stay as it is. I find that as a designer, being conscious of sights like this in the world, understanding the huge shifts our environment (no matter how far parts of it might be from our local residence) has undergone over the centuries is one thing that we could not go wrong with acknowledging. - lindsay



The Archaeoceti


Photo Sources:
http://www.kqed.org/quest/files/blog_fossil_whale.jpg
http://www.peregrineadventures.com/uploads/images/trip/Western-Desert-Extension-1.jpg
http://www.archaeocete.org/whale.gif