Whale Valley - World Natural Heritage in Egypt

Unesco's Scientific, Educational and Cultural Organization has recognized the Egyptian Whale Valley as a World Natural Heritage in 2005.

The Wadi al-Hitan Valley , also known as the Whale Valley, is a desert area where countless bones of marine creatures are buried in the sand. This is the world's best preserved marine organism area.

The elephant valley is very remote, about 150 km southwest of Cairo. According to archaeologists, this place has an extremely valuable collection of fossils of extinct creatures from thousands of years ago including fossil whales and some other extinct marine species. .

Through the study of marine fossils, scientists can explain one of the biggest mysteries in the evolution and development of whales. In addition to another very important thing is that thanks to these fossils, scientists have discovered the process of occurrence of mammals moving from the sea to the mainland.

It can be said that the whale valley, in other words, the Wadi al-Hitan valley is the most important place in the world to store traces of the evolutionary period. It vividly depicts the form and life of the whales during their transformation, nowhere else in the world has the large number and density of dense fossils as in the area. this valley.

The fossils found at the site are displayed in the typical body of modern whales, but the skull and tooth structure are different from modern whales, which are primitive whales. most are now extinct or evolved.

In the valley there are hundreds of whale skeletons and some other marine creatures found, among them skeletons are still in good condition. Even, some of their stomachs are still well preserved.

Besides fossil whales, fossils of other animals such as sharks, crocodiles, turtles . found in Wadi Al-Hitan have contributed to creating conditions for archaeologists to reconstruct conditions. Ecological environment around the area from millions of years ago.

There are many theories that have been suggested that Hitan Wadi basin is submerged in water about 40-50 million years ago. At that time the area was called the Tethys Sea, the Tethys Sea is located in the south of the Mediterranean. Scientists have assumed that the Tethys Sea had retreated to the north and deposited thick sediments of sandstone, limestone that could see the rocks formed in Wadi Hitan.

In 1800, the first excavation and research was done in this valley but it was not until 1830 that the first skeleton was found. Since then there have been many excavations and searches in a vast valley that has been carried out. Although the first skeleton was found in 1830, it was not known what species it was. Until 1902, when all the necessary data were found, scientists confirmed that it was a whale bone, before the fossil was considered to be the bone of some extinct marine species. Since the discovery of the skeletons found to be whale bones and marine species, this area has received more attention not only from the scientific and archeological circles but also from the government. in and the international community.

Currently, this area has become one of the tourist attractions in Egypt but the number of tourists here is modest, mainly archaeologists and people interested in archeology.