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40-620: Gavkhouni receives pollution from Isfahan and other urban sources. Isfahan is a major oasis city on the Zayandeh River with a population over 1.5 million. The marshes were designated a Ramsar site in 1975, the 19th wetland in Iran designated as a Wetland of International Importance on the Ramsar list. The wetland is home to a variety of migratory birds including flamingos , ducks , geese , gulls, pelicans , and grebes . The vegetation of

80-475: A "central pool of open water surrounded by a ring of water-dependent shrubs and trees…which are in turn encircled by an outlying transition zone to desert plants." Rain showers provide subterranean water to sustain natural oases, such as the Tuat . Substrata of impermeable rock and stone can trap water and retain it in pockets, or on long faulting subsurface ridges or volcanic dikes water can collect and percolate to

120-511: A higher status, as may be seen from its increasing use for literary and religious texts. By the end of the 3rd century BC, Koine Greek was more important, as it was the administrative language of the country; Demotic contracts lost most of their legal force unless there was a note in Greek of being registered with the authorities. From the beginning of Roman rule of Egypt , Demotic was progressively less used in public life. There are, however,

160-419: A natural condition, such as the presence of water that may be stored in reservoirs and used for irrigation, most oases, as we know them, are artificial. The word oasis came into English from Latin : oasis , from Ancient Greek : ὄασις , óasis , which in turn is a direct borrowing from Demotic Egyptian . The word for oasis in the latter-attested Coptic language (the descendant of Demotic Egyptian)

200-517: A number of literary texts written in Late Demotic ( c.  30 BC  – 452 AD), especially from the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, though the quantity of all Demotic texts decreased rapidly towards the end of the second century. In contrast to the way Latin eliminated languages in the western part of the Empire, Greek did not replace Demotic entirely. After that, Demotic

240-836: A particular route. For example, the oases of Awjila , Ghadames and Kufra , situated in modern-day Libya , have at various times been vital to both north–south and east–west trade in the Sahara Desert . The location of oases also informed the Darb El Arba'īn trade route from Sudan to Egypt, as well as the caravan route from the Niger River to Tangier , Morocco. The Silk Road "traced its course from water hole to water hole, relying on oasis communities such as Turpan in China and Samarkand in Uzbekistan." According to

280-445: A result of indiscriminate construction of dams for economic purposes and the drying of Zayandeh River, this wetland has also dried up. In this way, it should be said that the drying up of this international wetland is not primarily the result of the deterioration of global climate conditions. Rather, it is the product of improper management of the environment in Iran, and the lack of a comprehensive vision of development and disregard for

320-411: A shovel is needed. Wells may or may not be equipped with pumps. Frequently the pumps are broken and useless, and a rope and bucket are then necessary to obtain water. Most of the wells in this region are less than 100 feet deep, but some are deeper, and 100 feet of rope is not too much to provide. As a rule the rope and bucket at a well, if they were ever provided, soon disappear, and one should never trust

360-463: Is wahe or ouahe which means a "dwelling place". Oasis in Arabic is wāḥa ( Arabic : واحة ). Oases develop in " hydrologically favored" locations that have attributes such as a high water table , seasonal lakes, or blockaded wadis . Oases are made when sources of freshwater, such as underground rivers or aquifers , irrigate the surface naturally or via man-made wells. The presence of water on

400-480: Is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment that sustains plant life and provides habitat for animals. Surface water may be present, or water may only be accessible from wells or underground channels created by humans. In geography, an oasis may be a current or past rest stop on a transportation route, or less-than-verdant location that nonetheless provides access to underground water through deep wells created and maintained by humans. Although they depend on

440-480: Is integrated into its desert environment through an often close association with nomadic transhumant livestock farming (very often pastoral and sedentary populations are clearly distinguished). The fertility of the oasis soil is restored by "cyclic organic inputs of animal origin." In summary, an oasis palm grove is a highly anthropized and irrigated area that supports a traditionally intensive and polyculture-based agriculture. Responding to environmental constraints,

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480-423: Is the date palm ( Phoenix dactylifera L. ), which forms the upper layer . These palm trees provide shade for smaller understory trees like apricots , dates , figs , olives , and peach trees, which form the middle layer. Market-garden vegetables, some cereals (such as sorghum , barley , millet , and wheat ), and/or mixed animal fodder , are grown in the bottom layer where there is more moisture. The oasis

520-573: The Western Desert of Egypt ( Kharga , Dakhla , Farafra , Baharyia , and Siwa ) once had "flowing spring and wells" but due to the decline of groundwater heads because of overuse for land reclamation projects those water sources are no more and the oases suffer as a result. Morocco has lost two-thirds of its oasis habitat over the last 100 years due to heat, drought, and water scarcity . The Ferkla Oases in Morocco once drew on water from

560-484: The Ferkla, Sat and Tangarfa Rivers but they are now dry but for a few days a year. A 1920 USGS publication about watering holes in the deserts of California and Arizona gave this advice for travelers seeking oases: The usual watering places are springs or wells. Springs are frequently clogged with gravel or rubbish or sometimes even with the bodies of dead animals, and it may be necessary to clean them out. For this work

600-837: The United Nations, "Oases are at the very heart of the overall development of peri-Saharan countries due to their geographical location and the fact they are preferred migration routes in times of famine or insecurity in the region." Oases in Oman , on the Arabian Peninsula near the Persian Gulf , vary somewhat from the Saharan form. While still located in an arid or semi-arid zone with a date palm overstory, these oases are usually located below plateaus and "watered either by springs or by aflaj , tunnel systems dug into

640-438: The area is very specialised; there are no green plants and trees around the lake due to soil salinity, but in the wetland, different species such as reeds, cattail , Schoenoplectus , pondweeds and various algae grow. Gavkhoni Wetland has many ecological values, including groundwater feeding, flood control, food storage, suitable habitat for wildlife, preventing the infiltration of surface water and underground water, maintaining

680-477: The chance of finding them there. Open wells are sometimes contaminated in the same way as springs and need to be cleaned out, particularly in little-frequented places where they are unused for months at a time. Demotic (Egyptian) Demotic (from Ancient Greek : δημοτικός dēmotikós , 'popular') is the ancient Egyptian script derived from northern forms of hieratic used in the Nile Delta . The term

720-435: The city [ medina ] or village [ ksar ] with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system." The location of oases has been of critical importance for trade and transportation routes in desert areas; caravans must travel via oases so that supplies of water and food can be replenished. Thus, political or military control of an oasis has in many cases meant control of trade on

760-456: The conducted studies, 229 animal species from 5 categories of vertebrates including: 49 mammal species, 125 bird species, 42 reptile species, one amphibian species, and 12 fish species have been identified in the Zayandeh River watershed. Unfortunately, Isfahan's Gavkhouni Lagoon is currently "100%" dry. Experts say that the drying up of the Gavkhouni lagoon will increase migration and destroy

800-513: The dull bluish or gray green of the feathery crowns of foliage. It is small wonder that a whole folklore of poetic legends and proverbs has grown up around the date palm in the regions where it flourishes. Many historic oases have struggled with drought and inadequate maintenance. According to a United Nations report on the future of oases in the Sahara and Sahel , "Increasingly   ... oases are subject to various pressures, heavily influenced by

840-510: The effects of climate change , decreasing groundwater levels and a gradual loss of cultural heritage due to a fading historical memory concerning traditional water management techniques. These natural pressures are compounded by demographic pressures and the introduction of modern water pumping techniques that can disrupt traditional resource management schemes, particularly in the North Saharan oases." For example, five historic oases in

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880-649: The garden resembles a tropical jungle. Very beautiful are these gardens in the spring, when the apricot and peach trees are in blossom here and there among the palms and the figs and vines are putting forth their leaves. In autumn, when the dates are ripening, the color effects, especially when the tops of the palms are lit up by the last rays of the setting sun, are something that once seen can never be forgotten. The great clusters of fruit, displaying every tint from bright yellow, through orange, vermilion, and maroon, to plum purple and chestnut brown, with their brilliant yellow or rich orange ivory-like stalks, contrast superbly with

920-613: The ground or carved into the rock to tap underground aquifers." This rainwater harvesting system "never developed a serious salinity problem." In the drylands of southwestern North America, there is a habitat form called Palm Oasis (alternately Palm Series or Oasis Scrub Woodland) that has the native California fan palm as the overstory species. These Palm Oases can be found in California , Arizona , Baja California , and Sonora . People who live in an oasis must manage land and water use carefully. The most important plant in an oasis

960-490: The job opportunities provided through tourism. This wetland has dried up due to excessive harvesting of the water resources of the Zayandeh river basin, as well as due to mismanagement and non-expert works in recent years and has lost many functions and ecosystem services that it had for local communities. Because this wetland was fed by Zayandeh River, the largest river in the central regions of Iran. But in recent years, as

1000-941: The later part of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty , particularly found on steles from the Serapeum of Saqqara . It is generally dated between 650 and 400 BC, as most texts written in Early Demotic are dated to the Twenty-sixth Dynasty and the subsequent rule as a satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire , which was known as the Twenty-seventh Dynasty . After the reunification of Egypt under Psamtik I , Demotic replaced Abnormal Hieratic in Upper Egypt , particularly during

1040-561: The most common signs in Demotic, making up between one third and one half of all signs in any given text; foreign words are also almost exclusively written with these signs. Later (Roman Period) texts used these signs even more frequently. The table below gives a list of such uniliteral signs along with their conventional transcription, their hieroglyphic origin, the Coptic letters derived from them, and notes on usage. The Rosetta Stone

1080-688: The potential evapotranspiration of the areas was reduced by 30 to 50 percent within the oasis." The keystone date palm trees are "a main income source and staple food for local populations in many countries in which they are cultivated, and have played significant roles in the economy, society, and environment of those countries." Challenges for date palm oasis polycultures include "low rainfall, high temperatures, water resources often high in salt content, and high incidence of pests." The oases consist of almost unbroken forests of date palms, divided up into many gardens that are separated by mud walls and intersected by innumerable irrigation and drainage ditches… In

1120-555: The quality of human life and habitat has led to such a disaster. Meanwhile, Iran is a member of the international Ramsar Convention, and according to it, it has no right to pass laws that will dry up the wetlands. 32°08′06″N 52°54′42″E  /  32.13492°N 52.91153°E  / 32.13492; 52.91153 This Isfahan province location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Oasis In ecology , an oasis ( / oʊ ˈ eɪ s ɪ s / ; pl. : oases / oʊ ˈ eɪ s iː z / )

1160-485: The reign of Amasis II , when it became the official administrative and legal script. During this period, Demotic was used only for administrative, legal, and commercial texts, while hieroglyphs and hieratic were reserved for religious texts and literature. Middle Demotic ( c.  400–30 BC ) is the stage of writing used during the Ptolemaic Kingdom . From the 4th century BC onward, Demotic held

1200-399: The shade of the palms are grown many other kinds of fruit trees—oranges, olives, figs, apricots, peaches, pomegranates, and jujubes—interlaced with large grape vines that often hang in festoons from the palm trunks. Beneath the trees are small plots of garden vegetables, barley, and alfalfa. Neither date palms nor other trees are planted with any regularity, and the growth is often so dense that

1240-404: The surface area against erosive factors such as wind and storm, preventing From the expansion of the desert, the stabilization of sand dunes, the acceptance of thousands of migratory birds, the purification of toxic substances and diseases, the natural processing of fodder production, tourist attractions, transportation and its economic and social transfer for the people of the region. According to

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1280-593: The surface or underground is necessary and the local or regional management of this essential resource is strategic, but not sufficient to create such areas: continuous human work and know-how (a technical and social culture) are essential to maintain such ecosystems. Some of the possible human contributions to maintaining an oasis include digging and maintaining wells, digging and maintaining canals, and continuously removing opportunistic plants that threaten to gorge themselves on water and fertility needed to maintain human and animal food supplies. Stereotypically, an oasis has

1320-474: The surface. Any incidence of water is then used by migrating birds , which also pass seeds with their droppings which will grow at the water's edge forming an oasis. It can also be used to plant crops. Oases in the Middle East and North Africa cover about 1,000,000 hectares (10,000 km ), however, they support the livelihood of about 10 million inhabitants. The stark ratio of oasis to desert land in

1360-426: The three strata create what is called the " oasis effect ". The three layers and all their interaction points create a variety of combinations of "horizontal wind speed, relative air temperature and relative air humidity." The plantings—through a virtuous cycle of wind reduction, increased shade and evapotranspiration —create a microclimate favorable to crops; "measurements taken in different oases have showed that

1400-648: The water into individual plots, soaking the soil." Oases often have human histories that are measured in millennia. Archeological digs at Ein Gedi in the Dead Sea Valley have found evidence of settlement dating to 6,000 BC. Al-Ahsa on the Arabian Peninsula shows evidence of human residence dating to the Neolithic . Anthropologically , the oasis is "an area of sedentary life, which associates

1440-400: The world means that the oasis ecosystem is "relatively minute, rare and precious." There are 90 “major oases” within the Sahara Desert. Some of their fertility may derive from irrigation systems called foggaras , khettaras , lkhttarts , or a variety of other regional names . In some oases systems, there is "a geometrical system of raised channels that release controlled amounts of

1480-479: Was discovered in 1799. It is inscribed with a proclamation, written in three scripts: Egyptian hieroglyphs , Demotic, and the Greek alphabet . There are 32 lines of Demotic, which is the middle of the three scripts on the stone. The Demotic was deciphered before the hieroglyphs, starting with the efforts of Antoine Isaac Silvestre de Sacy . Scholars were eventually able to translate the hieroglyphs by comparing them with

1520-584: Was first used by the Greek historian Herodotus to distinguish it from hieratic and hieroglyphic scripts. By convention, the word "Demotic" is capitalized in order to distinguish it from demotic Greek . The Demotic script was referred to by the Egyptians as sš/sẖ n šꜥ.t 'document writing', which the second-century scholar Clement of Alexandria called ἐπιστολογραφική 'letter-writing', while early Western scholars, notably Thomas Young , formerly referred to it as " Enchorial Egyptian". The script

1560-478: Was only used for a few ostraca , subscriptions to Greek texts, mummy labels, and graffiti. The last dated example of the Demotic script is a graffito on the walls of the temple of Isis at Philae , dated to December 12, 452. The text simply reads "Petise, son of Petosiris"—who Petise was is unknown. Like its hieroglyphic predecessor script, Demotic possessed a set of "uniliteral" or "alphabetical" signs that could be used to represent individual phonemes . These are

1600-629: Was used for more than a thousand years, and during that time a number of developmental stages occurred. It is written and read from right to left, while earlier hieroglyphs could be written from top to bottom, left to right, or right to left. Parts of the Demotic Greek Magical Papyri were written with a cypher script . Early Demotic (often referred to by the German term Frühdemotisch ) developed in Lower Egypt during

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