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Name : Cave of Swimmers
What it is : A series of rock paintings depict a chemical group of citizenry swim
The Cave of Swimmers depicts two people paddling through water.
Where it is from : Egypt ’s Western Desert
When it was made : Between 6,000 and 9,000 year ago
tie in : Jade burial suit : 2,000 - class - old ' immortality ' armor worn by Chinese royal family
What it order us about the yesteryear : Thousands of class ago , theSahara Desertwas not the ironical , arenaceous landscape painting we know it as today — it was alush , gullible oasis . In fact , the sandstone - rich Gilf Kebir plateau , which stretch from southwestern Egypt into southeastern Libya and is where the rock art resides , offer further evidence that this swath of land was once accessible to bodies of water and not always a destitute desert .
In 1926 , the distant domain was mapped by European cartographer László Almásy who stumbled upon two " side - by - side shallow cave " adorn with C of rock paintings of brute and humans , including handprints that would have been created by someone " blowing pigment onto the rock faceover splayed digit , " according toThe British Museum .
— Babylonian Map of the World : The oldest sleep together map of the ancient world
— Ancient Egyptian header cones : Mysterious headgear that can be link to sensuality and fecundity rituals
— Bison Licking Insect Bite : A 14,000 - year - old lifelike figure carved from a weapon
But one lot of drawings stood out to researcher : a pair of human being with their arms and legs splayed out as if they were swimming . Many researchers consider the paintings offer a glimpse of what everyday lifetime would have seem like before the region became a desert . However , some conceive the depictions are more metaphorical .
The artwork reached pop culture condition when it was have in author Michael Ondaatje ’s book " The English Patient " ( McClelland & Stewart Inc. , 1992 ) and , after , in the 1996 film of the same name , according to theBradshaw Foundation .
