- Wadi Howar is the dry riverbed of the Yellow Nile, a former tributary of the Nile which became a chain of lakes 4,500 years ago, before drying up 2,000 years ago.
- It runs for east-west for 683 miles (1,100km) from the Ennedi Highlands in northeastern Chad, through the Sudan to join the Nile opposite the ruins of Old Dongola, above the Great Bend.
The Way of the Forty
- Wadi Howar was part of an ancient Camel Caravan Route described by Herodotus as the ‘Way of the Forty’, because it took 40 days to travel by camel between Chad and the Nile.
- Goods transported along the route consisted of animals, ivory, spices, wheat and gold.
- The Route:
- Ennedi Highlands, Kobbei, Darfur, Sudan (start)
- Upper Wadi Howar
- Middle Wadi Howar
- Lower Wadi Howar
- The Nile opposite Old Dongola (terminus)
- Also, a western route via oases in the Libyan Desert. The Romans built a chain of forts at all the oases to protect the caravans:
- Kobbei, Darfur, Sudan
- Kharga Oasis
- Four other oases.
- The Nile at Asyut (terminus)
- Ennedi Highlands, Kobbei, Darfur, Sudan (start)
Wadi Howar, Sudan