The Cave of Swimmers

Attribution:

imolcho

Key Dates

The paintings in the Cave of Swimmers are thought to have been created as long as 10,000 years ago, during the last Ice Age. It was located in 1932.

Gilf Kebir

Egypt

Key People

The cave was discovered by Hungarian aristocrat and explorer Count László Almásy - although Egyptians are quick to point out that local Bedouins were aware of its location already, and he was merely the first to map, explore and chart the cave, as well as publicise it to the wider world.

László Almásy

The Cave of Swimmers is located in the Gilf Kebir plateau of the Sahara, in the far southwest of Egypt, and contains some fine examples of prehistoric Egyptian cave art. The walls are decorated with elegant images of people swimming.

The cave is mentioned in the book The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje, the protagonist in which is Count László Almásy - the man who found the Cave of Swimmers. In the film based on the book, there are scenes set in the Cave of Swimmers, although the cave shown is not the original, but rather a modern film set.

Related Structures

Foggini-Mestekawi Cave

Gilf Kebir

Admission Fee

Admission Free

Images

Put your Flickr photos of this object into the Heritage Key group, and tag them with heritagesite-6070, to see them here!

Location

Cave of Swimmers Gilf Kebir

Egypt

23° 35' 37.824" N, 25° 14' 5.442" E

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