Lontar merupakan karya sastra klasik yang memiliki nilai-nilai pendidikan agama Hindu yang sangat tinggi. Namun sayangnya masyarakat Bali kebanyakan hanya menganggap lontar sebagai warisan yang ...disakralkan dan tidak boleh sembarang dipelajari yang hanya disimpan dan diupacarai di hari-heri suci tertentu. Salah satu warisan agama Hindu berupa Lontar Parwa adalah Lontar Candra Bherawa. Kitab ini memiliki penanaman konsep, penanaman pengertian atau difinisi dan penanaman akan ajaran agama yang berbeda dalam jalinan peristiwa. Disamping hal tersebut, juga mempertegas dan memberikan kesan mendalam pada pembaca dan pendengar tentang manfaat yang didapatkan dari ajaran Siwa-Buddha. Bukan dalam konteks ini saja, pembaca dan pendengar akan diajak untuk masuk dalam alur prismatis yakni sebuah alur dimana pembaca dan pendengar sendiri yang akan menemukan kebijaksanaan lewat jabaran citra atau karakter yang ditampilkan dari setiap tokoh maharaja Yudistira dan Catur Pandawa serta tokoh maharaja Candra Bherawa. Oleh sebab itu, betapa penting dan istimewanya Lontar Candra Bherawa ini.
One of the major challenges facing Egypt is limited water resources associated with rapid increase in population. In 1960s, Egyptian government started to use groundwater from the Nubian Sandstone ...Aquifer System (NSAS) in the Western Desert to expand agricultural sector. Siwa Oasis is the focus of this study to assess the efficiency of groundwater use and corresponding impacts from 1980 to 2012. Results show that from 1980 to 1998, withdrawal from poorly designed wells increased rapidly causing an increase in excess water about 336%. The increase of excess water with the usage of poor drainage produced lakes. Remote Sensing showed in 2000, there were 21,348 acres of lakes with an increase of 89% since 1987 due to unmanaged withdrawal. After management intervention, excess water decreased about 94.7% from 1998 to 2012 causing a decrease in lakes area by 24%. Groundwater electrical conductivity (EC) increased from 4.5 to 10.5 ds/m in 1996 and 2013, respectively. Yields of olives and date palms decreased about 46% and 55%, respectively from 2000 to 2011 resulting in net revenue decrease of more than 60%. Results show that salinity has a strong negative correlation with yield and net revenue. Findings showed the importance of developing a meaningful groundwater resources management plan for Siwa region.
Based on microfacies analyses and sedimentological data, 17 facies are identified within the Middle Miocene carbonates at Siwa Oasis in the northern Western Desert of Egypt. These facies are ...attributed to five main facies belts. Within these facies and facies belts, five foraminiferal assemblages are recognized. A depositional model relates the reported facies and biofacies to a down-dip depositional profile of an inner to middle carbonate ramp. The facies of the peritidal to restricted lagoon (facies belt 1) and the less-restricted lagoon (facies belt 2) were deposited in the inner ramp behind the barrier/beach shoal facies belt 3. Basinward, lime mudstone of facies belts 4 and 5 accumulated in a proximal to distal middle ramp, respectively. The depositional evolution involved three stages, which are strongly controlled by tectonics and eustatic sea-level changes. The first stage comprises the transgressive Lower Miocene clastic-dominated fluvial facies of the Moghra Formation. The second stage heralds the deposition of the Langhian inner-ramp carbonate and shale facies of the basal Oasis Member of the Marmarica Formation under a relatively high stand of sea level, constrained clastic influx and climate warming. The final stage is represented by Langhian to Serravallian mid-ramp carbonate-dominated facies of the Siwa Escarpment and El Diffa Plateau members under fluctuating sea level, and a westward restriction in clastic supply and water turbidity.
Radioactivity measurements for water, sediment, microbial films and the bioaccumulation of radionuclides by extremophiles from hypersaline lakes and hot springs were carried out as scarcity studies ...in the Siwa Oasis, Egypt. Natural and man-made radionuclides were measured using high-resolution γ-spectrometry. Different radionuclides behaved differently in different environmental samples, while radionuclides were higher in microbial films compared to sediment, but all radionuclide levels except
226
Ra in water were generally low. Microbial films from hypersaline lakes had higher concentrations of
40
K, while microbial films from freshwater hot springs had the highest concentrations of
226
Ra,
232
Th and
137
Cs. The calculated radiological hazard index parameters of radium equivalent activity (Ra
eq
), absorbed dose rate (D), annual effective dose (AED) and external hazard (H
ex
) in the sediment were within acceptable limits, but were higher in the microbial film samples. Otherwise, the potential cancer risk of the three freshwater springs was 0.00244 ± 0.000293, 0.00135.6 ± 0.000172 and 0.00155.2 ± 0.000198. In addition, the bioaccumulation factor for microbial films indicated that they are good accumulators of radionuclides, especially for
226
Ra and
232
Th, which may contribute to their effectiveness in removing radionuclides from ecosystems.
Within each culture, the multi-source origins play an essential role to form its distinct moral and aesthetic values, which emphasize the cultural identity. These values were accumulated through ...ages. That’s why every single cultural tributary should be traced, to demonstrate the extent of its impact on specific city identity formation.The Egyptian government pays due attention to Siwa Oasis because of its special historical and cultural characteristics. It happens in co-operation with one of the Culture Ministry sectors "the General organization for Cultural Palaces", that adopted the idea of reviving the project of city studios. Such initiative has been established before at the city of Luxor. For example, a financial and logistic support was provided for the initiative in a similar context.From this standing point, this paper provides a historical study about Siwa Oasis since its inception at the Ancient Egyptian era and through the Greco-Roman, the Coptic-Islamic era, and the Arab influences till now. Also, I will review the Siwa studios grant: procedures, different sessions and the most interesting aspect of it, which is the exhibitions.The historical and cultural overview will include: the Significant monuments in the city, location and environment, population and their language, traditions, and custom, and finally, the Siwa Oasis features nowadays.Reviewing the project stages will include: how to apply? On what bases the participants was chosen? Also, information about the time schedule, the site-visits, etc. Finally, I will analyze some artworks from 2009 till now in order to emphasize the importance of such activity on the cultural map.
The Upper Hamra Member of Said and Issawi (1964) is a clastic/carbonate succession at Qor El Hamra east of the Bahariya Oasis in the Western Desert, Egypt. Earlier, the authors changed this member ...into a new informal name, the Al Humaymat formation (Priabonian) at the Siwa Oasis, which consists generally of carbonate sediments and overlays the mushroom rock of the Mokattam Formation (Late Lutetian). The thickness of the Al Humaymat formation is about 22 m recorded at the El Qara section and at the El Arag section reaches 5 m, where the collected fauna from this formation is represented by larger foraminifera Nummulites fabianii retiatus, Gaziryina aff. pulchellus, Silvestriella tetraedra and Grzybowskia sp. are assigned to Late Eocene (Priabonian). The base of the Al Humaymat formation is composed of grey marl to varicolored small scale tabular cross-bedded limestone, which reflects sheet flood deposits with a great unconformity surface; the middle part is composed of reefal limestone and sandy limestone. The upper part of this formation is characterized by earthy white limestone, which is overlain by very hard brown ferruginous paleosol bands and pockets, which represent distal floodplain deposits.
Here it is interesting to notice that the Early and Late Priabonian decrease in depth of the sea over the studied area seems to be a reflection of a global decrease in depth of the sea as suggested from eustatic curves published by Haq et al., l987.
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•The Upper Hamra Member (clastic/carbonate) changed into the Al Humaymat Formation (carbonate) at the Siwa Oasis.•The Al Humaymat Formation (Priabonian) overlays the Mokattam Formation (Late Lutetian).•The Early and Late Priabonian decrease in depth of the sea over the studied area as suggested by Haq et al., l987.
The rapid development and expansion of modern irrigation schemes across arid environments have radically transformed both natural environments and existing agricultural systems over the past century. ...The consequences for natural and cultural values are often severe, but remain poorly documented for many regions. The present study describes the floristic diversity of an Oasis agro-ecosystem located in Egypt’s hyper-arid Western Desert. A total of 132 sites were chosen to represent the flora of Siwa Oasis agro-ecosystem and 154 species were recorded of which 52 were cultivated. Non-cultivated taxa consisted predominately of therophytes whereby the flora of Siwa is represented by monoregional, biregional and pluriregional elements as well as some cosmopolitan species. During field survey, 55 species were recorded for the first time suggesting the recent introduction of new weeds. Based on previous studies, 36 wetland and orchard species may have become locally extinct due to loss of habitat and extensive transformation of the Oasis agro-ecosystem. Although Siwa does not support any endemic species, this study documents a unique and complex agro-ecosystem shaped by natural and human agents over millennia. Descriptive floristic studies such as presented here are important records during a time of continuing and increasing change throughout arid regions of the world.
•Nubian Sandstone Aquifer is the main supplier of fresh water in Siwa Oasis.•Carbonate aquifer in Siwa Oasis is studied in details.•It is indicated that the shallow groundwater aquifer in the study ...area is highly evolved.•There are two principal components in case of the private groundwater samples and one principal component for the governmental groundwater samples.
Siwa Oasis is one of the most important Oases in the Western Desert. Groundwater is the only water source. Nubian Sandstone Aquifer is the main supplier of fresh water. Carbonate aquifer is represented by two zones, shallow fracture limestone aquifer and deep fracture chalky limestone aquifer. The productivity of this aquifer is varied from place to another due to the variation of the fracture density and the degree of connection with the recharge sources. 106 groundwater samples were collected and analyzed from the shallow aquifer to investigate the phenomenon of salinity rise. Groundwater salinity classification shows that the majority (79%) of the private groundwater wells is brackish groundwater and the rest (21%) are fresh groundwater. On the other hand, the majority (80%) of the governmental groundwater wells is brackish, and the rest (20%) are saline groundwater type. The relationship between salinity content and the other ions indicates that calcium, chloride, magnesium, and sodium are the effective ions which caused an increase in salinity content in case of private groundwater, while calcium, chloride, sulfate and sodium are the effective ions in case of governmental groundwater wells. Dissolution and ion exchange are the main hydrochemical processes affecting the groundwater. From the hypothetical salts it is indicated that the shallow groundwater aquifer in the study area is highly evolved as it's enriched with marine residual indicated by the presence of NaCl, MgCl2, MgSO4, CaSO4, Ca(HCO3)2 salts. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) indicated that there are two principal components extracted have eigenvalues greater than 1 in case of the private groundwater samples and one principal component for the governmental groundwater samples. All these components are defined as the leaching and dissolution of marine and terrestrial salts which due to salinization of the carbonate aquifer in the study area.
At Siwa Oasis, the carbonate-rich Middle Miocene Marmarica Formation includes several firmground discontinuity surfaces, characterized by extensive burrow systems. These surfaces are confined to the ...boundary between the Oasis and Siwa Escarpment members in addition to several intraformational marine firmground discontinuities at several horizons within these two members. The marine trace fossils from all these discontinuities are represented mainly by the ichnogenus Thalassinoides. In all occurrences, Thalassinoides are characterized by a sharp erosional lower contact and grades upward into fossiliferous argillaceous limestone facies. Three Thalassinoides ichnospecies have been reported, including: Th. horizontalis Myrow, 1995, Th. suevicus (Rieth, 1932) and Th. paradoxicus (Woodward, 1830). They are mostly recorded as hypichnial/endichnial forms at the sole of fossiliferous argillaceous limestone facies. Rare exichnial occurrences are also recorded. Thalassinoides ichnospecies displayed considerable variations in their stratigraphic distribution, in addition to remarkable variations in their complexity and dimension. These variations are mostly reflecting environmental conditions prevailed during the trace-maker life. Paleoenvironmental interpretation of these burrows confirmed a well-oxygenated shallow marine environment with extremely slow or nearly nil rate of sedimentation.
This work investigates the heavy metal concentrations in Siwa Oasis and Wadi El Natrun unrefined salt. Sixteen samples were examined for the concentration of Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, V and Zn using ...inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES). In addition, the major ions and mineralogical composition were investigated using X-Ray fluorescence (XRF) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) techniques. The result revealed that Wadi El Natrun salt contained an elevated concentration of these heavy metals when compared to those of Siwa Oasis and worldwide. Both non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risk indicators for Siwa Oasis salt were lower than the acceptable levels; hence, consumption of these salts may not pose any significant human health risks. On the contrary, human health risk indicators values for Wadi El Natrun salt were higher than the acceptable levels; suggesting the consumption of this salt may be hazardous and can severely affect human health. The authors strongly recommend that the usage of Wadi El Natrun salt should be limited to industrial applications only.
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