Sahara

qas: question: What is the third hottest desert in the world?
answers: text: The Sahara

question: What is the third largest desert in the world?
answers: text: The Sahara

question: What is the surface area of the Sahara Desert?
answers: text: 9,400,000 square kilometres (3,600,000 sq mi)

question: What is the hottest desert in the world?
answers: text: Sahara

question: What is the largest desert in the world?

question: What desert is larger than the Antarcti and Arctic desert?

question: What desert is 9,400,000 sq mi?

question: What continant does the Sahara cover most of?

question: What is the next largeast African desert?

question: What is the surface area of the Arctic?

question: What does Antarctica mean in Arabic?

question: What desert is part of the United States?

question: What does the name Sahel come from?

question: What valley is located in the Sahara?
context: The Sahara (Arabic: الصحراء الكبرى‎, aṣ-ṣaḥrāʾ al-kubrā , 'the Greatest Desert') is the largest hot desert in the world. It is the third largest desert after Antarctica and the Arctic. Its surface area of 9,400,000 square kilometres (3,600,000 sq mi)[citation needed]—including the Libyan Desert—is comparable to the respective land areas of China or the United States. The desert comprises much of the land found within North Africa, excluding the fertile coastal region situated against the Mediterranean Sea, the Atlas Mountains of the Maghreb, and the Nile Valley of Egypt and Sudan. The Sahara stretches from the Red Sea in the east and the Mediterranean in the north, to the Atlantic Ocean in the west, where the landscape gradually transitions to a coastal plain. To the south, it is delimited by the Sahel, a belt of semi-arid tropical savanna around the Niger River valley and Sudan Region of Sub-Saharan Africa. The Sahara can be divided into several regions, including the western Sahara, the central Ahaggar Mountains, the Tibesti Mountains, the Aïr Mountains, the Ténéré desert, and the Libyan Desert. Its name is derived from the plural Arabic language word for desert (صحارى ṣaḥārā  [ˈsˤɑħɑːrɑː]).

qas: question: What is the central part of the Sahara Desert?
answers: text: hyperarid

question: What does the Sahara have little to none of?
answers: text: The northern and southern reaches of the desert

question: The northern and southern reaches of the desert are spare of what items?
answers: text: grassland and desert shrub

question: What does the Sahara have little of?
answers: text: The northern and southern reaches of the desert

question: How often does the Sahara go without rainfall?
answers: text: years

question: What are the conditions in the central Nubian desert?

question: What desert has a hyperarid northern and southern region?

question: where are the grasslands in the Libyan Desert?

question: What region goes months without rain?

question: What are the subdivisions of the northern and southern reaches?

question: What areas are characterized by frequent rains?

question: Which section of the Sahara is filled with vegetation?

question: Where are grasslands and shrubs frequently found in abundance?

question: Where are the highlands located?
context: The central part of the Sahara is hyperarid, with little to no vegetation. The northern and southern reaches of the desert, along with the highlands, have areas of sparse grassland and desert shrub, with trees and taller shrubs in wadis where moisture collects. In the central, hyperarid part, there are many subdivisions of the great desert such as the Tanezrouft, the Ténéré, the Libyan Desert, the Eastern Desert, the Nubian Desert and others. These absolute desert regions are characterized by their extreme aridity, and some years can pass without any rainfall.

qas: question: What sea is North of the Sahara Desert?
answers: text: Mediterranean Sea

question: What ocean is North of the Sahara?

question: What forest is to the western Sahara?

question: What climate has cool and rainy summers?

question: who claims the northern Sahara corresponds to the southern limit of date palm cultivation

question: What sea is located in Libya?

question: Where is Frank White from?

question: How much rain does northern Africa get?

question: What grass is typically found in Cyrenaica?

question: Who discovered esparato?
context: To the north, the Sahara skirts the Mediterranean Sea in Egypt and portions of Libya, but in Cyrenaica and the Maghreb, the Sahara borders the Mediterranean forest, woodland, and scrub ecoregions of northern Africa, all of which have a Mediterranean climate characterized by hot summers and cool and rainy winters. According to the botanical criteria of Frank White and geographer Robert Capot-Rey, the northern limit of the Sahara corresponds to the northern limit of date palm cultivation and the southern limit of the range of esparto, a grass typical of the Mediterranean climate portion of the Maghreb and Iberia. The northern limit also corresponds to the 100 mm (3.9 in) isohyet of annual precipitation.

qas: question: What is to the south of the Sahara?
answers: text: Sahel

question: What kind of climate does the Sahel have?
answers: text: dry tropical

question: What is the long term precipitation average of the Sahara?
answers: text: 150 mm

question: What type of Savanah is north and south of the Sahara

question: What drought tolerant plant grows south of the Sahara?

question: What type of grass grows on the northern Shara?

question: How much rain does the Sahara get?

question: What is to the north of the Sahara?

question: What is the Cenchrus biflorus a member of?

question: What is the short term southern limit of the Sahara's precipitation?

question: What extends across Africa from north to south?

question: What type of grass is atypical to the Sahel?
context: To the south, the Sahara is bounded by the Sahel, a belt of dry tropical savanna with a summer rainy season that extends across Africa from east to west. The southern limit of the Sahara is indicated botanically by the southern limit of Cornulaca monacantha (a drought-tolerant member of the Chenopodiaceae), or northern limit of Cenchrus biflorus, a grass typical of the Sahel. According to climatic criteria, the southern limit of the Sahara corresponds to the 150 mm (5.9 in) isohyet of annual precipitation (this is a long-term average, since precipitation varies annually).

qas: question: What is the world's largest low latitude hot desert?
answers: text: Sahara

question: What ares is the Sahara located in?
answers: text: horse latitudes

question: What makes it difficult for clouds to form?
answers: text: sinking air

question: What is the largest high-latitude desert?

question: What desert is located on the subtropical ridge?

question: What does the rising air do?

question: What aids cloud formation?

question: What is the largest high latitude desert?

question: What does the ascending airflow cause?

question: Where is the belt of permanent subtropical warm-core pressure located?

question: What causes adiabatic cooling?

question: Why is cloud formation so common?
context: The Sahara is the world's largest low-latitude hot desert. The area is located in the horse latitudes under the subtropical ridge, a significant belt of semi-permanent subtropical warm-core high pressure where the air from upper levels of the troposphere tends to sink towards the ground. This steady descending airflow causes a warming and a drying effect in the upper troposphere. The sinking air prevents evaporating water from rising and, therefore, prevents the adiabatic cooling, which makes cloud formation extremely difficult to nearly impossible.

qas: question: What allows unhindered light and thermal radiation?
answers: text: dissolution of clouds

question: What weather is virtually non-existent?
answers: text: rainfall

question: Where is the air the strongest?
answers: text: eastern part of the Great Desert

question: What traps thermal radiation?

question: What is caused by the atmospheres in-stability?

question: What combines with converging dry air masses to make conditions for rain unfavorable?

question: What is strongest over the western desert?

question: What part of the Sahara is the most rainless part of the planet?

question: What prevents light and thermal radiation?

question: Why is there a minimal risk of sunny, dry, or stable weather?

question: Where was the Koppen climate classification created?

question: What is strongest over the northern part of the Great Desert?

question: What desert, located in Chile, is the sunniest, driest, and most rainless place on the planet?
context: The permanent dissolution of clouds allows unhindered light and thermal radiation. The stability of the atmosphere above the desert prevents any convective overturning, thus making rainfall virtually non-existent. As a consequence, the weather tends to be sunny, dry and stable with a minimal risk of rainfall. Subsiding, diverging, dry air masses associated with subtropical high-pressure systems are extremely unfavorable for the development of convectional showers. The subtropical ridge is the predominate factor that explains the hot desert climate (Köppen climate classification BWh) of this vast region. The lowering of air is the strongest and the most effective over the eastern part of the Great Desert, in the Libyan Desert which is the sunniest, the driest and the most nearly rainless place on the planet rivaling the Atacama Desert, lying in Chile and Peru.

qas: question: What section of the Sahara's cloud cover are the most   accentuated?
answers: text: eastern

question: What is the air mass lying above the Sahara?
answers: text: hot and dry

question: What part of the country does the air masses primarily form over?
answers: text: North-African desert

question: over what region is there the most cloud coverage?

question: What is the prevailing air mass to the North of the Sahara?

question: whattype of air masses form over Africa?

question: What kind of low forms high above the desert?

question: What type of high is strongest in the summer?

question: What is most accentuated over the western section of the Sahara?

question: When is the air mass at its weakest?

question: What is the North Atlantic Ocean an extension of?

question: When does the Azores High nearly reach the ground?

question: What does the extreme heating process prevent?
context: The rainfall inhibition and the dissipation of cloud cover are most accentuated over the eastern section of the Sahara rather than the western. The prevailing air mass lying above the Sahara is the continental tropical (cT) air mass which is hot and dry. Hot, dry air masses primarily form over the North-African desert from the heating of the vast continental land area, and it affects the whole desert during most of the year. Because of this extreme heating process, a thermal low is usually noticed near the surface, and is the strongest and the most developed during the summertime. The Sahara High represents the eastern continental extension of the Azores High, centered over the North Atlantic Ocean. The subsidence of the Sahara High nearly reaches the ground during the coolest part of the year while it limits to the upper troposphere during the hottest periods.

qas: question: What is blocked due to local surface low pressure?
answers: text: air ascent

question: What mountain helps enhance the aridity of the desert?
answers: text: Atlas Mountains

question: Where are the Atlas Mountains located?
answers: text: Algeria

question: what is blocked buy the surface low pressure?

question: what contributes to the moisture that is present in the desert?

question: what is explained by the subtropical low-pressure?

question: What mountains reduce some of the aridity?

question: What is the sole cause of extreme aridity in the Sahara?

question: Where is the Sahara located?

question: What mountain range is located in the Sahara?

question: What limits the effects of the mountains?

question: What is to the north of the Atlas Mountains?
context: The effects of local surface low pressure are extremely limited because upper-level subsidence still continues to block any form of air ascent. Also, to be protected against rain-bearing weather systems by the atmospheric circulation itself, the desert is made even drier by his geographical configuration and location. Indeed, the extreme aridity of the Sahara can't be only explained by the subtropical high pressure. The Atlas Mountains, found in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia also help to enhance the aridity of the northern part of the desert. These major mountain ranges act as a barrier causing a strong rain shadow effect on the leeward side by dropping much of the humidity brought by atmospheric disturbances along the polar front which affects the surrounding Mediterranean climates.

qas: question: What is the primary source of rain in the Sahara?
answers: text: low-pressure systems

question: What is the reason the Sahara lacks moisture?
answers: text: lack of a precipitation-generating mechanism

question: What does the desert have to overcome?
answers: text: barriers that normally prevent the production of precipitation

question: What is the temperature like year around in the desert?
answers: text: high temperatures year-round

question: Where is the low-pressure that stops rainfall in the Shara?

question: Why does the Sahara lack moisture?

question: What aids the production of percipitation in the Sahara?

question: What desert has low but regelar rainfall?

question: What does the lack of moisture in the Sahara cause?

question: What do physical and atmospheric barriers cause?

question: What has the highest recorded humidity year round?

question: When are high temperatures erratic?

question: What is furthest from the equator in the Sahara?
context: The primary source of rain in the Sahara is the equatorial low a continuous belt of low-pressure systems near the equator which bring the brief, short and irregular rainy season to the Sahel and the southern Sahara. The Sahara doesn't lack precipitation because of a lack of moisture, but due to the lack of a precipitation-generating mechanism. Rainfall in this giant desert has to overcome the physical and atmospheric barriers that normally prevent the production of precipitation. The harsh climate of the Sahara is characterized by extremely low, unreliable, highly erratic rainfall; extremely high sunshine duration values; high temperatures year-round; negligible rates of relative humidity, a significant diurnal temperature variation and extremely high levels of potential evaporation which are the highest recorded worldwide.

qas: question: What is the largest hottest continuously large area   worldwide?
answers: text: the Great Desert

question: What is the value temperature of most of the desert?
answers: text: 25 °C

question: What percent of time is the sun generally over most of the   desert?
answers: text: 82% of the time

question: What is the annual average direct solar irradiation?
answers: text: around 2,800 kWh/(m2 year)

question: During daytime how high can the temperatures reach?
answers: text: 80 °C (176 °F)

question: What does the eastern desert get 3600 annual hours of?

question: How much bright sunlight does lower Egypt recieve?

question: What type of energy production is difficult due to the heat?

question: What is the second largest continuious area in the world?

question: What reaches 80 degrees F during the day?

question: How much solar energy does the Sahara produce per year?

question: What is the lowest temperature recorded in the Sahara?

question: What is the elevation of the Nubian Desert?

question: What is the average low temperature in Salah?

question: What is the temperature of the sand during the night?
context: The sky is usually clear above the desert and the sunshine duration is extremely high everywhere in the Sahara. Most of the desert enjoys more than 3,600 h of bright sunshine annually or over 82% of the time and a wide area in the eastern part experiences in excess of 4,000 h of bright sunshine a year or over 91% of the time, and the highest values are very close to the theoretical maximum value. A value of 4,300 h or 98% of the time would be recorded in Upper Egypt (Aswan, Luxor) and in the Nubian Desert (Wadi Halfa). The annual average direct solar irradiation is around 2,800 kWh/(m2 year) in the Great Desert. The Sahara has a huge potential for solar energy production. The constantly high position of the sun, the extremely low relative humidity, the lack of vegetation and rainfall make the Great Desert the hottest continuously large area worldwide and certainly the hottest place on Earth during summertime in some spots. The average high temperature exceeds 38 °C (100.4 °F) - 40 °C (104 °F) during the hottest month nearly everywhere in the desert except at very high mountainous areas. The highest officially recorded average high temperature was 47 °C (116.6 °F) in a remote desert town in the Algerian Desert called Bou Bernous with an elevation of 378 meters above sea level. It's the world's highest recorded average high temperature and only Death Valley, California rivals it. Other hot spots in Algeria such as Adrar, Timimoun, In Salah, Ouallene, Aoulef, Reggane with an elevation between 200 and 400 meters above sea level get slightly lower summer average highs around 46 °C (114.8 °F) during the hottest months of the year. Salah, well known in Algeria for its extreme heat, has an average high temperature of 43.8 °C (110.8 °F), 46.4 °C (115.5 °F), 45.5 (113.9 °F). Furthermore, 41.9 °C (107.4 °F) in June, July, August and September. In fact, there are even hotter spots in the Sahara, but they are located in extremely remote areas, especially in the Azalai, lying in northern Mali. The major part of the desert experiences around 3 – 5 months when the average high strictly exceeds 40 °C (104 °F). The southern central part of the desert experiences up to 6 – 7 months when the average high temperature strictly exceeds 40 °C (104 °F) which shows the constancy and the length of the really hot season in the Sahara. Some examples of this are Bilma, Niger and Faya-Largeau, Chad. The annual average daily temperature exceeds 20 °C (68 °F) everywhere and can approach 30 °C (86 °F) in the hottest regions year-round. However, most of the desert has a value in excess of 25 °C (77 °F). The sand and ground temperatures are even more extreme. During daytime, the sand temperature is extremely high as it can easily reach 80 °C (176 °F) or more. A sand temperature of 83.5 °C (182.3 °F) has been recorded in Port Sudan. Ground temperatures of 72 °C (161.6 °F) have been recorded in the Adrar of Mauritania and a value of 75 °C (167 °F) has been measured in Borkou, northern Chad. Due to lack of cloud cover and very low humidity, the desert usually features high diurnal temperature variations between days and nights. However, it's a myth that the nights are cold after extremely hot days in the Sahara. The average diurnal temperature range is typically between 13 °C (55.4 °F) and 20 °C (68 °F). The lowest values are found along the coastal regions due to high humidity and are often even lower than 10 °C (50 °F), while the highest values are found in inland desert areas where the humidity is the lowest, mainly in the southern Sahara. Still, it's true that winter nights can be cold as it can drop to the freezing point and even below, especially in high-elevation areas.

qas: question: What is the reason the northern fringe receives more   cloudiness and rainfall?
answers: text: low pressure systems

question: What is the average rainfall of the Sahara?
answers: text: less than 1 mm

question: How much desert land is the Sahara?
answers: text: 9,000,000 km2 of desert land

question: What causes the southern fringe to receive cloudiness and   rainfall?
answers: text: Intertropical Convergence Zone

question: what is nearly non existent across the Sahara?

question: What contributes to the north's cloudiness and moderate rainfall??

question: What area is cloudy and dry in the summer?

question: What has a land area of 9,000,000 sq mi?

question: What area receives the least amount of winter cloudiness?

question: What is drastically affected by northerly or southerly atmospheric disturbances?

question: What percentage of Niger receives and annual rainfall above 10mm?

question: What percentage of Dakhla has an annual rainfall of 5mm or less?

question: What is rainfall like in the western fringes of the desert?
context: The average annual rainfall ranges from very low in the northern and southern fringes of the desert to nearly non-existent over the central and the eastern part. The thin northern fringe of the desert receives more winter cloudiness and rainfall due to the arrival of low pressure systems over the Mediterranean Sea along the polar front, although very attenuated by the rain shadow effects of the mountains and the annual average rainfall ranges from 100 mm (3,93 in) to 250 mm (9,84 in). For example, Biskra, Algeria and Ouarzazate, Morocco are found in this zone. The southern fringe of the desert along the border with the Sahel receives summer cloudiness and rainfall due to the arrival of the Intertropical Convergence Zone from the south and the annual average rainfall ranges from 100 mm (3,93 in) to 250 mm (9,84 in). For example, Timbuktu, Mali and Agadez, Niger are found in this zone. The vast central hyper-arid core of the desert is virtually never affected by northerly or southerly atmospheric disturbances and permanently remains under the influence of the strongest anticyclonic weather regime and the annual average rainfall can drop to less than 1 mm (0.04 in). In fact, most of the Sahara receives less than 20 mm (0.79 in). Of the 9,000,000 km2 of desert land in the Sahara, an area of about 2,800,000 km2 (about 31% of the total area) receives an annual average rainfall amount of 10 mm (0.39 in) or less, while some 1,500,000 km2 (about 17% of the total area) receive an average of 5 mm or less. The annual average rainfall is virtually zero over a wide area of some 1,000,000 km2 in the eastern Sahara comprising deserts of Libya, Egypt and Sudan (Tazirbu, Kufra, Dakhla, Kharga, Farafra, Siwa, Asyut, Sohag, Luxor, Aswan, Abu Simbel, Wadi Halfa) where the long-term mean approximates 0.5 mm per year. The rainfall is very unreliable and erratic in the Sahara as it may vary considerably year by year. In full contrast to the negligible annual rainfall amounts, the annual rates of potential evaporation are extraordinarily high, roughly ranging from 2,500 mm/year to more than 6,000 mm/year in the whole desert. Nowhere else on Earth has air been found as dry and evaporative as in the Sahara region. With such an evaporative power, the Sahara can only be desiccated and dried out further more and the moisture deficit is tremendous.

qas: question: Which directions does the South Saharan run?
answers: text: east and west

question: What months do the summer rains happen?
answers: text: July and August

question: What is the average rainfall between the months of July and   August?
answers: text: 100 to 200 mm

question: How much land does the ecoregion cover?
answers: text: 1,101,700 km2 (425,400 mi2)

question: what ecoregion runs north and south in a norrow band?

question: Where does it not rain in July and August?

question: How much land does the Sahara cover?

question: What sustains the spring pastures and grasslands?

question: When does less than 100mm of rain fall?

question: What is the name of the band running from north to south in the Sahara?

question: How long is the ICZ?

question: How much rain does Algeria get?

question: What months are the driest?

question: What is between the South Saharan steppe and the hyper-arid Sahara?
context: The South Saharan steppe and woodlands ecoregion is a narrow band running east and west between the hyper-arid Sahara and the Sahel savannas to the south. Movements of the equatorial Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) bring summer rains during July and August which average 100 to 200 mm (3.9 to 7.9 in) but vary greatly from year to year. These rains sustain summer pastures of grasses and herbs, with dry woodlands and shrublands along seasonal watercourses. This ecoregion covers 1,101,700 km2 (425,400 mi2) in Algeria, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Sudan.

qas: question: What is the number of plants in the Central Sahara?
answers: text: five hundred species

question: What do plants do in order to avoid water loss?
answers: text: growing lower

question: Where do plants store their water to avoid the conditions?
answers: text: thick stems

question: What helps plants in order to get as much water as   possible?
answers: text: long roots that travel horizontally

question: what desert area  has 500 species of animals?

question: What type of plants have partially adapted to the arid conditions?

question: what do plants release through their stem?

question: What does the central Sahara have an unusually large number of given its area?

question: How many acacia trees are there in central Sahara?

question: Why do many plants grow higher than normal in the Sahara?

question: What in the Sahara grows its roots vertically?

question: What aspect of the plants' leaves allows them to lose water?
context: The central Sahara is estimated to include five hundred species of plants, which is extremely low considering the huge extent of the area. Plants such as acacia trees, palms, succulents, spiny shrubs, and grasses have adapted to the arid conditions, by growing lower to avoid water loss by strong winds, by storing water in their thick stems to use it in dry periods, by having long roots that travel horizontally to reach the maximum area of water and to find any surface moisture and by having small thick leaves or needles to prevent water loss by evapo-transpiration. Plant leaves may dry out totally and then recover.

qas: question: How many cheetahs remain in the Northwest Africa area?
answers: text: 250

question: What months do the cheetah's avoid the sun?
answers: text: April to October

question: How many many cheetah's are left in the wild?
answers: text: 2,000

question: How many immature cheetahs are there?

question: What months are cheetahs most active?

question: How many mature cheetahs are in Chad?

question: What is the coloring of the northeast subspecies of cheetah?
context: The Saharan cheetah (northwest African cheetah) lives in Algeria, Togo, Niger, Mali, Benin, and Burkina Faso. There remain fewer than 250 mature cheetahs, which are very cautious, fleeing any human presence. The cheetah avoids the sun from April to October, seeking the shelter of shrubs such as balanites and acacias. They are unusually pale. The other cheetah subspecies (northeast African cheetah) lives in Chad, Sudan and the eastern region of Niger. However, it is currently extinct in the wild of Egypt and Libya. They are approximately 2,000 mature individuals left in the wild.

qas: question: What activities from these mammals will likely affect   habitat areas?
answers: text: human activities

question: What underground items have lead to soil degradation?
answers: text: irrigated water pumped

question: What kind of pressure can be intense in the Sahara?
answers: text: natural resources

question: What is least likely to affect a habitat?

question: Why did development projects start in Algeria and Tunisia?

question: Which populations have been growing?

question: Why are oases being endangered?

question: What prevents soil degradation?
context: human activities are more likely to affect the habitat in areas of permanent water (oases) or where water comes close to the surface. Here, the local pressure on natural resources can be intense. The remaining populations of large mammals have been greatly reduced by hunting for food and recreation. In recent years development projects have started in the deserts of Algeria and Tunisia using irrigated water pumped from underground aquifers. These schemes often lead to soil degradation and salinization.

qas: question: When did people start living on the edge of the desert?
answers: text: ice age

question: How many river animals were thought to be found during   the ice age era?
answers: text: Over 30,000 petroglyphs

question: What area of the Sahara is full of vegetation?
answers: text: the Nile Valley

question: What is believed to have increased temperatures in the   Sahara?
answers: text: shifts in the Earth's axis

question: How many dinosaur fossils have been found?

question: When was the first dinosaur fossil found?

question: What has the age of the oldest fossil be dated at?

question: What type of petroglyhps have been found in the Nile Valley?

question: Where is the Nile Valley located?
context: People lived on the edge of the desert thousands of years ago since the last ice age. The Sahara was then a much wetter place than it is today. Over 30,000 petroglyphs of river animals such as crocodiles survive, with half found in the Tassili n'Ajjer in southeast Algeria. Fossils of dinosaurs, including Afrovenator, Jobaria and Ouranosaurus, have also been found here. The modern Sahara, though, is not lush in vegetation, except in the Nile Valley, at a few oases, and in the northern highlands, where Mediterranean plants such as the olive tree are found to grow. It was long believed that the region had been this way since about 1600 BCE, after shifts in the Earth's axis increased temperatures and decreased precipitation. However, this theory has recently been called into dispute, when samples taken from several 7 million year old sand deposits led scientists to reconsider the timeline for desertification.

qas: question: During what era was the central Sudan rich in environment?
answers: text: Neolithic Era

question: What kind of rock art was found in the Sudan?
answers: text: cattle and herdsmen

question: What are examples of the first known archaeoastronomy   found in Nabta Playa?
answers: text: Megaliths

question: When was the onset of desertification?

question: What was the barren desert Nubia once called?

question: When was Stonehenge created?

question: What astronomy devices were built in the Wadi el-Qa'ab?

question: What kind of lifestyle did the people of the Old Kingdom of Egypt have?
context: During the Neolithic Era, before the onset of desertification, around 9500 BCE the central Sudan had been a rich environment supporting a large population ranging across what is now barren desert, like the Wadi el-Qa'ab. By the 5th millennium BCE, the people who inhabited what is now called Nubia, were full participants in the "agricultural revolution", living a settled lifestyle with domesticated plants and animals. Saharan rock art of cattle and herdsmen suggests the presence of a cattle cult like those found in Sudan and other pastoral societies in Africa today. Megaliths found at Nabta Playa are overt examples of probably the world's first known archaeoastronomy devices, predating Stonehenge by some 2,000 years. This complexity, as observed at Nabta Playa, and as expressed by different levels of authority within the society there, likely formed the basis for the structure of both the Neolithic society at Nabta and the Old Kingdom of Egypt.

qas: question: What were Egyptians herding in the early BCE period?
answers: text: cattle

question: By what time period were the Egyptians constructing  large buildings?
answers: text: 6000 BCE

question: What items replaced previously items made of stone?
answers: text: Metal objects

question: In which direction were the dead facing when they were   buried?
answers: text: due west

question: What replaced metal objects?

question: Which direction were large buildings built to face?

question: By what era did occupation of the Al Fayyum end?

question: What made Egyptian preservation rites difficult?

question: What diet did Egyptians begin to move away from?
context: By 6000 BCE predynastic Egyptians in the southwestern corner of Egypt were herding cattle and constructing large buildings. Subsistence in organized and permanent settlements in predynastic Egypt by the middle of the 6th millennium BCE centered predominantly on cereal and animal agriculture: cattle, goats, pigs and sheep. Metal objects replaced prior ones of stone. Tanning of animal skins, pottery and weaving were commonplace in this era also. There are indications of seasonal or only temporary occupation of the Al Fayyum in the 6th millennium BCE, with food activities centering on fishing, hunting and food-gathering. Stone arrowheads, knives and scrapers from the era are commonly found. Burial items included pottery, jewelry, farming and hunting equipment, and assorted foods including dried meat and fruit. Burial in desert environments appears to enhance Egyptian preservation rites, and dead were buried facing due west.

qas: question: By What time period was the Sahara dry like it is today?
answers: text: 3400 BCE

question: What was the main reason that the Sahara became so   dry?
answers: text: reduced precipitation and higher temperatures

question: What area is known for having the majority of the trade?
answers: text: the Nile Valley

question: When did the Sahara become accessible to humans?

question: What features of the Nile made it ideal for trading?

question: Where did people trade in the Sahara before the aridification?

question: What caused the shift in the earth's orbit?

question: How did humans cause the aridification of the Sahara?
context: By 3400 BCE, the Sahara was as dry as it is today, due to reduced precipitation and higher temperatures resulting from a shift in the Earth's orbit. As a result of this aridification, it became a largely impenetrable barrier to humans, with the remaining settlements mainly being concentrated around the numerous oases that dot the landscape. Little trade or commerce is known to have passed through the interior in subsequent periods, the only major exception being the Nile Valley. The Nile, however, was impassable at several cataracts, making trade and contact by boat difficult.

qas: question: Where did the Greeks established their trading colonies?
answers: text: Red Sea

question: Which coast did the Carthaginians explore for trade?
answers: text: the Atlantic coast

question: Who would raid the desert leaving the people in constant   fear?
answers: text: nomadic Berber

question: What made the areas south of Morocco ideal for settlement?

question: What area did the Berber people colonize?

question: Who was responsible for the raids on the Berber people?

question: Who established trading colonies along the Atlantic?

question: When did the Greeks abandon the desert?
context: By 500 BCE, Greeks arrived in the desert. Greek traders spread along the eastern coast of the desert, establishing trading colonies along the Red Sea. The Carthaginians explored the Atlantic coast of the desert, but the turbulence of the waters and the lack of markets caused a lack of presence further south than modern Morocco. Centralized states thus surrounded the desert on the north and east; it remained outside the control of these states. Raids from the nomadic Berber people of the desert were a constant concern of those living on the edge of the desert.

qas: question: What time period did the Garamantes arrive in?
answers: text: 500 BCE

question: What did the Garamantes do in order to bring water to   their crops?
answers: text: digging tunnels

question: How many towns are believed to be found by   Archaeologists?
answers: text: eight major towns

question: What was the reason for the collapse of the Garamantes   civilization?
answers: text: depleted available water

question: When did the Garamantes name Wadi al-Ajal?

question: How many towns did the Greeks and Romans have in the desert?

question: What caused the Roman civilization to collapse?

question: What was the name of the people the Garamantes conquered?

question: How did the Greeks get access to water?
context: An urban civilization, the Garamantes, arose around 500 BCE in the heart of the Sahara, in a valley that is now called the Wadi al-Ajal in Fezzan, Libya. The Garamantes achieved this development by digging tunnels far into the mountains flanking the valley to tap fossil water and bring it to their fields. The Garamantes grew populous and strong, conquering their neighbors and capturing many slaves (which were put to work extending the tunnels). The ancient Greeks and the Romans knew of the Garamantes and regarded them as uncivilized nomads. However, they traded with the Garamantes, and a Roman bath has been found in the Garamantes capital of Garama. Archaeologists have found eight major towns and many other important settlements in the Garamantes territory. The Garamantes civilization eventually collapsed after they had depleted available water in the aquifers and could no longer sustain the effort to extend the tunnels further into the mountains.

qas: question: What group of people ruled the northern shoes of the   Sahara?
answers: text: Byzantine Empire

question: What time period did the Muslim conquest of North Africa   take place?
answers: text: mid-7th to early 8th centuries

question: What is the estimated number of slaves that were   transported each year?
answers: text: 6,000 to 7,000 slaves

question: During what century did the Muslim conquest of Arabia begin?

question: How many slaves did the Byzantine Empire transport per year?

question: How long did the Muslims control Egypt?

question: When was Egypt liberated from Muslim control?

question: What caused trade in the desert to decrease?
context: The Byzantine Empire ruled the northern shores of the Sahara from the 5th to the 7th centuries. After the Muslim conquest of Arabia (Arabian peninsula) the Muslim conquest of North Africa began in the mid-7th to early 8th centuries, Islamic influence expanded rapidly on the Sahara. By the end of 641 all of Egypt was in Muslim hands. The trade across the desert intensified. A significant slave trade crossed the desert. It has been estimated that from the 10th to 19th centuries some 6,000 to 7,000 slaves were transported north each year.

qas: question: During the 1500 who was a valued part of the Ottoman   Empire?
answers: text: Egypt

question: What did the Ottoman Empire provide to its people?
answers: text: freedom of movement for citizens and goods

question: What was the local language during this time in Egypt?
answers: text: Arabic

question: When did the Ottoman Empire disband?

question: What key feature made Algeria a vital part of the Ottoman empire?

question: What was the language of Europe?

question: What culture did Tuareg clans enforce?

question: What kind of rule did the kingdom of Algeria have?
context: In the 16th century the northern fringe of the Sahara, such as coastal regencies in present-day Algeria and Tunisia, as well as some parts of present-day Libya, together with the semi-autonomous kingdom of Egypt, were occupied by the Ottoman Empire. From 1517 Egypt was a valued part of the Ottoman Empire, ownership of which provided the Ottomans with control over the Nile Valley, the east Mediterranean and North Africa. The benefit of the Ottoman Empire was the freedom of movement for citizens and goods. Trade exploited the Ottoman land routes to handle the spices, gold and silk from the East, manufactures from Europe, and the slave and gold traffic from Africa. Arabic continued as the local language and Islamic culture was much reinforced. The Sahel and southern Sahara regions were home to several independent states or to roaming Tuareg clans.

qas: question: What time period did the colonialism of the Sahara begin?
answers: text: 19th century

question: What country conquered the Algiers from the Ottomans in   1830?
answers: text: France

question: During what time were good moved through more modern   means?
answers: text: 20th century

question: When did the Ottomans conquer France?

question: What caused trans-Saharan trade to take off in the 20th century?

question: What area of the regency of Algiers was not under French control?

question: When did France relinquish control of Morocco?

question: What year did France conquer Niger?
context: European colonialism in the Sahara began in the 19th century. France conquered the regency of Algiers from the Ottomans in 1830, and French rule spread south from Algeria and eastwards from Senegal into the upper Niger to include present-day Algeria, Chad, Mali then French Sudan including Timbuktu, Mauritania, Morocco (1912), Niger, and Tunisia (1881). By the beginning of the 20th century, the trans-Saharan trade had clearly declined because goods were moved through more modern and efficient means, such as airplanes, rather than across the desert.

qas: question: What is the most common dialect spoken in the Sahara?
answers: text: Arabic

question: What language is mainly spoken in West Africa?
answers: text: French

question: What was the traditional language of Bureaucratic affairs?
answers: text: Arabic

question: Who originally spoke the Beja language?

question: The French language is under what family?

question: Who does Keenan work for?

question: What aspects of life is the French language important to?

question: What role did Tuareg and Berber leaders play in the Third and Fourth republics?
context: Arabic dialects are the most widely spoken languages in the Sahara. The live in the Red Sea Hills of southeastern Egypt and eastern Sudan. Arabic, Berber and its variants now regrouped under the term Amazigh (which includes the Guanche language spoken by the original Berber inhabitants of the Canary Islands) and Beja languages are part of the Afro-Asiatic or Hamito-Semitic family.[citation needed] Unlike neighboring West Africa and the central governments of the states that comprise the Sahara, the French language bears little relevance to inter-personal discourse and commerce within the region, its people retaining staunch ethnic and political affiliations with Tuareg and Berber leaders and culture. The legacy of the French colonial era administration is primarily manifested in the territorial reorganization enacted by the Third and Fourth republics, which engendered artificial political divisions within a hitherto isolated and porous region. Diplomacy with local clients was primarily conducted in Arabic, which was the traditional language of bureaucratic affairs. Mediation of disputes and inter-agency communication was served by interpreters contracted by the French government, who, according to Keenan, "documented a space of intercultural mediation," contributing much to preserving indigenous cultural identities in the region.