Case file · Folklore / legend
Zerzura, the white oasis
The 15th-century treasure-hunters' manual 'Kitab al-Kanuz' describes Zerzura, a white city in the desert west of the Nile with a sleeping king and queen. European explorers searched for it in the 1930s.
1450 CE · 23.30, 25.90 · status: legend
The account
The Zerzura Club, founded by Ralph Bagnold and others, and the Hungarian László Almásy, who inspired 'The English Patient', explored the Gilf Kebir in its search, discovering rock art such as the Cave of Swimmers.
The sceptical view
Zerzura was never found. It may echo real but hidden wadis with rainfall-fed vegetation in the Gilf Kebir.