Date palms growing in fertile fields at Bedhal in Dahkla Oasis, Western Desert, Egypt where the availability of water determines the agricultural economic life in an oasis village. Dakhla Oasis consists of several communities, along a string of sub-oases. The main settlements are Mut (more fully Mut el-Kharab and anciently called Mothis), El-Masara, Al-Qasr, Qalamoun, together with several smaller villages. Some of the communities have identities that are separate from each other. Qalamoun has inhabitants that trace their origins to the Ottomans.
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