Wadi Al-Hitan

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Wadi Al-Hitan ("Whale Valley")*
UNESCO World Heritage Site

State Party	Egypt
Type	Natural
Criteria	viii
Reference	1186
Region†	Arab States
Inscription history
Inscription	2005 (29th Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. † Region as classified by UNESCO.

Wadi Al-Hitan (Arabic: وادي الحيتان‎, "Whale Valley") is a palaeontological site in the Al Fayyum Governorate of Egypt. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July 2005 for its hundreds of fossils of some of the earliest whale forms, the archaeoceti. The fossils show remnants of hind limbs, recording the evolution of whales from land-dwellers to ocean-dwellers.

The Egyptian government has alleged that in July 2007 a pair of cars driven by Belgian diplomats entered a protected zone in this area, and caused 325,000 US dollars worth of damage. The Belgium government has said no damage was caused by its diplomats. The issue remains unresolved.

[edit] References

Wadi Al-Hitan (Whale Valley). UNESCO. Retrieved on 20 July 2006.
"Africa World Heritage sites named", BBC News, 15 July 2005.
Blundering diplomats destroy $US10m whale fossil. AFP. Retrieved on 27 August 2007.

[edit] External links

Wadi Al-Hitan trek on Google Earth. Ogle Earth (13 May 2007).
Images from a trek to Wadi Al-Hitan on Flickr. Stefan Geens (13 May 2007).

v • d • e World Heritage Sites in Egypt

Abu Mena · Islamic Cairo · Memphis and its Necropolis – the Pyramid Fields from Giza to Dahshur · Nubian Monuments from Abu Simbel to Philae · Saint Catherine Area · Ancient Thebes with its Necropolis · Wadi Al-Hitan (Whale Valley)