Egyptians divided the night into twelve hours and told them by stars rising. The oldest surviving tables that do it are painted inside coffin lids, and the stars they name that can still be identified are ones you can find: Sirius, Orion, the Foreleg we call the Plough.
Time among the chalk formations of the Farafra depression, with somebody who can read what is overhead, is time to find them for yourself. January nights at Farafra average about 4 °C at their coldest; bring more than you think.
In most desert nights the campfire is the point. Here the sky is.
How it could run
A proposed shape, confirmed with you when it is arranged.
- Arrive among the chalk formations before sunset.
- Watch the first stars appear as the sky darkens.
- Find Sirius, Orion and the Foreleg, and see how a star rising could tell the hour.
- Sleep out under them, or drive back, as arranged.
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