Hansjoachim von der Esch

Hansjoachim von der Esch (1899–1976) was a German explorer in Egypt and Libya.

Esch had the academic degree of engineer. From 1929 to 1939 he worked representing a German enterprise in Egypt. During this time he made several expeditions into the Libyan Desert and from 1934 to 1935 he accompanied the Hungarian explorer Laszlo Almasy on his motorized expeditions, who called him his "navigator". In 1934, he led a section of Almásy's expedition in the Gilf Kebir to the Uweinat mountain. Somewhat before, he discovered in Wadi Halfa the Magyarab tribe, which is supposed to be of Hungarian origin.

Esch undertook also several expeditions on his own, both by car and by camel train. His interest focussed not only on geographical measurements and cartography, but also on archaeology. North of Wadi Halfa he discovered ancient amethyst mines and interpreted some strange rock carvings nearby and series of ancient stone heaps as traces of the use of a dioptra for geodetics. Howard Carter acknowledged the discoveries but disagreed with Esch's interpretation of early geodetics.

Later on, Esch tried to trace the route taken by the Persian king Kambyses during his attempt to conquer the oasis of Siwa. He discovered a series of big stone heaps which he attributed to the Persian army and interpreted the remains of thousands of jars at the "pottery hill" of Abu Ballas, discovered in 1917, as a water depot for the army. Somewhat later, he tried to explore the zone with a camel train. After a successful test expedition with Senussi nomads, accompanied by the English explorer E. E. Evans-Pritchard, he learned that the British authorities of Egypt, in the wake of growing tensions between the UK and Germany, had issued orders to the Senussi not to put camels at the disposal of foreigners. That put an end to his expeditions in Egypt. In 1941 he published his experiences as an explorer and his archaeological findings and theories in the book Weenak - die Karawane ruft (Leipzig, 1941). The title, a combination of Arabic and German, means, "Wherever You Are, The Caravan Calls." He also edited Almásy's books for publication in Germany.

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