www.thoughtco.com Open in urlscan Pro
151.101.2.137  Public Scan

Form analysis
2 forms found in the DOM

GET /search

<form class="general-search-form" role="search" action="/search" method="get">
  <div class="input-group">
    <span class="general-search__close">Close</span>
    <label for="search-input" class="is-vishidden">Search the site</label>
    <input type="text" name="q" id="search-input" class="general-search-input" placeholder="Search here..." required="required" value="">
    <button class="btn btn-go">
      <span class="is-vishidden">GO</span>
      <svg class="icon icon-search ">
        <use xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="#icon-search"></use>
      </svg>
    </button>
  </div>
</form>

POST /what-is-an-oasis-195360?print

<form id="print-button_1-0" class="comp print-button mntl-print-button" method="POST" action="/what-is-an-oasis-195360?print" target="_blank" data-tracking-container="true">
  <button class="mntl-print-button__btn" aria-label="Print this article."> Print <svg class="icon icon-print mntl-print-button__icon">
      <use xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="#icon-print"></use>
    </svg>
  </button>
  <input type="hidden" value="true" name="print">
  <input type="hidden" value="a65cbc092fe6a7f026586642e22f24b7" name="CSRFToken">
</form>

Text Content

Menu

Home
 * Science, Tech, Math
   * Science
   * Math
   * Social Sciences
   * Computer Science
   * Animals & Nature
 * Humanities
   * History & Culture
   * Visual Arts
   * Literature
   * English
   * Geography
   * Philosophy
   * Issues
 * Languages
   * English as a Second Language
   * Spanish
   * French
   * German
   * Italian
   * Japanese
   * Mandarin
   * Russian
 * Resources
   * For Students & Parents
   * For Educators
   * For Adult Learners
 * About Us

Search
Close Search the site GO
 * Science, Tech, Math
   * Science
   * Math
   * Social Sciences
   * Computer Science
   * Animals & Nature
 * Humanities
   * History & Culture
   * Visual Arts
   * Literature
   * English
   * Geography
   * Philosophy
   * Issues
 * Languages
   * English as a Second Language
   * Spanish
   * French
   * German
   * Italian
   * Japanese
   * Mandarin
   * Russian
 * Resources
   * For Students & Parents
   * For Educators
   * For Adult Learners
 * * About Us
   * Contact Us
   * Editorial Guidelines
   * Privacy Policy



Humanities › History & Culture


WHAT IS AN OASIS IN THE DESERT?

 * 
 * 
 * 

Print

enot-poloskun / Getty Images

History & Culture
 * Asian History
   * Middle East
   * Basics
   * Figures & Events
   * Southeast Asia
   * East Asia
   * South Asia
   * Central Asia
   * Asian Wars and Battles
 * American History
 * African American History
 * African History
 * Ancient History and Culture
 * European History
 * Genealogy
 * Inventions
 * Latin American History
 * Medieval & Renaissance History
 * Military History
 * The 20th Century
 * Women's History

View More
By
Kallie Szczepanski
Kallie Szczepanski
History Expert
 * Ph.D., History, Boston University
 * J.D., University of Washington School of Law
 * B.A., History, Western Washington University

Dr. Kallie Szczepanski is a history teacher specializing in Asian history and
culture. She has taught at the high school and university levels in the U.S. and
South Korea.
Learn about our Editorial Process
Updated on July 17, 2019

An oasis is a lush green area in the middle of a desert, centered around a
natural spring or a well. It is almost a reverse island, in a sense, because it
is a tiny area of water surrounded by a sea of sand or rock.



Oases can be fairly easy to spot—at least in deserts that do not have towering
sand dunes. In many cases, the oasis will be the only place where trees such as
date palms grow for miles around. For centuries, the sight of an oasis on the
horizon has been a very welcome one for desert travelers.




SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATION

It seems amazing that trees could sprout in an oasis. Where do the seeds come
from? As it happens, scientists believe that migrating birds spot the glint of
water from the air and swoop down for a drink. Any seeds that they happen to
have swallowed earlier will be deposited in the damp sand around the waterhole,
and those seeds that are hardy enough will sprout, providing the oasis with its
tell-tale splash of color in the sand.



Caravans in desert areas such as Africa's Sahara or the dry regions of Central
Asia have long depended on such oases for food and water, both for their camels
and their drivers, during difficult desert crossings. Today, some pastoral
peoples in western Africa still depend on oases to keep themselves and their
livestock alive as they travel through deserts between different grazing areas.
In addition, many kinds of desert-adapted wildlife will seek water and also take
shelter from the blazing sun in local oases.




HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE

Historically, many of the major cities of the Silk Road sprang up around oases,
such as Samarkand (now in Uzbekistan), Merv (Turkmenistan), and Yarkand
(Xinjiang). In such cases, of course, the spring or well could not be some mere
trickle—it had to be almost a subterranean river in order to support a large
permanent population, plus travelers. In a few cases, like that of Turpan, also
in Xinjiang, the oasis was even large enough to support irrigation works and
local agriculture.



Smaller oases in Asia might support only a caravanserai, which was essentially a
hotel and tea house set out along a desert trade route. Generally, these
establishments were fairly isolated and had very small permanent populations.




WORD ORIGINS AND MODERN USAGE

The term "oasis" comes from the Egyptian word "wh't," which later evolved into
the Coptic term "ouahe." The Greeks then borrowed the Coptic word, reworking it
into "oasis." Some scholars believe that the Greek historian Herodotus was
actually the first person to borrow this word from Egypt. In any case, the word
must have had an exotic flavor to it even back in ancient Greek times, since
Greece does not have expansive deserts or oases among its landforms.



Because an oasis is such a welcome sight and a haven for desert travelers, the
word is now used in English to indicate any sort of relaxing stopping
point—particularly pubs and bars, with their promise of liquid refreshments.

Cite this Article
Format
mla apa chicago
Your Citation
Szczepanski, Kallie. "What Is an Oasis in the Desert?" ThoughtCo, Feb. 16, 2021,
thoughtco.com/what-is-an-oasis-195360. Szczepanski, Kallie. (2021, February 16).
What Is an Oasis in the Desert? Retrieved from
https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-an-oasis-195360 Szczepanski, Kallie. "What Is
an Oasis in the Desert?" ThoughtCo.
https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-an-oasis-195360 (accessed July 21, 2023).
copy citation

 * All About the Sahara Desert
 * The Silk Road
 * Karakorum: Genghis Khan's Capital City
 * Khotan - Capital of an Oasis State on the Silk Road in China
 * The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
 * Places on the Silk Road
 * How the Tropics Got Their Names
 * Las Vegas Geology Highlights


 * Erosional Landforms
 * The Role of Colors on Maps
 * Biography of Marco Polo, Famous Explorer
 * The Taklamakan Desert
 * The Silk Road
 * CAM Plants: Survival in the Desert
 * Overview of the Desert Biome
 * The Great Rivalry Between Nomads and Settled People in Asia


Home
Follow Us
 * 
 * 

 * Science, Tech, Math
 * Humanities
 * Languages
 * Resources

 * About Us
 * Advertise
 * Careers
 * Privacy Policy
 * Editorial Guidelines
 * Contact
 * Terms of Service

ThoughtCo is part of the Dotdash Meredith publishing family.
Please review our updated Terms of Service.