Qattara Depression

[ kuh-tahr-uh ]

noun

1. a desert basin in the Libyan Desert, in northwestern Egypt: lowest point is 435 feet (133 meters) below sea level. 6,950 square miles (18,000 square kilometers).

Qattara Depression

/ kəˈtɑːrə /

noun

1. an arid basin in the Sahara, in NW Egypt, impassable to vehicles. Area: about 18 000 sq km (7000 sq miles). Lowest point: 133 m (435 ft) below sea level

Word History and Origins

Origin of Qattara Depression¹

First recorded in 1925–30; from Arabic Qaṭṭārah “dripping”

Example Sentences

For the defense of Matr�h, the British drew up their line from that port south to the edge of the Qattara Depression�a great under-sea-level wallow bordered by steep limestone scarps and bedded with salt marshes.

From Time Magazine Archive

Next to the Great Nile itself, Egypt's most awesome geographical feature is the Qattara Depression.

From Time Magazine Archive

The Auk decided to plug Rommel at the neck of a funnel-the 35-mile gap between El Alamein on the coast and the northern tongue of the steep-sided, marsh-bedded Qattara Depression.*

From Time Magazine Archive

They drove 65 miles along the coast to Alamein, where Montgomery trounced Rommel's Afrika Korps in World War II, then turned south to the Qattara Depression.

From Time Magazine Archive

With his entire Afrika Korps of four divisions�tank columns and light infantry�he swept along the edge of the Qattara Depression, struck at the British lines, penetrated some distance into British mine fields, swung toward the seacoast.

From Time Magazine Archive