Cyclical Transitions Between Humid and Arid Periods Have Shaped the Sahara Repeatedly

Hidden beneath the sand of the Sahara is a record of a radically different landscape. Satellite radar mapping and geological survey have revealed the remnants of large river systems and lake beds that were active as recently as 7,000 to 10,000 years ago - well within the Holocene, well within the period of human civilisation, and well within living memory of the cultures that eventually produced ancient Egypt.

The Sahara was not always a desert. During the African Humid Period, the entire region received substantial rainfall, supported large bodies of water, and was inhabited by populations whose rock art and archaeological traces are now buried under millennia of sand accumulation. The transition from that green, well-watered landscape to the hyper-arid desert that exists today was not a one-time event. Randall argues the evidence points to a cyclical pattern - repeated oscillations between humid and arid conditions driven by the same astronomical and climatic mechanisms he traces elsewhere in his work.

The implication for Egypt specifically is significant. A region that was saturated with large volumes of water over extended periods, cycling repeatedly through humid phases, is exactly the kind of geological environment in which large cave systems form. The possibility Randall raises - that substantial cave networks may exist beneath the Egyptian plateau - is grounded not in speculation but in the known hydrological history of a landscape that the modern desert has buried and largely obscured from investigation.

RANDALL AT QUEST FOR ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS

Get your exclusive ticket in the Randall Carlson dedicated seating section at Quest for Ancient Civilizations in Sedona, May 13, 2026