Modern Mysteries

Egyptian desert spiral turns out to be art

By T.K. Randall
February 26, 2014 ·  16 comments

The spiral as seen from above. Image Credit: Google Earth At first glance the outwardly spiraling pattern of impressions and mounds seems more like something you would expect to see imprinted within a Wiltshire wheat field than in the Sahara.

Despite being around for almost two decades the pattern has enjoyed a recent surge of interest thanks to an eagle-eyed Google Earth user who spotted it online. Since then theories about its purpose and origin have been rampant, with Internet users offering suggestions that range from a dimensional vortex to a landing pad for extraterrestrial visitors.As it turns out however the pattern is, unsurprisingly, none of those things.

Instead it is a complex piece of artwork entitled "Desert Breath" that was created in 1997 by artist Danae Stratou and architects Alexandra Stratou and Stella Constantinides. The team used bulldozers to carefully create the circular mounds and impressions that made up the spiral which covers over one million square feet.

"The work functions on two different levels in terms of viewpoint," the team wrote. "From above as a visual image, and from the ground, walking the spiral pathway, a physical experience."

Source: UPI.com | Comments (16)

Tags: Egypt, Desert