Hansjoachim von der Esch

Who was Hansjoachim von der Esch?

Hansjoachim von der Esch 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.