Selima Oasis

It lies along the Darb al-Arbaʿīn (Forty Days' Road), a desert track linking Kordofan with Egypt.

[2] The flora of Selima is not particularly varied and includes grasses (Desmostachya bipinnata and Imperata cylindrica), reeds (Phragmites australis), camelthorn (Alhagi maurorum), date palm (Phoenix dactylifera), dom palm (Hyphaene thebaica) and several species of tamarisk (Tamarix).

[1] Traveller's descriptions of the oasis date back to the 16th century and all describe the place as having easy access to water.

[2] Atop a mound about 200 metres (660 ft) southeast of the oasis vegetation lies the Beit es-Selima, the ruins of an ancient multi-roomed stone structure.

[2] Although not originally fortified, the building dominates the surrounding countryside and in the early 20th century was used a police watchtower or fort (tabia) by the Anglo-Egyptian administration.

It has been described as a tavern on the Darb al-Arbaʿīn managed by a warrior-princess named Selima and as a Christian convent.

Support for this theory may come from the Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam, a 10th-century Persian geography, which describes two monasteries as lying "in the desert between the Nuba and the Sudan".

[2] In 1928, the archaeologist Thomas Leach reported that salt was mined at Selima by groups who came by donkey and camel from Sukkot, Argo Island and the Mahas.