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Sof Omar Cave is the longest cave in Ethiopia at long; sources claim it is the longest system of caves in Africa.〔("Natural Attractions" Oromia State government website )〕 It is situated to the east of Robe, in the Bale Zone of the Oromia Region in southeastern Ethiopia, through which the Weyib River (Gestro River) flows.〔http://www.bookrags.com/tandf/sof-omar-cave-ethiopia-tf/#p2000a3339960656001 ''Encyclopedia of Caves and Karst Science''〕 It sinks at the Ayiew Maco entrance and reappears at the Holuca resurgence away. According to tradition Sof Omar was the name of a Muslim holy man who lived in the area and Ayiew the name of his daughter. Maco and Holuca are local names for 'name' and 'cave', respectively. Long a religious centre, it is sacred both to Islam and the local Oromo traditional religion. The caves are known for their many pillars, particularly in the 'Chamber of Columns'. == History of exploration == The explorer Arthur Donaldson Smith recorded his visit to the cave in 1894.〔Donaldson-Smith. A (1897) ''Through Unknown African Countries: the first expedition from Somaliland to Lake Rudolph'', pp. 84-91.〕 An Italian expedition also visited in 1913.〔Citerni, Captain, Carlo and Ullrico Hoepli (1913) ''As confini mendionali dell Etiopia: Missione per la frontiera Italio-Etiopica'', Milan. Editore Libraiodeli a Real Casa〕 In 1934, Henri Breuil conducted archaeological investigations in the area.〔Abbé Breuil, Peintures rupestres pré-historique du Harrar (Abyssinia) dans L'Antropologue pp. 473–483〕 The Italians almost certainly visited the cave during the Italian occupation of Ethiopia, but apparently none of these early explorers made a through trip from Ayiew Maco to Holuca. In 1967, Eric Robson, Chris Clapham and Kabir Ahmed explored and surveyed the cave, recording 8 km of passage.〔Robson, G.E. ("Caves of Sof Omar", ''Geographical Journal'' ), 133 (1967), p. 344-349〕 Following this the Ethiopian Tourist Board published a brochure about the cave.〔Robson, G.E. (1967)The Caves of Sof Omar, Ethiopian Tourist Organization, Addis Ababa〕 Although the area was not easily accessible and the organized adventure tourist industry did not yet exist, a few intrepid visitors made the trip to the then remote cave. In February 1971 Professor Théodore Monod of the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in France, Bill Morton (ex Manchester University Speleological Society caver), a geologist at Haile Selassie I University, and Ato Mejmare Hsilemalid recorded another 1 km new passages to the known cave.〔Monod, T and Morton, W.H. (1972) Annales de Speleologie, tome 27, fasc, 1〕 In the same year Dick Ashford and Malcolm Largen of Haile Selassie University made a study of some of the bats in the cave. In 1972, a British Expedition to Ethiopia arrived with a team which included Dick Ramsden and Tim Renvoize (Preston Caving Club), Simon Amatt (Birmingham Plytechnic Karabiner Club), Dave Catlin (University of Bradford Pothole Club), Paul Ramsden (Whernside Manor Scout Centre), Terry Raynor (9th and 12th Royal Lancers) and Steve Worthington (Sheffield University Speleological Society). With some initial help from Bill Morton the group made a systematic exploration and survey of the Sof Omar caves and published a full report of their findings in ''Transactions of the Cave Research Group of Great Britain''.〔Catlin, D. (Compiler) (1973) The Caves of Ethiopia: Report of the 1972 British Speleological Expedition to Ethiopia, Cave Research Group of Great Britain Vol 15. No 3, pp 120–136〕 The team discovered of new passages, bringing the survey total to . 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sof Omar Caves」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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