Hansjoachim von der Esch
Hansjoachim von der Esch (6 October 1899 in Mülheim, Germany – 10 May 1976 in La Tour-de-Peilz, Switzerland) was a German explorer in Egypt and Sudan, as well as German ambassador to Syria and Morocco. Career as explorer After having served as officer during the First World War, Esch studied mechanical engineering and Arabic. From 1929 to 1939 he represented a German company 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, Esch led a section of Almásy's expedition in the Gilf Kebir to the Uweinat mountain. Somewhat before, he discovered the Magyarab tribe, that claim to be of Hungarian origin, in Wadi Halfa, Sudan. Esch also undertook 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 nearby rock carvings and a series of ancient stone heaps as traces of the use of a dioptra for geodetics. Howard Carter acknowledged these discoveries, but disagreed with