oasis

A fertile area in a desert where water reaches the surface — from a spring, a well, or a shallow water table — and sustains vegetation in an otherwise barren landscape. An oasis is not a mirage; it is the real thing, and its reality is what makes the mirage cruel. Oases have determined the location of trade routes, settlements, and civilizations across the Sahara, the Arabian Peninsula, and Central Asia for millennia. Some, like the Nile valley itself, are enormous; others are a single spring and a handful of palms.