Siwa Oasis

Siwa Oasis is vast, extending beyond the horizon

Site of Siwah Oasis in Egypt (top left).

The Siwa Oasis or Siwah (Wãḥat Sĩwa in Arabic: واحة سيوة) is an oasis in Egypt, located between the Qattara Depression and the Egyptian Sand Sea in the Libyan Desert, nearly 50 km (30 mi) east of the Libyan border, and 560 km (348 mil) from Cairo.^[1] Location: 29°11′N, 25°33′E.^[2][3]

About 80 km (50 miles) in length and 20 km (12 mi) wide,^[1] Siwa Oasis is one of Egypt's isolated settlements, with 23,000 people, mostly ethnic Berbers^[1] who speak a distinct language known as Siwi. Agriculture is the main activity, mostly dates and olives, supplemented by basketry.^[1]

History

Although the oasis is known to have been settled since at least the 10th millennium BC, the earliest evidence of connection with ancient Egypt is the 26th Dynasty, when a necropolis was established. The ancient Egyptian name of Siwa was Sekht-am (meaning "palm land").^[1][4]

Greek settlers at Cyrene made contact with the oasis around the same time (7th century BC), and the oracle temple of Ammon (Zeus Ammon) was already famous during the time of Herodotus.^[4] Prior to his campaign of conquest in Persia Alexander the Great reached the oasis, supposedly by following birds across the desert. The oracle is said to have confirmed him as both a divine personage and the legitimate Pharaoh of Egypt.

The Romans later used Siwa as a place of banishment. Evidence of Christianity at Siwa is dubious, but in 708 the Siwans resisted an Islamic army, and probably did not convert until the 12th century. A report of 1203 mentions only seven families totalling 40 men living at the oasis, but later the population grew to 600.

The first European to visit since Roman times was William George Browne, who came in 1792^[1] to see the ancient temple of the oracle.

The oasis was officially added to Egypt by Muhammad Ali of Egypt in 1819, but his rule was tenuous and marked by several revolts.

Siwa was the site of some fighting during World War I and World War II. The British Army's Long Range Desert Group was based here, but also Rommel's Afrika Korps took possession three times. German soldiers went skinny dipping in the lake of the oracle, which was considered a sacrilege.

Siwa Oasis has many mud-brick buildings.

The ancient fortress of Siwa, built of natural rock salt, mud-brick^[1] and palm logs and known as the Shali Ghali ("Shali" for city, and "Ghali", dear), although now mostly abandoned, remains a prominent feature, towering five storeys above the modern town.

Other local historic sites of interest include: the remains of the oracle temple; the Gebel al Mawta (the Mountain of the Dead) Roman-era necropolis^[1] featuring dozens of rock-cut tombs; and "Cleopatra's Bath" a natural sulphur spring. The fragmentary remains of the oracle temple, with some inscriptions dating from the 4th century BC, lie within the ruins of Aghurmi. The revelations of the oracle fell into disrepute under the Roman occupation of Egypt.^[1]

Another attraction is Fatnas Island, which became a palm-fringed peninsula located on the edge of a saltwater lake.^{[citation needed]} The lake had been partially drained in recent years due to a plan to limit the effect of rising water levels in Siwa due to agricultural runoff from uncontrolled wells(a major problem affecting the entire oasis), and Fatnas Island is now surrounded mostly by mud flats. The main attraction is a swim in the clear and deep water of Fatnas Spring, under the watchful eye of the military police. Changing/restroom facilities have been built and Omran Mat'am (partial owner of the land around the spring) will serve you tea/coffee or soda as you relax and catch the sunset.

Ancient footprint

• Siwa Oasis– World's oldest footprint discovered over 3 million years old^[5]

See also

• Ahmad Fakhri - an archaeologist who worked at this site.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i}

      "Siwa" (article), Encyclopædia Britannica, 2007, webpage:
      EB-Siwa.
   

2. ^ Kathryn A. Bard, Steven Blake Shubert (1999). Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt. Routledge (UK). ISBN 0415185890. 
3. ^ Dieter Arnold, Helen Strudwick, Nigel Strudwick (2003). The encyclopaedia of ancient Egyptian architecture. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 1860644651. 
4. ^ ^{a b} "Ammon" (article), Encyclopædia Britannica, 2007, webpage: EB-Amon.
5. ^ CNN: Human footprint may be oldest ever found

Bibliography

• (French)De l’habitation aux pieds d’argile, Les vicissitudes des matériaux (et des techniques) de construction à Siwa (Égypte)PDF, de Vincent Battesti, in Benfoughal T. et Boulay S. (dirs), Journal des Africanistes, Sahara : identités et mutations sociales en objets, Paris, Sociétés des Africanistes, 2006, Tome 76, fascicule 1, p. 165-185.
• (French)« Pourquoi j’irais voir d’en haut ce que je connais déjà d’en bas ? » Centralités et circulations : comprendre l’usage des espaces dans l’oasis de SiwaPDF, de Vincent Battesti, in Battesti V. et Puig N. (dirs) Égypte/Monde Arabe, Terrains d’Égypte, anthropologies contemporaines, n° 3, 3e série, 1er semestre 2006, Le Caire, CEDEJ, p. 139-179.

External links

• (English)Siwa Oasis Photo Gallery.
• (English)The Locally Run Website of Siwa Oasis.
• (English)Siwa Oasis – Extraordinary.
• (English)Alain Blottière's Travel book on Siwa.
• (French)Alain Blottière's Travel book on Siwa.
• (German)Account of Germans skinny-dipping in the well of the Oracle.
• Detailed map of Egypt, with towns, oases & temples: http://unimaps.com/egypt/index.html.
• Pictures gallery on Siwa oasis" on vbat.org, by Vincent Battesti.
• (English)Ruins of Shali.

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