Siwa Oasis

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Siwa Oasis
Siwa Oasis has many mud-brick buildings they are made with kerchief which is mud and salt
Siwa Oasis is located in Egypt
Siwa Oasis
Location in Egypt
Coordinates: 29°11′N 25°33′E / 29.183°N 25.55°E / 29.183; 25.55
Country  Egypt
Governorate Matruh Governorate
Time zone EST (UTC+2)
 - Summer (DST) +3 (UTC)

The Siwa Oasis (Arabic: واحة سيوة‎ Wāḥat Sīwah, from Berber Siwa "prey bird; protector of the sun god Amon-Ra"[1]) 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.[2][3][4] About 80 km (50 miles) in length and 20 km (12 mi) wide,[2] Siwa Oasis is one of Egypt's isolated settlements, with 23,000 people, mostly ethnic Berbers[2] who speak a distinct language of the Berber family known as taSiwit. Its fame lies primarily in its ancient role as the home to an oracle of Amon, the ruins of which are a popular tourist attraction and gave the oasis its name.

Agriculture is the main activity of modern Siwi, mostly dates and olives, supplemented by handicrafts (like basketry).[2] Tourism has in recent decades become a vital source of income. Much attention has been given to creating hotels that use local materials and play on local styles.


Greek settlers at Cyrene made contact with the oasis around the same time (7th century BC), and the oracle temple of Amun (Greek Zeus Ammon, who, Herodotus was told, took the image here of a ram. Herodotus knew of a "fountain of the Sun" that ran coldest in the noontide heat.[5] Prior to his campaign of conquest in Persia Alexander the Great reached the oasis, supposedly by following birds across the desert. The oracle, Alexander's court historians alleged, 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 local manuscript mentions only seven families totalling 40 men living at the oasis in 1203.

The first European to visit since Roman times was the English traveler William George Browne, who came in 1792 to see the ancient temple of the oracle.[2]

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.[6]

Temple of the Oracle of Amun at Siwa

The ancient fortress of Siwa, built of natural rock (inselberg), made of salt, mud-brick[2] and palm logs and known as the Shali Ghali ("Shali" for city, and "Ghali", remote), although now mostly abandoned and 'melted', 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), a Roman-era necropolis featuring dozens of rock-cut tombs;[2] and "Cleopatra's Bath" an antique natural 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.[2]

Another attraction for tourists 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.

Contents

[edit] Agriculture

Siwa is popular for its palm and olive trees, producing huge volumes of dates and olives. Extra virgin olive oil is one of Siwa's popular products used in Egypt and exported to Europe. Mulukhiyah is also a reputable Siwa product in Egypt.

[edit] Climate


Weather data for Siwa
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 26.5
(80)		 26.9
(80)		 29.6
(85)		 35.0
(95)		 41.6
(107)		 47.3
(117)		 46.7
(116)		 47.1
(117)		 39.5
(103)		 34.8
(95)		 30.6
(87)		 27.5
(82)		 47.3
(117)
Average high °C (°F) 15.8
(60)		 16.6
(62)		 19.9
(68)		 24.7
(76)		 28.5
(83)		 33.2
(92)		 37.7
(100)		 35.6
(96)		 28.5
(83)		 24.0
(75)		 19.5
(67)		 16.1
(61)
Average low °C (°F) 9.4
(49)		 11.5
(53)		 14.6
(58)		 16.8
(62)		 19.2
(67)		 23.0
(73)		 24.3
(76)		 23.2
(74)		 18.0
(64)		 14.4
(58)		 11.1
(52)		 8.8
(48)
Record low °C (°F) 1.0
(34)		 2.4
(36)		 4.4
(40)		 6.9
(44)		 9.0
(48)		 11.0
(52)		 11.4
(53)		 11.5
(53)		 8.6
(47)		 4.2
(40)		 1.7
(35)		 0.7
(33)		 0.7
(33)
Precipitation mm (inches) 10.5
(0.41)		 9.8
(0.39)		 5.0
(0.2)		 4.9
(0.19)		 0.6
(0.02)		 0.0
(0)		 0.2
(0.01)		 0.1
(0)		 0.8
(0.03)		 4.7
(0.19)		 10.0
(0.39)		 14.9
(0.59)		 61.5
(2.42)
Source:

[edit] Ancient footprint

What may be the world's oldest human footprint was discovered in 2007 by Som Terratore at Siwa Oasis. It may date to over 3 million years ago.[7]

[edit] See also

Siwa's mud-brick homes

Desert sand dunes around Siwa

Body of water at Siwa Oasis

[edit] References

  1. ^ Ilahiane, Hsain (2006), "Siwa Oasis", written at Lanham, MD, Historical dictionary of the Berbers (Imazighen), Historical dictionaries of peoples and cultures, 5, Scarecrow Press, Inc, p. 111, ISBN 9780810854529 
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h "Siwa", Encyclopædia Britannica, 2007 .
  3. ^ Bard, Kathryn A.; Shubert, Steven Blake, eds., Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt, Routledge (UK), ISBN 0415185890, http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0415185890&id=XNdgScxtirYC&pg=PA738&lpg=PA738&ots=wF_yMSkmE0&dq=%22Siwa+Oasis%22&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html&sig=k7Zbz8ncr2tgC0aJXx2YGNYVib4 .
  4. ^ Arnold, Dieter; Strudwick, Helen; Strudwick, Nigel, eds. (2003), The Encyclopaedia of Ancient Egyptian Architecture, I B Tauris, ISBN 1860644651, http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN1860644651&id=XIns9M_9DcgC&pg=RA1-PA223&lpg=RA1-PA223&dq=%22Siwa+Oasis%22&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html&sig=ZE8yEaZ-glWVuCLRceTfM8xdn_c 
  5. ^ Herodotus, Histories (Herodotus)|Histories]], iv (on-line text).
  6. ^ http://byebyenet.com/Egypt/Oasis/siwa.htm
  7. ^ Reuters: Human footprint may be oldest ever found August 20, 2007.

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] External links

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Coordinates: 29°11′N 25°33′E / 29.183°N 25.55°E / 29.183; 25.55

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Egypt oasis areas
Palm tree.jpg
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