Western & Eastern Desert
• Introduction
• Oasis
• People
• Map
• Pictures

Our Tours • by jeep
• Great Sand Sea 6 days
• Sand boarding 4 days
• Sand boarding 6 days
• Sand boarding 9 days
• Eastern Desert 9 days
• Classical Oasis Curcuit 6 days
• Classical Oasis Curcuit 9 days
• Classical Gilf al Kebir15 days
• Uwienate Gilf al Kebir15 days
• Uwienate 15 days
• Uwienate and Gilf al Kebir 21 days

Our Tours • by camel
• Expedition 15 days
• Expedition Gilf Al Kebir 30 days
• Expedition Uwienate 35 days
• "Gerhard Rolfs" 40 days

Our Guides
• Mahmoud Marai

The Siwa Oasis is an oasis in Egypt , located between the Qattara Depression and the Egyptian Sand Sea in the Libyan Desert nearly 50km east of the Libyan border, and 560 km from Cairo. Siwa Oasis is one of Egypt 's isolated settlements with 23000 people, mostly ethnic Berbers who speak a distinct language known as Siwi. Agriculture is the main activity, mainly dates and olives. The oasis has been inhabited since at least the 10th millennium BCE. The ancient Egyptian name of Siwa was Sekht-am (meaning "palm land"). Greek settlers at Cyrene made contact with the oasis around the 7th century BCE.The oracle temple of Ammon (Zeus Ammon) was already famous during the time of Herodotus.
Alexander the Great reached the oasis and it is said thta the oracle 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 totaling 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 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 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 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.