Siwa, Fortress of Shali
Siwa Oasis is one of Egypt's most isolated settlements, with some 23,000 people. It is one of the seven oases of Egypt's Western Desert (part of the Libyan Desert).
Its fame lies primarily in its ancient role as the home to an oracle of Amon, the ruins which gave the oasis its ancient name Ammonium. Historically, it is part of Ancient Libya.
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. 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.
During his campaign to conquer the [Persian Empire], 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, though Alexander's motives in making the excursion, following his founding of Alexandria, remain to some extent inscrutable and contested. The Romans later used Siwa as a place of banishment. Evidence of Christianity at Siwa is uncertain, but in 708 the Siwans resisted an Islamic army, and probably did not convert until the 12th century.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siwa_Oasis
Siwa, Fortress of Shali
Siwa Oasis is one of Egypt's most isolated settlements, with some 23,000 people. It is one of the seven oases of Egypt's Western Desert (part of the Libyan Desert).
Its fame lies primarily in its ancient role as the home to an oracle of Amon, the ruins which gave the oasis its ancient name Ammonium. Historically, it is part of Ancient Libya.
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. 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.
During his campaign to conquer the [Persian Empire], 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, though Alexander's motives in making the excursion, following his founding of Alexandria, remain to some extent inscrutable and contested. The Romans later used Siwa as a place of banishment. Evidence of Christianity at Siwa is uncertain, but in 708 the Siwans resisted an Islamic army, and probably did not convert until the 12th century.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siwa_Oasis