Siwa Oasis Historical Timeline

There is no evidence of any link between Siwa and the rest of ancient Egypt before Dynasty 26. At that time, a necropolis was built there. Legend has it that the army of Cambyses II disappeared near Siwa around 500 BC.

For more than 2000 years, the name of the Siwa oasis has been associated with Alexander the Great. Indeed, it is in the temple of Amun in the heart of this oasis that, in 331 BC, one of the most famous oracles of Mediterranean Antiquity confirmed the divine nature of Alexander, declared son of the god Amun, confirming him in his status of pharaoh2.

In 708, the Arab-Muslims encountered resistance from this Berber oasis whose population did not convert to Islam until the 11th century.

The marketing of date palm products with the caravans (of the trans-Saharan routes) is very old: Siwa knew relative isolation, people came to trade without really staying there.

Since the tarmac road was established in 1984, linking the oasis to Marsa Matrouh (on the coast 300 km away), there has been a beginning of opening up to Egyptian and international tourism.

In recent years, the oasis has changed: motorbikes are replacing donkeys, domestic tourism is developing and many Egyptians are now coming to stay in Siwa (previously there were only foreign tourists).