Siwa Oasis

The oasis is in a deep depression that reaches {{Convert|-19|m}} below sea level.{{cite journal |last1=Farr |first1=Tom G. |last2=Rosen |first2=Paul A. |last3=Caro |first3=Edward |last4=Crippen |first4=Robert |last5=Duren |first5=Riley |last6=Hensley |first6=Scott |last7=Kobrick |first7=Michael |last8=Paller |first8=Mimi |last9=Rodriguez |first9=Ernesto |last10=Roth |first10=Ladislav |last11=Seal |first11=David |last12=Shaffer |first12=Scott |last13=Shimada |first13=Joanne |last14=Umland |first14=Jeffrey |last15=Werner |first15=Marian |last16=Oskin |first16=Michael |last17=Burbank |first17=Douglas |last18=Alsdorf |first18=Douglas |title=The le Radar Topography Mission |journal=Reviews of Geophysics |date=19 May 2007 |volume=45 |issue=2 |pages=RG2004 |doi=10.1029/2005RG000183|bibcode=2007RvGeo..45.2004F |doi-access=free }} To the west, the al Jaghbub Oasis rests in a similar depression and to the east, the large Qattara Depression is also below sea level. The depression is fertile due to both natural flowing artesian wells and irrigation. It is the site of about 200 natural springs.{{Cite web |date=2023-10-03 |title=Siwa Oasis {{!}} Desert Oasis, Ancient Ruins, Salt Lakes {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Siwa-Oasis |access-date=2023-11-18 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}} Siwa is directly adjacent to the Libyan Desert plateau. The geology is characterised by horizontal layers of porous limestones alternated with marls and clays dating back to the Miocene.{{Cite journal |last1=Rovero |first1=L. |last2=Tonietti |first2=U. |last3=Fratini |first3=F. |last4=Rescic |first4=S. |date=2009-07-01 |title=The salt architecture in Siwa oasis – Egypt (XII–XX centuries) |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0950061809000592 |journal=Construction and Building Materials |volume=23 |issue=7 |pages=2492–2503 |doi=10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2009.02.003 |issn=0950-0618|url-access=subscription }} The limestone plateau and inselbergs resulting from the oasis' erosion along the dunes create reliefs that the Isiwan describe as mountains (adrar in Tamizight).{{Cite web |date=2021-05-20 |title=Siwa Oasis - Goparoo |url=https://www.goparoo.com/africa/egypt/western-desert/siwah/attractions/siwa-oasis/ |access-date=2023-11-18 |website=www.goparoo.com |language=en}} Two large salt lakes are fed by drainage water of agricultural origin. The oasis supports the cultivation of thousands of date palms and olives. Siwa has a temperate desert climate.{{Cite web |title=Siwa Oasis climate info {{!}} what's the weather like in Siwa Oasis, Egypt |url=https://www.whatstheweatherlike.org/egypt/siwaoasis.htm |access-date=2023-11-18 |website=www.whatstheweatherlike.org}}

{{Hiero |sḫt jꜣmw{{cite book |last1=Gauthier |first1=Henri |title=Dictionnaire des Noms Géographiques Contenus dans les Textes Hiéroglyphiques Vol. 5 |date=1928 |page=[https://archive.org/details/Gauthier1928/page/n27/mode/2up 49–50] |url=https://archive.org/details/Gauthier1928}}{{cite book |last1=Budge |first1=E. A. Wallis |title=An Egyptian hieroglyphic dictionary : with an index of English words, king list and geological list with indexes, list of hieroglyphic characters, coptic and semitic alphabets, etc. Vol. II|date=1920 |page=[https://archive.org/details/egyptianhierogly02budguoft/page/1034/mode/2up 1035] |url=https://archive.org/details/egyptianhierogly02budguoft/page/n5/mode/2up}} | sxt-iAm-iAm-iAm-xAst | align=left | era=}}

The Ancient Egyptian name of the oasis was sḫt jꜣmw, meaning "Field of Trees". The native Libyan toponym may be preserved in the Egyptian t̠ꜣ(j) n d̠rw "tꜣj on the fringe" where t̠ꜣ transcribed the local Palaeo-Berber name *Se or *Sa.{{Cite journal|last=Kaper|first=Olaf|title=Life on the Fringe: Living in the Southern Egyptian Deserts During the Roman and Early-Byzantine Periods|date=January 1998 |url=https://www.academia.edu/779548|language=en|pages=160}} This name survived in the works of Muslim geographers as {{lang|ar|سنترية}} Santariyyah.

Siwah is the Arabic name of the oasis called Sali in Berber.{{cite journal | url=https://journals.openedition.org/ema/1960 | doi=10.4000/ema.1960 | title=Nubien, berbère et beja : Notes sur trois langues vernaculaires non arabes de l'Égypte contemporaine | date=1996 | last1=Miller | first1=Catherine | journal=Égypte/Monde Arabe | issue=27–28 | pages=411–431 }} The oasis is also called Isiwan in modern Berber.

The etymology of the word سيوة Siwah is unclear. Champollion derives it from Coptic ⲥⲟⲟⲩϩ (soouh) – a corruption of Egyptian word for "oasis", ⲟⲩⲁϩ (ouoh).{{Cite book|title=L'Égypte sous les pharaons, ou recherches sur la géographie, la religion, la langue, les écritures et l'histoire de l'Égypte avant l'invasion de Cambyse|last=Champollion|first=Jean-François|publisher=Bure Frères|year=1814|page=294}} The additional evidence of the Egyptian source of Siwa's name is another place name in Kharga Oasis that may share the same etymology – S.t-wȝḥ, modern Deir el-Hagar).{{cite web|url=https://www.trismegistos.org/place/3559|title=TM Places|website=www.trismegistos.org|access-date=2020-01-09}} Basset links it to a Berber tribal name swh attested further west in the early Islamic period,{{Citation

| last =Basset

| first =René

| year =1890

| title =Le dialecte de Syouah

| place =Paris

| publisher =Ernest Leroux

| page =3

}} while Ilahiane,{{Citation

| last =Ilahiane

| first =Hsain

| year =2006

| publication-date =2006

| contribution =Siwa Oasis

| title =Historical dictionary of the Berbers (Imazighen)

| series =Historical dictionaries of peoples and cultures

| volume =5

| place =Lanham, MD

| publisher =Scarecrow Press, Inc

| page =111

| isbn =978-0-8108-5452-9

}} following Chafik, links it to the Shilha Berber word asiwan, a type of bird of prey, and hence to Amun-Ra, one of whose symbols was the falcon.{{Cite news|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Siwa-Oasis|title=Siwa Oasis {{!}} oasis, Egypt|work=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=2017-05-19|language=en}} Some classical authors referred to the site as "Ammonium".Howatson, M.C. Oxford companion to classical literature. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2013, 626.

File:Siwa Oasis, Western Desert, Egypt.jpg

File:Egypt-region-map-cities-2.gif

File:Amun 2010.jpg

File:SiwaUbeidaDetail.jpg

File:Alexander called the son of Jupiter-Ammon by the priest at the oracle in the Siwa oasis (1696).jpg

[[File:199 of 'All'Oasi di Giove Ammone. Viaggio ... Con 164 incisioni e una carta, etc' (11296002446).jpg|thumb|Temple of Amun in Siwa - Necropolis (1890); by: Robecchi-Bricchetti, Luigi

]]

File:Siwaoasiszm oli2 2023023.jpg

Although the site is known to have been settled since at least the 10th millennium BCE, the earliest evidence of any connection with Ancient Egypt is the 26th Dynasty, when a necropolis was established. Ancient Greek settlers at Cyrene made contact with the oasis around the same time (7th century BCE), 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 noontime heat.Herodotus, Histories, iv ([http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/herod-libya1.html on-line text]). 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.Alexander the Great, Robin Lane Fox, Allen Lane 1973/ Penguin 1986–2004, pp. 200–18 During the Ptolemaic Kingdom, its Ancient Egyptian name was sḫ.t-ỉm3w, meaning "Field of Trees".Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache, ed. Adolf Erman, Hermann Grapow. Vol. IV, p. 230; Vol. VI, p. 141

In the 12th century, Al-Idrisi mentions it as being inhabited mainly by Berbers, with an Arab minority; a century before Al-Bakri stated that only Berbers lived there. The Egyptian historian Al-Maqrizi traveled to Siwa in the 15th century and described how the language spoken there 'is similar to the language of the Zenata'.{{cite web|url=https://www.academia.edu/1970805 |title=Grammatical Contact In The Sahara |access-date=30 June 2012|last1=Souag |first1=Lameen }}

The first European to document a visit since Roman times was the English traveler William George Browne, who came in 1792 to see the ancient temple of the Oracle of Amun. Bompiani, in her description of the 19th-century explorer Luigi Robecchi Bricchetti, called this site the Oasis of Jupiter Ammon.[https://books.google.com/books?id=eN0TAAAAIAAJ Italian Explorers in Africa], by Sofia Bompiani, London (1891); page 169.

Siwa was annexed by Muhammad Ali of Egypt in 1820, but the Egyptian representative in Siwa was assassinated in 1838.{{cite book |last1=Leguil |first1=A. |editor1-last=Bosworth |editor1-first=C.E. |editor2-last=van Donzel |editor2-first=E. |editor3-last=Heinrichs |editor3-first=W.P. |editor4-last=Lecomte |editor4-first=G. |title=The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. IX (SAN-SZE) |date=1997 |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden |isbn=90-04-10422-4 |pages=686–9 |url=https://ia600603.us.archive.org/14/items/EncyclopaediaDictionaryIslamMuslimWorldEtcGibbKramerScholars.13/09.EncycIslam.NewEdPrepNumLeadOrient.EdEdComCon.BosDonHeinLec.etc.UndPatIUA.v9.San-Sze.Leid.EJBrill.1997..pdf |access-date=18 May 2022 |chapter=SĪWA}} At some point, Muhammad al-Sanusi stayed at Siwa for a few months and gathered some followers there. Later, Siwa was a base of the Sanusiyya in their fight against the British from 1915 to 1917. Meanwhile, in the spring of 1893, German explorer and photographer Hermann Burchardt took photographs of the architecture of the town of Siwa, now stored at the Ethnological Museum of Berlin.[http://www.smb-digital.de/eMuseumPlus?service=ExternalInterface&module=collection&objectId=625564&bt=europeanaapi Siwa, viewed from the east], by Hermann Burchardt; [http://www.smb-digital.de/eMuseumPlus?service=ExternalInterface&module=collection&objectId=625999&bt=europeanaapi Siwa, eastern part]; [http://www.smb-digital.de/eMuseumPlus?service=ExternalInterface&module=collection&objectId=625996&bt=europeanaapi Siwa, western part]; [http://www.smb-digital.de/eMuseumPlus?service=ExternalInterface&module=collection&objectId=626007&bt=europeanaapi Siwa, viewed from the south]; [http://www.smb-digital.de/eMuseumPlus?service=ExternalInterface&module=collection&objectId=625672&bt=europeanaapi Siwa, main street].

Egyptian rule from distant Cairo was at first tenuous and marked by several revolts. Egypt began to assert firmer control after a 1928 visit to the oasis by King Fuad I, who berated the locals for homosexual practices and specified punishments to bring Siwan behaviour in line with Egyptian morals.

Siwa was also the site of some fighting during World War I and World War II. The British Army's Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) was based here, but Rommel's Afrika Korps also took possession three times. German soldiers went skinny dipping in the lake of the oracle, contrary to local customs which prohibit public nudity.{{cite web |url=http://byebyenet.com/Egypt/Oasis/siwa.htm |title=Siwa Oasis |publisher=Byebyenet.com |access-date=30 June 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222140106/http://byebyenet.com/Egypt/Oasis/siwa.htm |archive-date=22 February 2012 }} In 1942, while the Italian 136th Infantry Division Giovani Fascisti occupied the oasis, a tiny Egyptian puppet government-in-exile was set up at Siwa. The oasis makes a brief appearance as a base of the LRDG in the 1958 war film Ice Cold in Alex.

The ancient fortress of Siwa, known as the Shali Ghadi (Shali being the name of the town, and Ghadi meaning "remote"), was built on natural rock (an inselberg) and made of kershif (salt and mud-brick) and palm logs. After it was damaged by three days of heavy rains in 1926{{cite web|url=http://www.lonelyplanet.com/egypt/western-desert/siwa-oasis/sights/military/fortress-shali |title=Shali |publisher=lonelyplanet.com |access-date=16 March 2015}} it was abandoned for similar unreinforced construction housing on the plain surrounding it, and in some cases those, in turn, have been replaced by more modern cinder block and sheet metal roof buildings. Only one building in the Shali complex has been repaired and is in use, a mosque. Gradually eroded by infrequent rains and slowly collapsing, the Shali remains a prominent feature, towering five stories above the modern town and lit at night by floodlights. It is most easily approached from its southwest side, south of the end of the paved road which curves around from the north side of the Shali. Several uneven pedestrian streets lead from the southwest end of the Shali into it, and the ground is rent in places by deep cracks. Many of the unreinforced kershif buildings bordering the streets of the Shali are also split by large cracks, or they are partially collapsed.

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; and "Cleopatra's Bath", an antique natural spring. The fragmentary remains of the oracle temple, with some inscriptions dating from the 4th century BCE, lie within the ruins of Aghurmi. The revelations of the oracle fell into disrepute under the Roman occupation of Egypt.

Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as hot desert (BWh),{{cite web| url=http://en.climate-data.org/location/32202/| title=Climate Siwa – Climate graph, Temperature graph, Climate table (altitude: −15m)| publisher=Climate-Data.org| access-date=19 October 2013}} as the rest of Egypt.

{{Weather box

|width = auto

|location = Siwa (1961–1990)

|metric first = Yes

|single line = Yes

|Jan record high C = 29.3

|Feb record high C = 34.6

|Mar record high C = 41.6

|Apr record high C = 44.8

|May record high C = 48.0

|Jun record high C = 48.2

|Jul record high C = 45.2

|Aug record high C = 46.2

|Sep record high C = 42.8

|Oct record high C = 41.9

|Nov record high C = 37.5

|Dec record high C = 29.0

|year record high C = 48.2

|Jan high C = 19.3

|Feb high C = 21.5

|Mar high C = 24.5

|Apr high C = 29.9

|May high C = 34.0

|Jun high C = 37.5

|Jul high C = 37.5

|Aug high C = 37.0

|Sep high C = 34.6

|Oct high C = 30.5

|Nov high C = 25.0

|Dec high C = 20.5

|year high C = 29.3

|Jan mean C = 12.1

|Feb mean C = 14.0

|Mar mean C = 17.3

|Apr mean C = 21.9

|May mean C = 25.8

|Jun mean C = 29.2

|Jul mean C = 29.9

|Aug mean C = 29.4

|Sep mean C = 27.1

|Oct mean C = 22.8

|Nov mean C = 17.3

|Dec mean C = 13.2

|year mean C = 21.7

|Jan low C = 5.6

|Feb low C = 7.1

|Mar low C = 10.1

|Apr low C = 13.7

|May low C = 17.8

|Jun low C = 20.4

|Jul low C = 21.7

|Aug low C = 21.4

|Sep low C = 19.5

|Oct low C = 15.5

|Nov low C = 10.2

|Dec low C = 6.5

|year low C = 14.1

|Jan record low C = -2.2

|Feb record low C = -1.3

|Mar record low C = 0.3

|Apr record low C = 5.7

|May record low C = 7.5

|Jun record low C = 14.0

|Jul record low C = 17.5

|Aug record low C = 15.9

|Sep record low C = 11.7

|Oct record low C = 7.8

|Nov record low C = 2.9

|Dec record low C = -0.7

|year record low C = -2.2

|precipitation colour = green

|Jan precipitation mm = 2

|Feb precipitation mm = 1

|Mar precipitation mm = 2

|Apr precipitation mm = 1

|May precipitation mm = 1

|Jun precipitation mm = 0

|Jul precipitation mm = 0

|Aug precipitation mm = 0

|Sep precipitation mm = 0

|Oct precipitation mm = 0

|Nov precipitation mm = 2

|Dec precipitation mm = 1

|year precipitation mm = 9

|unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm

|Jan precipitation days = 0.3

|Feb precipitation days = 0.1

|Mar precipitation days = 0.1

|Apr precipitation days = 0.2

|May precipitation days = 0

|Jun precipitation days = 0

|Jul precipitation days = 0

|Aug precipitation days = 0

|Sep precipitation days = 0

|Oct precipitation days = 0

|Nov precipitation days = 0.1

|Dec precipitation days = 0.2

|year precipitation days = 1.0

|Jan humidity = 56

|Feb humidity = 50

|Mar humidity = 46

|Apr humidity = 38

|May humidity = 34

|Jun humidity = 33

|Jul humidity = 37

|Aug humidity = 41

|Sep humidity = 44

|Oct humidity = 50

|Nov humidity = 56

|Dec humidity = 59

|year humidity = 45.3

| Jan dew point C = 2.8

| Feb dew point C = 2.7

| Mar dew point C = 4.7

| Apr dew point C = 5.5

| May dew point C = 7.5

| Jun dew point C = 9.8

| Jul dew point C = 12.5

| Aug dew point C = 13.5

| Sep dew point C = 13.2

| Oct dew point C = 11.5

| Nov dew point C = 7.7

| Dec dew point C = 4.4

| year dew point C = 8.0

|Jan sun = 230.7

|Feb sun = 248.4

|Mar sun = 270.3

|Apr sun = 289.2

|May sun = 318.8

|Jun sun = 338.4

|Jul sun = 353.5

|Aug sun = 363.0

|Sep sun = 315.6

|Oct sun = 294.0

|Nov sun = 265.5

|Dec sun = 252.8

|year sun = 3540.2

|source 1 = NOAA{{cite web

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231003184121/https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/pub/data/normals/WMO/1961-1990/RA-I/UB/62417.TXT

| archive-date = 3 October 2023

| url = https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/pub/data/normals/WMO/1961-1990/RA-I/UB/62417.TXT

| title = Siwa Climate Normals 1961–1990

| publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

| access-date = 3 October 2023}}

}}

File:Girl wearing the traditional dress of Siwa Oasis grinding salt.jpg

The traditional culture of Siwa shows many unique elements, some reflecting its longstanding links with the isolated oasis life and the fact that the inhabitants are Siwi Berbers. Until a tarmac road was built to the Mediterranean coast in the 1980s Siwa's only links with the outside world were by arduous camel tracks through the desert. These were used to export dates and olives, bring trade goods, or carry pilgrims on the route which linked the Maghreb to Cairo and hence to Mecca.{{Cite news|last=Otterman|first=Sharon|date=18 March 2007|title=Chilled Out in the Sahara (Published 2007)|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/18/travel/18surfacing.1.html|access-date=2020-12-23|issn=0362-4331}}

File:Store Siwa Egypt.JPG

As a result of this isolation, Siwis developed a unique natural culture manifested in its crafts of basketry, pottery, silverwork and embroidery and in its style of dress. The most visible and celebrated examples of this were the bridal silver and the ensemble of silver ornaments and beads that women wore in abundance to weddings and other ceremonies.Margaret Mary Vale, 2011, Sand and Silver, 71, 79–83. These pieces were decorated with symbols which related to Siwa's history and beliefs and attitudes.Margaret Mary Vale, 2011, Sand and Silver: Jewellery, Costume and Life in Siwa Oasis, London:Kelim

The best known of these pieces is a huge silver disc called 'adrim' and a round necklace, called 'aghraw', from which it hung over the breast. A girl would give up the disc at a special ceremony in the spring the day she was married. The jewelry, which was made by local silversmiths, consisted of silver necklaces, earrings, bangles, hair ornaments, pendants, and many rings.Margaret Mary Vale, 2011, Sand and Silver, xiv, 32, 79–81, 87–99, 101–7. For a wealthy woman, the full ensemble could weigh as much as five or six kilos. These pieces are decorated with symbols common to Berber people across North Africa designed to promote good health, fertility and to protect the wearer from misfortune. Some of the same signs and patterns are found on the embroidery which embellishes women's dresses, trousers, and shawls.Margaret Mary Vale, 2011, Sand and Silver, 61–70.

File:BijouEgyptien MHNT.ETH.2012.23.72.jpg|Silver pendant with engraved Quran-box

File:BijouEgyptien MHNT.ETH.2012.23.87.jpg|Silver ring

File:BijouEgyptien MHNT.ETH.2012.23.60.jpg|Silver ear ornament

File:BijouEgyptien MHNT.ETH.2012.23.107.jpg|Silver disk and round necklace (torc)

The arrival of the road and of television exposed the oasis to the styles and fashions of the outside world and the traditional silver ornaments were gradually replaced by jewelry made of gold. Evidence of the old styles and traditions are however still in evidence in the women's embroidery and costume.Margaret Mary Vale, 2011, Sand and Silver The material for the "tarfutet", the distinctive all-enveloping shawl worn by women, are brought from outside the oasis, specifically from the town of Kirdasa, in the Giza Governorate.Margaret Mary Vale, 2011, Sand and Silver, p. 44

Siwi people are very religious so on Ramadan, they tend to close all the shops and stay at home for the whole month.{{Citation needed|date=September 2020}} Like other Muslim Egyptians, Siwis celebrate Eid al-Fitr (lʕid ahakkik,"the Little Eid") and Eid al-Adha (lʕid azuwwar,"the Big Eid"). Unlike other Egyptians, however, on Eid al-Adha Siwis cook the skin of the sheep (along with its innards) as a festival delicacy, after removing the hair.Ahmed Fakhry. 1973. Siwa Oasis, Cairo: AUC, p. 64 They also eat heart of palm (agroz).Fathi Malim. 2001. Oasis Siwa: from the Inside. Traditions, customs, and magic. Al Katan / Dar al Kutub. p. 34

The Siyaha Festival (Eid El Solh–Eid El Hasad), in honour of the town's traditional patron saint Sidi Sulayman, is unique to Siwa (the name is often misunderstood as a reference to "tourism", but in fact predates tourism). It is known that on this occasion Siwi men meet on a mountain near the town, Gabal Al–Dakrour, to eat together, sing chants while thanking God, and reconcile with one another; all Siwi houses co-operate in preparing and cooking food, in this day Siwian people eat fattah (rice, toasted bread and meat), after Dohr prayer (12:00 PM) all Siwian youth gather to set the banquet, nobody is allowed to eat before the caller announces to start eating so they can all eat together, the women stay behind in the village, and celebrate with dancing, singing, and drums. The food for the festival is bought collectively, with funds gathered by the oasis' mosques,Malim 2001:29 celebrations last for 3 Qamari days, and in the early morning of the fourth day, siwian men form a big march, while holding flags and singing spiritual songs. The march starts from Gabal El – Dakrour and ends in Sidi Solayman square – in the center of Siwa – declaring ending of festivals, and beginning of a new year without hatred or grudge, and with love, respect and reconciliation.

Siwi children traditionally also celebrated Ashura by lighting torches, singing, and exchanging sweets.Fakhry 1973:67 Adults' celebration was limited to the preparation of a large meal.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Festivals|url=https://egyptbesttrip.com/1292-2/|access-date=2020-12-23|website=}}

Siwans are preferentially endogamous, only rarely marrying non-Siwans.Fathi Malim. 2001. Oasis Siwa: from the Inside. Traditions, customs, and magic. Al Katan / Dar al Kutub. pp. 38, 54 Nonetheless, Bedouin brides command a higher brideprice in Siwa than Siwan ones.ibid, p. 54

According to older members of the Awlad Ali Bedouins, the Bedouin relations with Siwans were traditionally mediated through a system of "friendship", whereby a specific Siwan (and his descendants) would be the friend of a specific Bedouin (and his descendants). The Bedouin would stay at the Siwan's house when he came to Siwa, and would exchange his animal products and grain for the Siwan's dates and olive oil.Donald Powell Cole, Soraya Altorki. 1998. Bedouin, settlers, and holiday-makers: Egypt's changing northwest coast. Cairo: AUC. p. 143

Siwa's Berbers are close to 30,000 in number.{{cite news |last=Smith|first=Sylvia |date=31 August 2011 |title=Flying the flag for North Africa's 'Berber spring' |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-14650257 |newspaper=BBC News |location=Morocco }}{{cite news |last=al-Naghy |first=Omar |date=29 September 2015 |title=Who are Egypt's Amazighs? |url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/en/contents/articles/originals/2015/09/egypt-amazigh-marginalized-siwa-oasis.html |newspaper=Al-Monitor |location=CAIRO |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160919124544/http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/en/contents/articles/originals/2015/09/egypt-amazigh-marginalized-siwa-oasis.html |archive-date=19 September 2016 }}

The hot springs are an attraction to visitors.{{cite news |last=al-Naghy |first=Omar |date=24 September 2015 |title=Tourists drawn to hot springs, natural beauty of Egypt's remote Siwa Oasis |url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/09/egypt-siwa-oasis-tourism-health-healing-conservation.html |newspaper=Al-Monitor |location=CAIROaccess-date= |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170204005225/http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/09/egypt-siwa-oasis-tourism-health-healing-conservation.html |archive-date=4 February 2017 }}

Women have traditionally played a prominent role in Siwan households, often being in charge of a household's financial decisions. They have also been responsible for raising children; the town's deputy mayor said in 1985, "If our children speak Siwi, it to our womenfolk that they owe it."

Siwa is of special interest to anthropologists and sociologists because of its historical acceptance of intergenerational male homosexuality and rituals celebrating same-sex marriage – traditions that the Egyptian authorities have sought to repress, with increasing success, since the early 20th century.

The German Egyptologist Georg Steindorff explored the oasis in 1900 and reported that pederastic relations were common and often extended to a form of marriage: "The feast of marrying a boy was celebrated with great pomp, and the money paid for a boy sometimes amounted to fifteen pounds, while the money paid for a woman was a little over one pound."{{cite book|last=Steindorff|first=George|title=Durch die Libysche Wuste Zur Amonoase|year=1904|page=111|publisher=Velohgen and Klasing|location=Leipsig}} Mahmud Mohammad Abd Allah, writing of Siwan customs for the Harvard Peabody Museum in 1917, commented that although Siwan men could take up to four wives, "Siwan customs allow a man but one boy to whom he is bound by a stringent code of obligations."{{cite journal|last=Allah|first=Abd|title=Siwan Customs|journal=Harvard African Studies|year=1917|volume=7}}

In 1937, the anthropologist Walter Cline wrote the first detailed ethnography of the Siwans in which he noted: "All normal Siwan men and boys practice sodomy...among themselves the natives are not ashamed of this; they talk about it as openly as they talk about love of women, and many if not most of their fights arise from homosexual competition....Prominent men lend their sons to each other. All Siwans know the matings which have taken place among their sheiks and their sheiks' sons....Most of the boys used in sodomy are between 12 and 18 years of age."{{cite book|last=Cline|first=Walter|title=Notes on the People of Siwa|year=1936|page=43|publisher=George Banta Publishing Co|location=Menasha, Wisconsin}} After an expedition to Siwa, the archaeologist Count Byron de Prorok reported in 1937 "an enthusiasm [that] could not have been approached even in Sodom... Homosexuality was not merely rampant, it was raging...Every dancer had his boyfriend...[and] chiefs had harems of boys".{{cite book |last=De Prorok |first=Count Byron |title=In Quest of Lost Worlds |publisher=Dutton |year=1936 |location=New York |page=64}}

In the late 1940s, a Siwan merchant told the visiting British novelist Robin Maugham that the Siwan women were "badly neglected", but that Siwan men "will kill each other for boy. Never for a woman", although as Maugham noted, marriage to a boy had become illegal by then.{{cite book|last=Maugham|first=Robin|title=Journey to Siwa|year=1950|page=80|publisher=Chapman and Hall|location=London}} The Egyptian archaeologist Ahmed Fakhry, who studied Siwa for three decades, observed in 1973 that "While the Siwans were still living inside their walled town, none of these bachelors was allowed to spend the night in the town and had to sleep outside the gates...Under such circumstances it is not surprising that homosexuality was common among them....Up to the year 1928, it was not unusual that some kind of written agreement, which was sometimes called a marriage contract, was made between two males; but since the visit of King Fu'ad to this oasis it has been completely forbidden...However, such agreements continued, but in great secrecy, and without the actual writing, until the end of World War II. Now the practice is not followed."{{cite book|last=Fakhry|first=Ahmed|title=Siwa Oasis|year=1973|publisher=The American University in Cairo Press|location=Cairo|pages=41–43}}

Despite the multiplicity of sources for these practices, the Egyptian authorities and even the Siwan tribal elders have attempted to repress the historical and anthropological record. When the Siwa-born anthropologist Fathi Malim included reference to Siwan homosexuality (especially a love poem from a man to a youth) in his book Oasis Siwa (2001),{{cite book|last=Malim|first=Fathi|title=Oasis Siwa from the Inside|year=2001|location=Siwa}} the tribal council demanded that he blank out the material in the current edition of the book and remove it from future editions, or be expelled from the community. Malim reluctantly agreed and physically deleted the passages in the first edition of his book, and excluded them from the second.{{cite web|title=Siwan anthropologist sparks controversy|date=14 November 2002 |url=http://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/siwan-anthropologist-sparks-controversy|publisher=Cultural Survival|access-date=14 November 2002}} A newer book, Siwa Past and Present (2005) by A. Dumairy, the Director of Siwa Antiquities, omits all mention of the famous historical practices of the inhabitants.{{cite book|last=Dumairy|first=A.|title=Siwa Past and Present|year=2005|location=Alexandria}}

About 80 km (50 mi) in length and 20 km (12 mi) wide, Siwa Oasis is one of Egypt's most isolated settlements, with about 25,000 people,{{Cite web |last=Project |first=Joshua |title=Siwa Oasis in Egypt |url=https://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/14958/EG |access-date=2022-06-01 |website=joshuaproject.net |language=en}}According to 2016 CAPAMS census: http://www.capmas.gov.eg/Pages/StaticPages.aspx?page_id=7188 mostly Siwi Berbers ({{langx|siz|Isiwan}}. The municipality hosts the easternmost Berber-speaking community, whose language, called Siwi ({{lang|siz|Jlan n Isiwan}}), shares many linguistic features with the languages of Sokna and El Foqaha in Libya, partially also with the Zenati group, and which has been heavily influenced by Arabic.

While the majority of the population of Siwa is Berber, the oasis is also home to a Bedouin community related to the Awlad Ali, the Shahibaat, as well as to a growing number of other Egyptian settlers. Currently, the entire population of the oasis speaks Arabic as either a first or a second language.{{Cite web |title=Siwa Oasis |url=https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/document/obo-9780199846733/obo-9780199846733-0223.xml |access-date=2023-07-11 |website=obo |language=en}} The Siwi Berber population is also fluent in Egyptian Arabic, which is called Masri "Egyptian".{{cite web|url=http://www.lonelyplanet.com/egypt/western-desert/siwa-oasis/introduction|title=Siwa Oasis, Egypt – Lonely Planet|last=Planet|first=Lonely|website=Lonely Planet|language=en|access-date=2017-05-19}}

File:Into the desert (4).jpg in the dunes of Siwa]]

Siwa has been noted for its dates since ancient times, and today date palm cultivation is by far the largest component of its economy. In a distant second place, with about one-fifth of the scale as dates, is olive cultivation. Handicrafts like basketry are also of regional importance.

Tourism has in recent decades become a vital source of income. Much attention has been given to creating hotels that use local materials and display local styles.[http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/can-a-desert-oasis-lead-the-way-to-sustainable-eco-tourism-in-egypt/ Can a Desert Oasis Lead the Way to Sustainable Eco-Tourism in Egypt?] Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, 1 March 2010.

In the mid-20th century, Egyptian archaeologist Ahmed Fakhry worked at Siwa (and elsewhere in the Western Desert).

In 1995, Greek archaeologist Liana Souvaltzi announced that she had identified the tomb of Alexander the Great in the oasis of Siwa. She made the following statement to the Greek media:

But I am speaking to every Greek all over the world. I want every one of you to feel proud because Greek hands have found this very important monument.

This statement was an answer to the, at the time, Greek prime minister Costas Simitis who urged the archaeologists to stop their research in Egypt and sent a Greek Embassy advisor to ask the Egyptian government to withdraw Mrs Souvaltzi’s permission to excavate in the area. The case is still active in the Greek courts of law.{{cite web |author1=Greek News |title=How a historian claims to have unearthed Alexander the Great's tomb |url=https://greekcitytimes.com/2020/03/30/how-a-historian-unearthed-alexander-the-greats-tomb/ |website=greekcitytimes.com |date=30 March 2020 |access-date=23 April 2022 |location=Online}}

An extremely old hominid footprint was discovered in 2007 at Siwa Oasis. Egyptian scientists claimed it could be 2–3 million years old, which would make it the oldest fossilized hominid footprint ever found. However, no proof of this conjecture was ever presented.[https://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSL2029290020070820 Reuters: Human footprint may be oldest ever found] 20 August 2007.{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6956902.stm | work=BBC News | title=Egypt footprint 'could be oldest' | date=21 August 2007}}{{cite web|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/02/090226-oldest-footprints.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090228054555/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/02/090226-oldest-footprints.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=28 February 2009 |title=Oldest Human Footprints With Modern Anatomy Found |publisher=News.nationalgeographic.com |date=28 October 2010 |access-date=30 June 2012}}

In late 2013, an announcement was made regarding the apparent archaeoastronomy discovery of precise spring and fall equinox sunrise alignments over the Aghurmi mound/Amun Oracle when viewed from Timasirayn temple in the Western Desert, 12 km away across Lake Siwa. The first known recent public viewing of this event occurred on March 21, 2014, during the spring equinox.{{cite web|url=http://thesourceinthesahara.com|title=The Source In The Sahara – Accumulating Evidence for the Saharan Origins of Ancient Egypt – Home / News|website=thesourceinthesahara.com|access-date=2 April 2018}}

Siwa Oasis is an official map for Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory which belongs to North Africa Campaign.{{cite web |url=https://strategywiki.org/wiki/Wolfenstein:_Enemy_Territory/Siwa_Oasis|title=Wolfenstein Enemy Territory |date=29 May 2003|access-date=29 May 2003|work=Splash Damage |publisher=Activision}} The fifth mission from the game Sniper Elite III takes place on the Siwa Oasis.{{cite web |url=https://www.primagames.com/games/sniper-elite-3/walkthrough/sniper-elite-3-walkthrough-mission-5-siwa-oasis-kill-officer |title=Sniper Elite 3 Walkthrough Mission 5: Siwa Oasis – Kill the Officer |last=Lavoy |first=Bill |year=2015 |access-date=3 June 2018 |work=Prima Games}} Siwa is prominently featured in the videogame Assassin's Creed: Origins and is the birthplace and home of the protagonist Bayek of Siwa.{{cite web |url=http://www.ign.com/wikis/assassins-creed-origins/The_Oasis |title=The Oasis |date=28 October 2017 |access-date=4 June 2018 |work=IGN |publisher=Ziff Davis, LLC}} In British author Anthony Horowitz's Alex Rider series, the ninth and eleventh instalments Scorpia Rising and Never Say Die feature Siwa. In Australian author Matthew Reilly's Jack West series of seven novels starting with Seven Ancient Wonders feature prominently the Oracle of Siwa.

File:Siwa Oasis, Qesm Siwah, Matrouh Governorate, Egypt - panoramio (7).jpg|Siwa Oasis, Qesm Siwah, Matrouh Governorate, Egypt

File:Oasis Siwa, Egypt (2007-05-075) (868688341).jpg|Panoramic view of Siwa Oasis

File:Siwa-Homes2009.jpg|Mud-brick houses in the old town of Shali

File:Siwa houses (2007-05-070) (866409866).jpg|Clay houses of old Shali town

File:Siwa Oasis, Temple of the Oracle of Amun, Egypt.jpg|Old walls near the temple

File:Siwa Oasis2009b.jpg|Siwa salt lake

File:Siwa Oasis, Cleopatra's Bath, Egypt.jpg|Cleopatra's bath (Cleopatra's pool)

File:Mosque_in_Siwa_Oasis_(2007).jpg|Mosque at Aghurmi

File:Siwa oasis in Egypt (2007-05-095) (869634463).jpg|Desert rock formations on the outskirts

File:Oracle of Ammun at Siwa.jpg|View through the Temple of the Oracle of Amun to Gebel el-Dakrour

File:Desert dunes near Siwa, Egypt (2007-05-117) (869648897).jpg|Sand dunes in the desert near Siwa Oasis

File:SiwaAghurmiPath.jpg|Corridor to the secret chamber above the sanctuary, Temple of Amun, Aghurmi, Siwa, Egypt

File:SiwaAghurmiTemple.jpg|Temple of Amun, view to the north, Aghurmi, Siwa, Egypt

File:SiwaUbeidaVisitors.jpg|Stone block with visitors' inscriptions at the site of the Temple of Amun, Umm Ubeida, Siwa depression, Egypt

File:ORACLE TEMPLE.jpg|Oracle temple in Siwa

{{portal|Egypt}}

• List of cities and towns in Egypt

{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

• {{cite journal |url= http://vbat.org/spip.php?article268 |title=De l'habitation aux pieds d'argile, Les vicissitudes des matériaux (et des techniques) de construction à Siwa (Égypte) |language=fr |first=Vincent |last=Battesti |editor-last=Benfoughal |editor-first=T. |editor2-last=Boulay |editor2-first=S. |journal=Journal des Africanistes |location=Paris |publisher=Sociétés des Africanistes |year=2006 |volume=76 |issue=1 |pages=165–85 |doi=10.4000/africanistes.197 }}
• {{cite book |language=de |first=Frank |last=Bliss |title=Siwa – Die Oase des Sonnengottes. Leben in einer ägyptischen Oase vom Mittelalter bis in die Gegenwart |location=Bonn |year=1998 }}
• {{cite book |language=fr |first=Frank |last=Bliss |title=Artisanat et artisanat d'art dans les oasis du désert occidental égyptien |publisher=Veröffentlichungen des Frobenius-Instituts |location=Köln |year=1998 }}
• {{cite web|url= http://vbat.org/spip.php?article169 |title="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 Siwa |language=fr |first=Vincent |last=Battesti |editor-last=Battesti |editor-first=V. |editor2-last=Puig |editor2-first=N. |work=Égypte/Monde Arabe, Terrains d'Égypte, anthropologies contemporaines |volume=n° 3 |series=3e série |issue=1er semestre 2006 |location=Le Caire |publisher=Cedej |pages=139–79 }}
• {{cite book |language=fr |author-link=Alain Blottière |first=Alain |last=Blottière |title=L'Oasis |publisher=éditions Quai Voltaire |location=Paris |year=1992 }} Pocket edition : éditions Payot, "Petite Bibliothèque Voyageurs", Paris, 1994. (see link below).
• {{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Siwa | volume= 25 |last= Cana |first= Frank Richardson |author-link= | page = 163 |short= 1}}
• {{cite book |first=Margaret Mary |last=Vale |title=Sand and Silver: Jewellery, Costume and Life in the Oasis of Siwa |location=London |year=2011 }}
• {{cite web |url=http://www.selectegypt.com/egypt/western-desert-oases-maps.html |title=Western Desert Maps }}

• [http://www.eeaa.gov.eg/en-us/topics/nature/protectorates/protectoratesdescription.aspx Ministry of Environment Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency – Natural Protectorates Description] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190829071334/http://www.eeaa.gov.eg/en-us/topics/nature/protectorates/protectoratesdescription.aspx |date=29 August 2019 }}
• [http://www.siwaoasis.com/ The Locally Run Website of Siwa Oasis].
• [http://www.siwawi.com/ Siwawi.com The guide for visiting Siwa Oasis].
• [http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/198805/siwa-oasis.extraordinary.htm Siwa Oasis – Extraordinary]. Archived on [https://archive.today/20121216110852/http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/198805/siwa-oasis.extraordinary.htm Archive.is]
• [http://www.harpocrates.com.eg/siwa.htm Alain Blottière's Travel book on Siwa] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100514081850/http://www.harpocrates.com.eg/siwa.htm |date=14 May 2010 }}.
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20131001112107/http://imagesjourney.com/Main.aspx?Category=15 Siwa Oasis Photo Gallery].
• [http://www.egypt.travel/attractions/olive-and-palm-groves/ Olive and Palm Groves in Siwa Oasis]

{{Wikivoyage|Siwa}}

{{Commons category|Siwa}}

{{Egyptian Cities}}

{{National Parks of Egypt}}

{{Egypt oasis areas}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Berber populated places

Category:Parks in Egypt

Category:Classical oracles

Category:Oases of Egypt

Category:Berbers in Egypt

Category:Populated places in Matrouh Governorate

Category:Tourism in Egypt

Category:National parks of Egypt

Category:LGBTQ in Egypt

Category:Springs of Egypt

Category:Tourist attractions in Egypt

Category:Western Desert (Egypt)

Category:Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems

Category:Cities in Egypt