Ammon (Siwa)

The desert north of Siwa

Ammon: name of a Libyan deity and his oracle in the desert. It became famous after Alexander the Great made a detour to consult the god. The modern name is Siwa.

Oasis

God

Photos

The Oracle Temple

There are several ancient monuments in Siwa. The main sanctuary, the oracle, can be found on a partly artificial mound of dried mud (a "shali") that is about 30 meters high and is called Arhumi. In front of the oracle temple was a court of about 22x11 meters; the sanctuary itself consisted of three successive rooms, built in an almost Greek fashion.

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The Oracle

The holiest of holies was decorated with a frieze, which is now badly damaged but can still be more or less understood. On the eastern wall, king Amasis, the builder of the sanctuary, was shown offering bread to the gods Amun, Mut, Chnum, Chonsu, and four others. On the opposite site, the figure of the ruler of Siwa, a man named Sutekh-Irdes, is no longer visible, but his remarkable title is still legible: "king of Upper and Lower Egypt and chief of the lands in the desert". He offers bread to, again, Amun and Mut, to Onuris and Tefnut, Harsaphis and Nut, and finally Thoth and Nehmataway.

A satellite photo of the oracle in Siwa can be found here.


Climbing to the Oracle	Detail of the western wall of the cella: Thoth and Nehmataway	The northern wall	Detail of the western wall: the goddess Tefnut

The western wall of the cella: the vanished figure of Sutkh-Irdes	The western wall of the cella	The western wall of the cella	The western wall of the cella, with the figures of Thoth and Nehmataway

The eastern wall of the cella	The eastern wall of the cella	The eastern wall of the cella	The eastern wall of the cella: Nut and Amun, Amasis

Nectanebo's Temple

The second temple (satellite photo) was built by Nectanebo II, about 400 meters south of the oracle. Today, only a small wall fragment and several blocks of the roof remain, but this is sufficient to know that this sanctuary was directed to the north, to the oracle. Nectanebo's local colleague, named Wen-Amun, is shown worshiping the sun.

A satellite photo can be seen here.


Remains of Nectanebo's temple	Remains of a platform	Remains of Nectanebo's temple: Wen-Amun praying to the Sun	A "shali" fort of Siwa, made of dried mud

View of the oasis, with a shali	Another view of the oasis	One of the shalis	The so-called Bath of Cleopatra, which in Antiquity was known as Spring of the Sun (satellite photo)

Photos