Blog

Research for the toponyms of Siwa oasis in Roman times

I’m republishing an old 2017 post to resume the analysis of the toponym of the village of Siwa in the second century AD. In the papyrus Graux 27, dating back to the year 15 of Septimius Severus (207 AD), month of Mecheir, coming…

Fred Boissonnas and the Oasis of Siwa

In 1929, Geneva-born photographer François-Frédéric "Fred" Boissonnas (1858-1946), then seventy-one years old but already renowned for his reportage on Greece, was invited to Egypt by King Fuad I to produce a monumental…

A digital enhancement of a photograph taken by Hermann Burchardt in Siwa

A digital enhancement of a photograph taken by Hermann Burchardt in Siwa (spring 1893), processed to bring out the original structure and details of the Shali fortress during that period. These early visual records quickly became…

Pioneer in the Desert: Countess May Torok von Szendro

This last post in the "Pioneer in the Desert" series should have been the first, had I not long harbored doubts about the actual presence of Khedive Abbas Hilmi II's wife during his trip to Siwa in 1904-1905. The Khedive's…

Pioneer in the Desert: Beryl de Zoete

It appears that the previous post in the “Pioneer in the Desert” series was not actually the last. I recently rediscovered a book purchased years ago, "The Thunder and the Freshness", which contains a chapter entirely dedicated…

Title: Pioneer in the Desert: Lee Miller

In the seventh episode on Western Female Travellers, we focus on Lee Miller’s visits to Siwa. Lee Miller, one of the most innovative figures in twentieth-century photography, between 1934 and 1939, while living in Cairo with her…

Pioneer in the Desert: Brigitte Schiffer

In the sixth episode of our series on Western Female Travelers, we focus on Brigitte Schiffer’s visit to Siwa. The first visit (August 1932): A brief research trip to the oasis as part of an expedition led by Henry Maurer…

Pioneer in the Desert: Marcelle Prat

In the Fifth episode of our series on Western Female Travelers, we focus on Marcelle Prat’s visit to Siwa. In 1935, French reporter Marcelle Prat embarked on an extraordinary journey across Egypt and the Libyan desert, recounted…

Pioneer in the Desert: Lady Dorothy Clayton East-Clayton

In the fourth episode of our series on Western Female Travelers, we focus on Lady Dorothy Clayton East-Clayton (born Dorothy Mary Durrant, 1906-1933), one of the most extraordinary adventurers and pioneers of the Libyan desert…

Pioneer in the Desert: Captain Hillier’s Wife

From the beginning of this series of posts, I have had doubts about whether I should include Mrs. Hillier, who often led travelers—including female travelers—to Siwa, personally driving one of the cars. The problem is that,…

Pioneer in the Desert: Baroness Marie-Thérèse Ullens de Schooten

In the second episode of the series on Western women travelers, we recount the journey of Baroness Marie-Thérèse Ullens de Schooten to Siwa, which took place in February 1926. Baroness Ullens was married to the Belgian diplomat…

Pioneer in the Desert: Rosita Forbes and Her Visit to Siwa

Today, I’m starting a short series of posts dedicated to the first European female explorers who reached Siwa in modern times! In this first episode, I want to tell you about Rosita Forbes (1890–1967), a British adventurer and…

Beyond Music: Henry Maurer and the Rediscovered Images of the Siwa Expedition

In addition to a previous post from 2020 regarding Brigitte Schiffer’s visit to Siwa for her doctoral research on Siwan music, I would now like to provide further information about Henry Maurer, who organized the expedition and…

Several years ago, I shared some information aboutthe first film shot in Siwa, in 1937, by director Victor Stoloff, titled "Desert Boy." In the following years, I repeatedly tried—unfortunately withou

Today, however, I made an interesting discovery: while browsing a film magazine from 1938, I found an article mentioning the existence of a French version of the film, titled "Siwa, escale du désert." This opens up new…

A colony of Siwa inhabitants settled in the Bahariya Oasis at the beginning of the 19th century.

Paul Ascherson, in his article “Die Bewohner der Kleinen Oase in der Libyschen Wüste,” mentions a colony of Siwa inhabitants who settled in the Bahariya Oasis. This community, already established during Cailliaud's time (early…

Hypothesis on the presence of an earlier building on the current site of the Funerary Temple of Wenamun (Umm el Ubayda) in the Siwa Archaeological Area.

ypothesis on the presence of an earlier building on the current site of the Funerary Temple of Wenamun (Umm el Ubayda) in the Siwa Archaeological Area. In recent years, a survey conducted by Professor Kuhlmann has confirmed a…

“A travers le sable et la jungle” article by Marcelle Prat

The article, which appeared in the magazine "Le Matin" on January 20, 1935, is the result of the visit of the journalist and writer Marcelle Prat to the Siwa oasis. She is, probably, the first woman to visit the oasis and to…

On the recommendation of a friend in Siwa, I found a papyrus preserved in London that I did not know, discovered more than a century ago which bears a "Postcard" sent by a certain Nearchus to his frie

The papyrus dates back to the 1st-2nd century AD. and represents an important document that testifies to the importance that the oracle continued to exercise on the Mediterranean world even in the height of the Roman imperial…

Localization problem of the "Temple of Amoudayn" (Temple of the two columns) in Siwa Oasis

The first western travelers who rediscovered Siwa and its oracle of Ammon in the early 19th century always speak of a temple, in the western part of the oasis, which they call "Amoudeyn" and say that it is located in the vicinity…

A short story that takes place in Siwa published by Louis Reybaud in "Journal de Toulouse - Politique et Litteraire" in October 1852.

Marie Roch Louis Reybaud (15 August 1799 – 26 or 28 October 1879) was a French writer, political economist and politician. He was born in Marseille. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Roch_Louis_Reybaud Nouvelles de Louis…

Siwa yesterday and today-Shali and the Atik Mosque

photo taken by Herman Burchardt in 1893 compared with a view today March 25, 2024

Hypothesis on the presence of an earlier building on the current site of the Funerary Temple of Wenamun (Umm el Ubayda) in the Siwa Archaeological Area.

In recent years, a survey conducted by Professor Kuhlmann has confirmed a previous hypothesis about the existence of a dromos between the two temple sites, Aghurmi and Umm El Ubayda. This confirmation creates a temporal problem…

Newcomers to the Library

The Black Lions regularly welcome new books. Check out the latest arrivals here. IL GRANDE BELZONI by Walter VENTURI Comic strip in Italian whose main character is Giovanni Battista Belzoni. Belzoni was an italian excavator,…

The Black Lions have their Visitors' Book!

From January 2023, we have a Visitors' Book. We invite our visitors to let us messages to participate in the history of the Library. We have already some very kind comments from all over the world.

Article by Gaston Maspero on the Siwa Oasis

Published in the "Journal de Debat politique et Litteraires" of 28 June 1905. The article, dedicated by Maspero to the oasis, is extremely interested even if in part overtaken by the progress of research. I am not sure, but I…

جنة الصحراء سيوه أو واحة آمون

Jannat al Sahara Siwa aw Wahat Amun by Al Jawhari Rifat In the extension program of the Scientific Library relating to the history of Siwa that I opened in the Oasis, this book is important as it is one of the few monographs on…

Siwa and its region in the geographical maps "Tertia Africae Tabula" published at Rome in 1478

During the Middle Ages Western cartography knew practically nothing of the interior of Africa and reported, in an uncertain way, what was asserted by the Greek geographers of antiquity mostly by Claudius Ptolemy who lived in the…

Old map of Alexander's Expeditions by A. Ortelius.

Date of the first edition: 1595 -Date of this map: 1601 Size: 36 x 47cm (14 x 18.2 inches) Verso text: Latin From: Theatrum Orbis Terrarum Abrahami Ortelii Antverp. Geographi Regii. Antwerpen, Plantin Press, 1601. The position of…

The citizen Ripault

The citizen Ripault (we are at the time of the French revolution) had presented to the Institute of Egypt (founded by Napoleon) a memory concerning the Western oases which includes a description of Siwa (taken from Arab travelers…

Siwa - Die Oase des Sonnengottes in der libyschen Wüste

Siwa - Die Oase des Sonnengottes in der libyschen Wüste von J.C. Ewald Falls 1910 With 25 illustrations after original photographs of the viceroy Expedition 1906 and the Kaufmann Expedition 1905-07

VOILA -L'Hebdomadaire du Reportage 7 Octobre 1938

Article written in the magazine by a member of Victor Stoloff's team who stayed in Siwa for three months in 1937 to shoot a film about the life of the Oasis, entitled "Desert Boy"

Old map with the paths of the first western travelers to discover the Siwa Oasis.

Author: Philippe Vandermaelen 1795-1869 Date:1827 Short Title: Partie, l'Egypte. Afrique 11.

LRDG in Siwa Oasis

"Long Range Desert Group" (LRDG) was a reconnaissance and raiding unit of the British Army during the Second World War. Originally called the Long Range Patrol (LRP), the unit was founded in Egypt in June 1940 by Major Ralph A.…

Photo from Robin Maugham's book - "Journey to Siwa" made in 1947.

These are the first images that I found after the end of the war and they show us a still traditional Siwa but we are close enough to our times to recognize places and, perhaps, people.

"Camels Through Libya - a Desert Adventure from the Fringes of the Sahara to the Oases of Upper Egyp

Campbell in his book describes his journey through the Italian Libya in 1931 and 1932 which leads him to pass by the oasis of Siwa coming from Jarabub. It doesn't say anything new about Siwa and its surroundings (but it does…

Siwa oasis - Historical, Geographical, Social and Economic Aspects By Hussein Ali Ar Rifai

Siwa in 1932. Photos taken from the book by Hussein Ali El Rifai. (Professor of Political Science and Economics and Economic Inspector at the Ministry of Industry) - Alamiria Press in Cairo

Umm ‘Ubayda Temple (Wenamun funerary Temple) in Siwa oasis

The first photographs available, to my knowledge, of the temple are the two taken by Hermann Burchardt on his journey to the Ammon Oasis in 1893 and recently published by Stefano Struffolino. In these photos the two walls are…

Prince Farouk Hotel in Siwa Oasis 1920-40 ?

Given the interest in the Prince Farouk Hotel in Siwa in the years between the two world wars I have tried to investigate and find other information but with poor results apart from some other images taken from the film made by…

Prince Farouk Hotel 1920-1930

During the British occupation of Egypt, Siwa became a tourist attraction. Unlike the travelers of the past, who made the journey under peril, the colonialists booked trips via the Libyan Oases Association in Alexandria, owned and…

The Journey of Exploration of Bruneau De Laborie

The Journey of Exploration of Bruneau De Laborie in 1923 from Cameroon to Cairo via the Libyan desert (and Siwa).

The diatribe on which of the two temples is that of the Oracle of Siwa

Until the visit of the Scottish traveler James Hamilton in 1852 all modern travelers (Browne, Horneman, Cailliaud and following) believed that the temple of the oracle was that of Umm Ubayda also because the real temple, on the…

Here I present two Siwa paintings made by Jaro Hilbert in 1960

There are other paintings from his Egyptian period some relating to Marsa Matruh. Biography Jaro Hilbert (1897-1995) Of Czech parents, Jaro Hilbert born in 1897 in Slovenia. He is the fifth child in a family of nine. Jaro Hilbert…

In 2017 a cartoon character has an adventure in the Siwa Oasis and presents interesting drawings.

Evidently the authors have well interpreted the current state of our knowledge. Alix Senator was created by Jacques Martin in 1948. For decades, through dozens of albums, Alix has traveled the ancient world, crossed paths with…

I propose this post from early 2018 again because I have more information about the spread of Christ

For those who still believe that Christianity has never arrived in Siwa. Belgrave says (Page 88): "Somewhere abaut the fourth century Christianity penetrated to Siwa, and the ruins of a church, or monastery, built probably at…

The first indisputable attestation of a Bishop in the Siwa Oasis

The first indisputable attestation of a Bishop in the Siwa Oasis is given by a recently identified text, a "Historia episcopatus Alexandrie" written towards the end of the 4th century which mentions two Bishops of the oasis…

Hermann Burchardt- first photos of Siwa available to my knowledge

The photos, realized in the spring of 1893 in the first trip of Hermann Burchardt, come directly from the archive of the "Ethnologisches Museum -Berlin" except for some that come from the publication of Stefano Struffolino…

Does the pilgrimage of the emperor of Mali, Mansa Musa, to Mecca also pass by the Oasis of Siwa?

The precise route is not certain but many sources mention the oasis of Augila as a stop on the runway for Cairo and, in this case, the passage for Siwa is almost mandatory. Unfortunately there are no sources in Siwa but I believe…

The Geological Map of Egypt published in 1910

The Geological Map of Egypt published in 1910 is also interesting for the toponym of the Siwa Oasis in this period. link to access the entire Map on my Storage. ____________________________________________________________________…

Article on the occupation of Siwa by Italian troops in 1942

Article on the occupation of Siwa by Italian troops in 1942 taken from the French magazine "L'illustation" of 7 November 1942. There are some interesting views of Siwa not present in the videos of the Istituto Luce. Articolo…

Henry Breasted (A History of Egypt)

Henry Breasted, a great Egyptologist of the beginning of the last century, writes one of the first general works of Egyptian history (A History of Egypt) and on p. 305 says: "At some time during these wars Thutmose III is also…

The World Map of Fra Mauro

In the World Map of Fra Mauro, the most important and complete of the Middle Ages realized in Venice by the monk Camaldolese around 1450 AD, the Siwa Oasis appears in the right position with its monumental buildings and the lake…

The captain de Saint Exupéry

The captain de Saint Exupéry (father of Antoine, author of the little Prince) made an exploration trip in Sudan in 1898 and then to the Oasis of Siwa in the company of the Khedive and then held a conference on his experience in…

Hansjoachim von der Esch in Siwa

Hansjoachim von der Esch was a German explorer in Egypt and Libya. From 1929 to 1939 he worked representing a German enterprise in Egypt. During this time he made several expeditions into the Libyan Desert and from 1934 to 1935…

Map of Bayle St. John's journey to the Siwa Oasis

Map of Bayle St. John's journey to the Siwa Oasis in 1847 and described in his book: "Adventures in the Libyan desert and the oasis of Jupiter Ammon" published in 1849

"The Old Town of Siwa"

Some doubts about the authorship of the text but it is, however, a source of 1827. "The Old Town of Siwa Deb Manley sends in an account (possibly by Mr Browne, a traveller in Egypt at the end of the 18th century, or possibly by…

Siwa, Oasis de Jupiter Ammon, Désert de Libye

"Siwa, Oasis de Jupiter Ammon, Désert de Libye" is an article published by Byron Khun de Prorok in the magazine "Le Monde Colonial Illustré" of 1928 concerning his researches in Siwa and surroundings during a stay in the oasis…

The Third Zarzura Expedition, organized by Dorothy Clayton East Clayton widow of the late Sir Robert

_____________________________________________________________ Lady Dorothy Clayton’s posthumous memoir of her search for Zerzura, which was published in The Times (London) on September 16, 1933, the day after her death due to a…

List of the Toponyms of the Siwa Oasis

List of the Toponyms of the Siwa Oasis reproduced on "Voyage à Méroé, au fleuve blanc, au-delà de Fâzoql dans le midi du royaume de Sennâr, à Syouah et dans cinq autres oasis: Fait dans les années 1819, 1820, 1821 et 1822. Tome…

RIKLI, M., Durch die Marmarica zur Oase Siwa 1929

Some photographs of Siwa and Gara in 1929 taken from an article on the study of vegetation in Marmarica and in the two oases. RIKLI, M., Durch die Marmarica zur Oase Siwa 1929…

Zarzura's door

A screenshot from the game "Lost Chronicles of Zerzura" The legend of the white city lost in the sands of the western Egyptian desert appears for the first time in the 15th Century in the book "Kitab al Kanuz" but I think (along…

Old map of Alexander's Expeditions by A. Ortelius.

Date of the first edition: 1595 -Date of this map: 1601 Size: 36 x 47cm (14 x 18.2 inches) Verso text: Latin From: Theatrum Orbis Terrarum Abrahami Ortelii Antverp. Geographi Regii. Antwerpen, Plantin Press, 1601. The position of…

Kaufmann Expedition to Siwa 1905-07

From: Siwa - Die Oase des Sonnengottes in der libyschen Wüste von J.C. Ewald Falls 1910 With 25 illustrations after original photographs of the viceroy Expedition 1906 and the Kaufmann Expedition 1905-07

Memory concerning the Western oases with a description of Siwa from the ''citizen Ripault&#3

the citizen Ripault (we are at the time of the French revolution) had presented to the Institute of Egypt (founded by Napoleon) a memory concerning the Western oases which includes a description of Siwa (taken from Arab travelers…

VOILA -L'Hebdomadaire du Reportage 7 Octobre 1938

Article by Nel Garès published in the weekly VOILA of 1938. He had to be part of the Victor Stoloff film team that remained in Siwa for 3 months to shoot the movie « DESERT BOY » in 1937 (Siwa, Fata al sahra). A film I've been…

Old map with the paths of the first western travelers to discover the Siwa Oasis.

Author: Philippe Vandermaelen 1795-1869 Date:1827 Short Title: Partie, l'Egypte. Afrique 11.

LRDG in Siwa Oasis

"Long Range Desert Group" (LRDG) was a reconnaissance and raiding unit of the British Army during the Second World War. Originally called the Long Range Patrol (LRP), the unit was founded in Egypt in June 1940 by Major Ralph A.…

Siwa - Die Oase des Sonnengottes in der libyschen Wüste

Siwa - Die Oase des Sonnengottes in der libyschen Wüste von J.C. Ewald Falls 1910 With 25 illustrations after original photographs of the viceroy Expedition 1906 and the Kaufmann Expedition 1905-07

Siwa in 1947

Photo from Robin Maugham's book - "Journey to Siwa" made in 1947. These are the first images that I found after the end of the war and they show us a still traditional Siwa but we are close enough to our times to recognize places…

"Camels Through Libya - a Desert Adventure from the Fringes of the Sahara to the Oases of Upper

Campbell in his book describes his journey through the Italian Libya in 1931 and 1932 which leads him to pass by the oasis of Siwa coming from Jarabub. It doesn't say anything new about Siwa and its surroundings (but it does…

Siwa Oasis - Historical, geographical, social and economic aspect

Siwa in 1932. Photos taken from the book by Hussein Ali El Rifai. (Professor of Political Science and Economics and Economic Inspector at the Ministry of Industry)

Prince Farouk Hotel in Siwa Oasis 1920-40 ?

Given the interest in the Prince Farouk Hotel in Siwa in the years between the two world wars I have tried to investigate and find other information but with poor results apart from some other images taken from the film made by…

Prince Farouk Hotel 1920-1930

During the British occupation of Egypt, Siwa became a tourist attraction. Unlike the travelers of the past, who made the journey under peril, the colonialists booked trips via the Libyan Oases Association in Alexandria, owned and…

The Fortress of the Sands

Information search on the Siwa Oasis in the Egyptian texts prior to the 26th Dynasty: Georges Daressy, in a 1926 article on ASAE XVI publishes an inscription containing topographical references relating to the Libyan desert area…

Umm ‘Ubayda Temple (Wenamun funerary Temple) in Siwa oasis

The first photographs available, to my knowledge, of the temple are the two taken by Hermann Burchardt on his journey to the Ammon Oasis in 1893 and recently published by Stefano Struffolino. In these photos the two walls are…

Du Cameroun au Caire par le désert de Libye

The Journey of Exploration of Bruneau De Laborie in 1923 from Cameroon to Cairo via the Libyan desert (and Siwa).

The diatribe on which of the two temples is that of the Oracle of Siwa

Until the visit of the Scottish traveler James Hamilton in 1852 all modern travelers (Browne, Horneman, Cailliaud and following) believed that the temple of the oracle was that of Umm Ubayda also because the real temple, on the…

Martin Briggs' book "Through Egypt in war time"

Martin Briggs' book "Through Egypt in war time" describes Egypt as seen by the author during the First World War and the English Campaign against the "Senussi". An entire chapter concerns the author's visit to the Siwa oasis in…

Greek inscriptions on the Falesia of Gebel Dakhrur

In the same walk on the mountain of Dakhrur I also found that some of the Greek inscriptions on the Falesia published by Ahmed Fakhry and Abd El-Aziz Abd El-Rahman Aldumairy are still visible. Translation: ΠΑΙΔΕAΣ ΤΕΚΤΩΝ…

Luis Rivet at Siwa in 1953

Taken from the magazine "Le Canal" n ° 7 August 1953 related to first trip by Luis Rivet at Siwa. I thank Jean Pierre Connan for the precious signaling.

For a Tuscan, since many years in France, a double pride

With the Franco-Tuscany expedition in Egypt, directed by Jean-François Champollion and Ippolito Rosellini, the scientific Egyptology begins. This large painting, by Giuseppe Angelelli on the entrance staircase of the Egyptian…

Graffito of 1899 engraved by Baron Von Grünau at Gebel Dakhrur

In the last few days I took a walk on the mountain of Dakhrur in search of the graffito with the name of Cailliaud seen by some of the travelers of the last century in one of the "Speoi" of the second peak of the Dakhrur called…

Siwa in Medieval Trade Route Networks

Medieval Trade Route Networks: The site reports the commercial traffic in the world known during the Middle Ages (11th -12th century) updated according to the latest studies. As you can see, the Siwa oasis is one of the important…

For those who still believe that Christianity has never arrived in Siwa

Belgrave says (Page 88): "Somewhere about the fourth century Christianity penetrated to Siwa, and the ruins of a church, or monastery, built probably at this time, where one can still distinguish the Coptic cross carved in stone,…

The Hymn to Ammon composed by Pindar and sent to Siwa where Pausanias, some centuries later, will se

We know from Pausanias that, in Thebes, in Boeotia, Pindar offered a Statue by the sculptor Kalamis in a temple dedicated to Ammon. Pindar had also expressed his personal devotion to Ammon in a hymn sent to the Ammonian of the…

Bruneau de Laborie. Du Cameroun au Caire par le désert de Libye

Bruneau passes from Siwa in 1923 to the end of its long journey that will end in Alexandria, but give very little news about the oasis and its inhabitants.

Through Lands of the Bible by H.V. Morton (1938)

In the 1930s, H.V. Morton decided to make a Christian pilgrimage from the Euphrates to the Nile, and into Sinai, and to tell the story of the Christian life of the Near East. His account describes the journey from Babylon to…

Research for the toponyms of Siwa oasis in Roman times

In the papyrus Graux 27, dating back to the year 15 of Septimus Severus (207 AD), month of Mecheir, coming from Siwa Oasis (as shown in the text where the name of the oasis in Roman times is used twice), at the lines 7 and 9,…

The Siwa's oracle is present everywhere in our western culture

The Siwa's oracle is present everywhere in our western culture and this is what fascinated me at the beginning of my studies. and this is what fascinated me at the beginning of my studies. In the temple of Christianity, the…

The most complete description of Siwa's Oracle Complex

among the ancient authors is that of Diodoro Siculo in the "Bibliotheca Historica, XVII 50, 1-7 written in Greek in the 50 b.C. (about) he writes: "50,1) The land where this temple lies is surrounded by a sandy desert and…

The Egyptian conquest of Siwa wanted by Muhammad Ali in 1819.

The shipment is headed by Hassan Bey Shamashurghi who has about 2000 soldiers (Belgrave says 1300) "The battle lasted for three hours, but the Siwans this time were no match for modern artillery. They had to yield to this…

Herodotus, in Book II of his "Histories" speaks about Etearchus king of Siwa:

"[2.32] I did hear, indeed, what I will now relate, from certain natives of Cyrene. Once upon a time, they said, they were on a visit to the oracular shrine of Ammon, when it chanced that in the course of conversation with…

Bernardino Drovetti (that visits Siwa with the conquest expedition led by Hassan Bey Shamashurgh) me

Drovetti (1776-1852) and his followers using a plumb line to measure the head. The original drawing - made in black pencil by Jean-Pierre Granger (draftsman of the Count of Forbin) in the autumn of 1818 - is in the Louvre…

Map of Siwa area from: A Journey to Siwa in September and October, 1896, Wilfred Jennings-Bramly; Th

Visit of King Fouad to Siwa in 1929 - from: Avec le Roi FOUAD à l'oasis d'Ammon - Evaristo B

First drawing of Siwa's monumental remains.

The first drawings of Siwa's monumental remains dating back to 1801 and in possession of Sir Robert Ainslie published several times by Luigi Mayer in 1801 then in 1803 and finally in 1810 in Views in Libya, Vies in Egypt and…

Byron Khun de Prorok at Siwa

During the years 1926-28, the mission led by Byron Khun de Prorok were installed for 18 months in the Siwa Oasis and explored the oasis itself and the desert around in the search for a "mythical civilization " Pictures from:…

The Growth of the Influence of Ammon's Oracle in the Greek World:

36 years after the success of Cimon pronouncement, Aristophanes in the comedy ”The Birds" claims that Siwa's Oracle is of equal importance of those of Dodona and Delphi. "The Birds" By Aristophanes : Written 414 B.C.E "We are…

Map by Pierre Duval published in the 16th Century based on the reports of Arab geographers and espec

Abu al-Fida (Arabic: أبو الفداء 672 AH / November 1273 - Muharram 24, 732 AH / October 27, 1331) Siwa's oasis (referred as Ammon) is well positioned. Duval, Pierre (1619-1683). "Cartographe. La carte de l'empire des Sarrazins ou…

One of the first available videos of the Siwa Oasis

The Baroness Ullens de Schooten's Journey to the Siwa Oasis in 1926 or 1927 was probably organized by the Libyan Oases Association in Alexandria, owned and operated by Captain Hillier, formerly of the Frontier District…

from: More Journeys in search of Zerzura, The Geographical Journal, Vol:75 (1930), pp:48-59

De LANCEY FORTH -Always looking for Zarzura, this time in the desert south of Siwa (1921-24)