SIWA ORACLE TEMPLE | ALEXANDER THE GREAT TEMPLE

Temple of the Oracle in Siwa, or also known as the temple of Alexander the Great is one of the most interesting sites that you will see during the Siwa Oasis tour from Cairo. The importance of the temple comes from being famous after Alexander the Great visited the Temple seeking the answer from God Amun that he is the pharaoh son of Zeus (God Amun in ancient Egyptian religion) and he has the power over the whole kingdom of Egypt in the 4th Century B.C. The temple was built during the 26th Dynasty in the New Kingdom epoch of Ancient Egyptian history to be dedicated to the Triad of Amun, (Amun, Mut, and Khonso). It was said that the temple of the oracle was built over a well known as the Solar Well, and the ancient Agurmi Village which was built from the Kershif method of building which is the traditional building method in Siwa, the kershif style is simply mixing clay with salt which gives the structure more strength and to keep it cooler from inside during summer hot temperature.

The Solar Well of God Amun was said to be discovered by Dionysus, the Greek God of Wine when he was lost in the desert, another story tells that it was found by two priests who had been exiled from Luxor and lost in the desert around the area of Siwa, one of the two priests was believed to be the one who spoke the oracle.