Sights

Siwa is often considered the most beautiful of Egypt’s oases. From atop the ruins of ancient Siwa you can look out on the quiet streets of Siwa town, which wind from the cluster of mud houses to luxuriant palm gardens. From here you can also see the Sahara: black gashes of rock to the north, waves of sand to the south, and the piercing blue desert sky all around. The weird geometric profiles of crumbling walls looming in the vicinity are the remains of the medieval fortress-town of Shali. Its encircling wall once protected the Siwans from marauding Berbers and Bedouin. As you descend to the paths leading back to the market you understand why the Siwans slowly abandoned their acropolis for the more spacious settlement at its base.

The descent began when Muhammad Ali conquered Siwa in 1820 and protected the inhabitants from attacks. The heavy rains, which occur once every five decades and apocalyptically melt traditional Siwan houses, encouraged migration to the new town. By 1930 the ancient city had become a virtual ghost town. Wandering among the haunting skeletons of these ancient abodes, the sojoumer will find inhabitants in random dwellings and old men turning unlikely corners on their way to unknown businesses. The most recent rains, in 1985, washed away much of Shali and most of the Siwan mud-dwellings, but, due to the rise of concrete buildings, the devastation was not total. The threat of history and tradition being literally washed away prompted the Canadian ambassador to put forth funds to construct a permanent version of the Traditional Siwan House, opposite the tourist office. The house serves as a museum of traditional Siwan garb, silver jewelry, and children’s toys. (Open Sat.-Thurs. lOam-noon and 10-1 lpm; winter Sat.-Thurs. lOam-noon and 7:30-8:30pm. Admission LEI.50.)