The isolated oasis of Siwa, thirty miles east of the Libyan border in Egypt’s Western Desert, has featured throughout history as a site of desire and contest. If its old "Mountain of the Dead ...

Siwa is the archetypal oasis where fresh springs give life to olive trees and date palms. Here, it is about sitting back and letting the halcyon days wash over you.

Alexander, Cambyses and the 'divine oracle' The Achaemenid king of Persia, Cambyses, son of Cyrus the Great, sought to consult the oracle of Siwa to legitimise his 525 BCE conquest of Egypt.