introduction to siwa

The Siwa Oasis (Arabic: واحة سيوة) is an urban oasis in Egypt; between the Qattara Depression and the Great Sand Sea in the Western Desert, 50 km (30 mi) east of the Libyan border, and 560 km (348 mi) from the capital.  Its fame primarily from its ancient role as the home to an oracle of Ammon.The ruins of which are a popular tourist attraction which gave the oasis its ancient name Oasis of Amun Ra, a major Egyptian deity.The Siwa oasis is in a deep depression that reaches below sea level, to about −19 metres (−62 ft). To the west the Jaghbub oasis rests in a similar depression and to the east , the large Qattara Depression is also below sea level.

the culture of siwa oasis

The traditional culture of Siwa shows many unique elements. Some reflecting its longstanding links with the isolated Oasis life and the fact that the inhabitants are Siwi Berbers. Until people built a tarmac road to the Mediterranean coast in the 1980s. Siwa’s only links with the outside world were by arduous camel tracks through the desert. people used them to export dates and olives and bring trade goods, or carry pilgrims on the route which linked the Maghreb to Cairo and hence to Mecca.

                                                                               

 

As a result of this isolation. Siwis developed a unique natural culture manifested in its crafts of basketry, pottery, silverwork. And embroidery and in its style of dress. The most visible and celebrated examples of this were the bridal silver. And the ensemble of silver ornaments. And beads that women wore in abundance to weddings and other ceremonies. These pieces people decorated them with symbols which related to Siwa’s history and beliefs and attitudes.The best known of these pieces is a huge silver disc called ‘adrim‘ and a round necklace, called ‘aghraw’, from which it hung over the breast. A girl would give up the disc at a special ceremony in the spring the day in her wedding. The jewelry consisted of silver necklaces, earrings, bangles, hair ornaments, pendants, and many rings. For a wealthy woman, the full ensemble could weigh as much as five or six kilos.

Arts and local costums

The arrival of the road and of television exposed the oasis to the styles and fashions of the outside world. And the traditional silver ornaments people gradually replaced them by jewelry made of gold. Evidence of the old styles and traditions are however still in evidence in the women’s embroidery and costume. The material for the “tarfutet”, the distinctive all-enveloping shawl worn by women, belongs to outside the oasis,which is specifically from the town of Kirdasa, in the Giza Governorate.