![]() Over two centuries later, Alexander the Great made a journey to Siwa. Such is the Ammonian tale about this army. It’s still unclear what happened to them Herodotus describes this journey in The Histories:īut this is what the Ammonians themselves say: when the Persians were crossing the sand from Oasis to attack them, and were about midway between their country and Oasis, while they were breakfasting a great and violent south wind arose, which buried them in the masses of sand which it bore and so they disappeared from sight. In 524 BC, King Cambyses of Persia dispatched an army of 50,000 men to destroy the Siwan oracle but never made it. Not all those traveling to the oracle of Ammon were successful in their journey. In its time, the Oracle of Ammon was as revered as the Oracle at Delphi and its divine insight was sought by pilgrims from all over the classical world. Its name stems from the Latin sal ammoniacus, meaning “salt of Ammon” named so because it was found near the temple of Ammon and its ancient oracle. ![]() The oasis’s inhabitants, known as Ammonians, coexisted amongst an ample amount of ammonium. Though it’s known as Siwa today, prior to the fifthteenth century, it was called Ammonium-which probably sounds like a place filled with the univalent chemical ion NH4+ -and it sort of was. Located about 50 kilometers east of the Libyan border in the Sahara Desert, Siwa is part of modern day Egypt. Archaeologists discovered what might be the oldest human footprint ever in Siwa in 2007, estimated to be two to possibly three million years old. Throughout history, the dates of Siwa have been an integral part of its cuisine and culture-a culture that could potentially go back millions of years. Their praises have been recorded since pharaonic times, and their taste has continued to be extolled for centuries. ![]() ![]() Much to the dismay of habibis worldwide who believe they are deserving of the title, the best dates might, in fact, be growing on palms in the Siwa Oasis. ![]()
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