Oases History

Not much is known about the history of the oases, but Prehistoric remains show that an 

has been exploiting nature's gift since at least 5000 BC. During Pharaonic times, the 

four oases of Kharga, Dakhla, Farafra, and Baharreya formed a strong line of defense 

against invasions from the west, namely from the tribes of the Libyan desert. Scattered 

around the oases are Pharaonic temples dating back to the 6th and 7th centuries BC. 

As well as temples from the Roman and Ptolemic times. The tribes of the oases have 

always enjoyed a sort of political autonomy, due to their remote location. Until the 

camel, or the "desert ship", was introduced by the Persians in the 6th Century BC. and 

provided the oases, and their inhabitants, with the first step forward. Trade began to 

appear among the oases, and the first signs of contact were established with the 

Egyptian authorities. The "desert ship" however was of no help to the Persian Emperor 

Cambyses, when he attempted to take his armies across the desert from Kharga to 

Siwa in 530 BC. According to Herodotus, all 50,000 men were buried in a sand storm. 

Two hundred years later, Alexander the Great journeyed into the desert to find the 

temple of Amun at Siwa in 330BC. There he would seek the Oracle of Amun in order to 

prove that he was the son of Zeus. Legend has it, Alexander the Great died and was 

buried in the Siwa Oases. Much later, during WWII the British and Italian forces fought 

in and around the Siwa Oases, making this the last event of historical significance in 

the Western Desert.