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Description
Though probably not as famous as their counterpart in Delphi, the Oracle of Amun was no less an extremely powerful diviner whose prominence has turned the tide of history. This Oracle was based in the Siwa Oasis, a remote paradise separated from the Nile River by some 350 miles of sand. This was the very edge of the ancient Egyptian frontier, a place where few dared to journey to. Indeed, the locals were historically more related to the neighboring Amazigh Libyans than to the Egyptians themselves. Archaeology suggests that the area has been inhabited since at least 10,000 BCE, but as for the Oracle themselves, exact dates are hard to come by. I've seen it reported that the Oasis first saw an Egyptian presence during the reign of Ramesses III, who built a fort in the area while campaigning against the Libyan tribes in the 12th century BCE. I couldn't find the archaeological data to back this up, however, so take that with a grain of salt. The Greco-Roman historian Arrian writes in his biography of Alexander the Great that the Oracle was visited by both Perseus and Heracles during their respective jaunts into Egypt but uh… somehow I don't think that's based on hard archaeological evidence either. It would line up nicely with the timeline of Ramesses's fort though, to be fair. At the very least, it's a fun bit of trivia for us historical fiction writers to have in our back pocket.

The first temple to be dedicated to Amun and his Oracle was constructed by the Pharaoh Amasis II in the 6th century BCE. It's this stronghold that the Achaemenid shah Cambyses II sought to suppress when he invaded Egypt in 526 BCE. After securing Thebes, he sent a squadron of 50,000 Immortals out into the desert, and they never returned. Herodotus claims that the squadron was swept up in a ghastly sandstorm, which for years most scholars just chalked up to another one of Herodotus's fantasies. However, in 1996, archaeologists uncovered thin traces left behind by Achaemenid soldiers some 62 miles south of Siwa. Evidently, a combination of inaccurate maps and strategic blunders marched the lost army not into Siwa, but directly into the Khamsin, a seasonal sandstorm which blasts across the Sahara at up to 87 miles per hour. The bodies of these men have still never been found, likely having long since been buried under many feet of sand, but the pots and arrowheads are Achaemenid in origin, and there are reports of bleached human remains being sold out of the area on the black market. Clearly, someone had to have survived in order to tell the story to Herodotus, though Herodotus himself cryptically claims that "only the Ammonites know what happened".

The second temple to be built in Siwa was the passion project of Nectanebo II, who ruled in the 4th century BCE. Sources are a bit unclear as to which temple was the one visited by Alexander the Great when he marched on Egypt in 332 BCE, so if anyone can clarify, please feel free to. Regardless, the Macedonian king succeeded where Cambyses had failed, and when he arrived at the Oasis after weeks in the desert, the Oracle came out to greet him personally. In fact, the Oracle welcomed him not as Alexander, but as the son of Amun, whom the Greeks identified with Zeus. To Alexander, this was confirmation of his already pretty well-established hunch that he was a divine being on Earth who was destined to rule the entire world. It was the beginning of his long spiral into becoming one of the most egomaniacal kings in all history, which is really, really saying something. Indeed, Macedonian coins minted after this period depict Alexander as having horns on his head, as the ram was considered a symbol of Amun at Siwa.

Despite the Oracle's importance to Alexander, the Temple of Siwa really seemed to wane from here on out. It remained an important site, with the youngest inscriptions at the shrine dated to the reign of the Roman Emperor Trajan, but even Strabo had reported that it was a shell of its former glory when he had visited in 23 BCE. When Emperor Constantine came to power in 312 CE, Christianity really began to take off in Egypt, so the need for oracles of the old gods dwindled. Sources are split about the Jesus movement's history in such a remote location. On the one hand, we have Roman records stating that the oasis was used as a sort of penal colony. As the primary "criminals" of this age would've been Christians, they made up the majority of these exiles. Indeed, the church leader Athanasius confirms that many of his fellow Christians were exiled to Siwa, and some claim the Temple of Amun was converted into a church dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Archaeology disagrees, however, as no distinguishing traces of Christian worship have been found at the site. This doesn't mean it wasn't in vogue in Siwa, as it could just mean the local Christians just transplanted their practices onto the figure of Christ, and therefore left little trace of their faith. We simply can't say for certain. Whether they were Christian or pagan, the Siwans put up a fierce resistance to the Muslim invasion in 708 CE, and indeed would not be converted to the new faith until the 12th century. Siwa by this point was a dwindling settlement of just 40 men, so in 1203, a new town called Shali was built by the caliph to encourage economic growth. It is at this point we can definitely say that whatever ancient Siwa had evolved into towards the end of its life, it was now completely relegated to a ruin in favor of the new institution. As is the fate of all things.

Design notes, I couldn't find any contemporary depictions of the Oracle from any of the articles on the archaeological site. This may just be a failure on the part of my search terms, but I came up empty in that regard. There's a handful of illustrations out there depicting Alexander's meeting with the Oracle but uh… yeah these artists have clearly never seen an Egyptian person in their lives. They usually draw the Oracle as this weird European bishop looking dude that resembles Santa Claus more than he does an Egyptian priest. I did take partial inspiration for the Oracle's tunic from a depiction of "Iuppiter Hammon" in a 1675 book titled… well brace for needlessly long Latin name… "Historia deorum fatidicorum, vatum, sybyllarum, phœbadum, apud priscos illustrium: cum corum iconibus. Præposita est dissertatio de divinatione et oraculis". Good lord, I'm so glad we as authors have decided it's better to stick to short, snappy titles. "History of Divination", there, that's all you need. I'll be taking my paycheck now. Anyways, the rest of the design was more or less my own work, based primarily off of contemporary depictions of ancient Egyptian priests. The ram skull mask is a bit of an embellishment, since when the Oracle appeared in my D&D game, she was this extremely powerful and cryptic warlock who could see thousands of years into the future. Sometimes you just gotta up the creep factor a little bit to sell the big reveal. I figured it's also a nice nod to the whole ram theme that the Siwan Amun was going for. I'm actually quite pleased with this draft. It took some trial and error, but hopefully I have pleased Amun in depicting his humble servant.

Description
Though probably not as famous as their counterpart in Delphi, the Oracle of Amun was no less an extremely powerful diviner whose prominence has turned the tide of history. This Oracle was based in the Siwa Oasis, a remote paradise separated from the Nile River by some 350 miles of sand. This was the very edge of the ancient Egyptian frontier, a place where few dared to journey to. Indeed, the locals were historically more related to the neighboring Amazigh Libyans than to the Egyptians themselves. Archaeology suggests that the area has been inhabited since at least 10,000 BCE, but as for the Oracle themselves, exact dates are hard to come by. I've seen it reported that the Oasis first saw an Egyptian presence during the reign of Ramesses III, who built a fort in the area while campaigning against the Libyan tribes in the 12th century BCE. I couldn't find the archaeological data to back this up, however, so take that with a grain of salt. The Greco-Roman historian Arrian writes in his biography of Alexander the Great that the Oracle was visited by both Perseus and Heracles during their respective jaunts into Egypt but uh… somehow I don't think that's based on hard archaeological evidence either. It would line up nicely with the timeline of Ramesses's fort though, to be fair. At the very least, it's a fun bit of trivia for us historical fiction writers to have in our back pocket.

The first temple to be dedicated to Amun and his Oracle was constructed by the Pharaoh Amasis II in the 6th century BCE. It's this stronghold that the Achaemenid shah Cambyses II sought to suppress when he invaded Egypt in 526 BCE. After securing Thebes, he sent a squadron of 50,000 Immortals out into the desert, and they never returned. Herodotus claims that the squadron was swept up in a ghastly sandstorm, which for years most scholars just chalked up to another one of Herodotus's fantasies. However, in 1996, archaeologists uncovered thin traces left behind by Achaemenid soldiers some 62 miles south of Siwa. Evidently, a combination of inaccurate maps and strategic blunders marched the lost army not into Siwa, but directly into the Khamsin, a seasonal sandstorm which blasts across the Sahara at up to 87 miles per hour. The bodies of these men have still never been found, likely having long since been buried under many feet of sand, but the pots and arrowheads are Achaemenid in origin, and there are reports of bleached human remains being sold out of the area on the black market. Clearly, someone had to have survived in order to tell the story to Herodotus, though Herodotus himself cryptically claims that "only the Ammonites know what happened".

The second temple to be built in Siwa was the passion project of Nectanebo II, who ruled in the 4th century BCE. Sources are a bit unclear as to which temple was the one visited by Alexander the Great when he marched on Egypt in 332 BCE, so if anyone can clarify, please feel free to. Regardless, the Macedonian king succeeded where Cambyses had failed, and when he arrived at the Oasis after weeks in the desert, the Oracle came out to greet him personally. In fact, the Oracle welcomed him not as Alexander, but as the son of Amun, whom the Greeks identified with Zeus. To Alexander, this was confirmation of his already pretty well-established hunch that he was a divine being on Earth who was destined to rule the entire world. It was the beginning of his long spiral into becoming one of the most egomaniacal kings in all history, which is really, really saying something. Indeed, Macedonian coins minted after this period depict Alexander as having horns on his head, as the ram was considered a symbol of Amun at Siwa.

Despite the Oracle's importance to Alexander, the Temple of Siwa really seemed to wane from here on out. It remained an important site, with the youngest inscriptions at the shrine dated to the reign of the Roman Emperor Trajan, but even Strabo had reported that it was a shell of its former glory when he had visited in 23 BCE. When Emperor Constantine came to power in 312 CE, Christianity really began to take off in Egypt, so the need for oracles of the old gods dwindled. Sources are split about the Jesus movement's history in such a remote location. On the one hand, we have Roman records stating that the oasis was used as a sort of penal colony. As the primary "criminals" of this age would've been Christians, they made up the majority of these exiles. Indeed, the church leader Athanasius confirms that many of his fellow Christians were exiled to Siwa, and some claim the Temple of Amun was converted into a church dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Archaeology disagrees, however, as no distinguishing traces of Christian worship have been found at the site. This doesn't mean it wasn't in vogue in Siwa, as it could just mean the local Christians just transplanted their practices onto the figure of Christ, and therefore left little trace of their faith. We simply can't say for certain. Whether they were Christian or pagan, the Siwans put up a fierce resistance to the Muslim invasion in 708 CE, and indeed would not be converted to the new faith until the 12th century. Siwa by this point was a dwindling settlement of just 40 men, so in 1203, a new town called Shali was built by the caliph to encourage economic growth. It is at this point we can definitely say that whatever ancient Siwa had evolved into towards the end of its life, it was now completely relegated to a ruin in favor of the new institution. As is the fate of all things.

Design notes, I couldn't find any contemporary depictions of the Oracle from any of the articles on the archaeological site. This may just be a failure on the part of my search terms, but I came up empty in that regard. There's a handful of illustrations out there depicting Alexander's meeting with the Oracle but uh… yeah these artists have clearly never seen an Egyptian person in their lives. They usually draw the Oracle as this weird European bishop looking dude that resembles Santa Claus more than he does an Egyptian priest. I did take partial inspiration for the Oracle's tunic from a depiction of "Iuppiter Hammon" in a 1675 book titled… well brace for needlessly long Latin name… "Historia deorum fatidicorum, vatum, sybyllarum, phœbadum, apud priscos illustrium: cum corum iconibus. Præposita est dissertatio de divinatione et oraculis". Good lord, I'm so glad we as authors have decided it's better to stick to short, snappy titles. "History of Divination", there, that's all you need. I'll be taking my paycheck now. Anyways, the rest of the design was more or less my own work, based primarily off of contemporary depictions of ancient Egyptian priests. The ram skull mask is a bit of an embellishment, since when the Oracle appeared in my D&D game, she was this extremely powerful and cryptic warlock who could see thousands of years into the future. Sometimes you just gotta up the creep factor a little bit to sell the big reveal. I figured it's also a nice nod to the whole ram theme that the Siwan Amun was going for. I'm actually quite pleased with this draft. It took some trial and error, but hopefully I have pleased Amun in depicting his humble servant.