Things to see and do Sahara

The extraordinary temple of Isis and the associated cult buildings dedicated to the goddess are no longer on the island of Philae, but on the island of Agikia. The real Philae is located 250 m to the south-east of the latter, and is completely submerged.

Philae has benefited from the rescue of the Nubian temples launched by Unesco in 1960. In 1975, a dam was built around the island, reducing the amount of water surrounding it and enabling the various buildings to be cut up and transported to the nearby island of Agikia. Reassembly was completed in 1980. Philae was saved from the waters.

This site is built not far from one of the most emblematic places in the Osirian myth. It was on the island of Biga, equidistant from Philae and Agikia, that Osiris' left leg was hidden by his brother and assassin, Set. Isis, Osiris' wife, finds it there and assembles her husband's body; she also buries it there, while Osiris is resurrected. Horus was conceived there. Isis then decided to move to the island of Philae to be closer to him.

During the ^XXVth dynasty (747 - 656), Hâpy, who commanded the Nile with the elephantine triad, was also thought to be hiding in a cave at Biga, where the river's source was also believed to be.

The temple of Isiswas built by the Ptolemies. It quickly became the center of Isis worship until 543 CE, after a decree by Justinian forbade it. A Christian church had already been established here in the ^4th century.

Two porticoes precede the great temple of Isis. At the southern end of the western portico stand the site's oldest remains, the kiosk of Nectabo^I (380 - 362), first king of the XXXth and last indigenous dynasty. The west portico is composed of 32 composite columns built under Ptolemy III; the ceiling features eagles with their heads turned towards the island of Osiris, Biga. The eastern portico is smaller, concealing an unusual temple dedicated to Imhotep, not a god but the architect of Djoser's pyramid at Saqqarah. The two porticoes frame a paved esplanade that leads to the temple's first pylon.

The first pylon is monumental. It follows in the tradition of the majestic entrances to the great temples, where wooden masts bearing the colors of the divinity were enshrined. It is preceded, on the right, by a small Ptolemy II door. It is Ptolemy XII triumphant who is represented on the bas-reliefs; a door pierced in the left-hand upright of the pylon gives access to the mammisi. Passing through the doorway, engraved messages dating from Bonaparte's expedition to Egypt can be seen on the right.

The inner courtyard houses the curious mammisi, erected by Ptolemy III in honor of the birth of Horus. The temple is divided into three halls, the second of which is devoted to offerings, with bas-reliefs recounting Horus' conception (left) with Amun and Khnum, and his birth (right), which took place not far away. In the third room, Isis nurses her child. On the outer walls, the god Harpocrates, who was none other than Horus to the Ptolemies, looks like a thumb-sucking child.

The second pylon, like the rest of the temple, is offset from the first. Its dimensions are just as impressive as this one. Access is via a stepped ramp. It depicts Ptolemy XII presenting offerings to the gods, while the large round stele on the right, giving the Dodecachene mining region to Philae, was written by Ptolemy VI.

The hypostyle hall is supported by 10 columns, and is both open-air and protected by a stone ceiling. It features the emblems of Upper and Lower Egypt, as well as Coptic crosses carved when the pronaos was transformed into a church.

The sanctuary is preceded by three vestibules and surrounded by nine other rooms. It still contains the repository on which the tabernacle containing the statue of the divinity was placed. Surrounding it is an open-air offering courtyard, while a staircase leads up to the temple terrace. From the first vestibule, you can exit the temple to find Hadrian's Gate to the west.

Hadrian's Gate opened onto a temple dedicated to Osiris. The bas-reliefs depicting the god Hâpy and the sources of the Nile beneath the island of Biga are worth a look. You can also access a nilometer near this gate.

To theeast of the great Temple of Isis, four buildings from the Philae complex have been relocated.

Diocletian's Gate, located at the northernmost point of the island, is a triumphal arch erected by the emperor; it was here that the entrance to the site was made. The central arch has disappeared, leaving only the two side gates intact. Not far away, the foundations of a temple of Augustus remain, the stones of which were used to build churches in the ^4th century.

Continuing south along the riverbank, the Temple of Hathor was built by Ptolemy VI and his successor. It is a courtyard and sanctuary dedicated to Hathor, who at the time was equated with Isis, as the history of the Egyptian pantheon has sometimes allowed.

Trajan's kiosk, further south, although entirely Roman, is extremely romantic, with its 14 composite columns. Two opposing doors open onto this kiosk. Next to the kiosk are the benches for the sound and light show.

A hot spring emerging from the sands the size of a small lake where you can swim and spend the night. At 12 km from the town, in the middle of a sea of sand, the site is only accessible by 4x4. Many agencies will offer you the services of a driver and a vehicle. The ideal is to come there with friends, order a grilled mutton (which will be a change from the usual desert menu: grilled chicken, rice, tomato and cucumber salad) and fall asleep under the vault of Nout... An unforgettable experience.

On the height of Siwa, your gaze, as soon as you arrive, will systematically fall on the ruins of this fortress built in the 12th century to protect itself from the attacks of neighbouring tribes. The villagers abandoned Shali in 1926, when torrential rains disintegrated the place made of salted and dried mud. The Egyptian authorities are trying to restore some of the buildings of this ancient Berber-speaking community... but for now it remains a ghostly labyrinth that is very strange to explore.

An excursion not to be missed. The colorful canyon is one of Sinai's natural wonders and can be visited from Dahab. In this magical place, where the rocks play with colors, you'll plunge into captivating labyrinths of narrow walls. The limestone rocks are yellow, violet, red, magenta and gold, and reach heights of up to 40 meters. Silence and peace are the order of the day. Allow 1.5 to 2 hours for a somewhat strenuous walk, including some climbing. The canyon can only be visited with a guide.

To try to imagine what this city could have been, it is necessary to wander through the streets of Chinguetti, sandy and blocked by the scree. You breathe Chinguetti by walking there, you measure the threat of the danger which guards the city by falling, with the angle of a street, on the dunes of the erg Ouarâne. In this maze, at the turn of a house, some goats appear, as if to show you the way. Don't be fooled by the exterior of the houses, some are still occupied in July and August for the Guetna, the festival of dates.

Entry 20 SDG. We must maginer what Frédéric Cailliaud had to feel about these pyramids, almost 200 years ago! At that time, they were in better condition and still had their summit. Let's say at the outset that the site of Merowe is Exceptional and that it retains a colourful environment and environment different from those that can be found in Egypt. The grey (very) gray stone and the orange (very) orange orange highlight its singular character. However, these pyramids, which were originally more than 200 copies in the region, do not have the dimensions of their great Egyptian sisters. They are different. More pentues, filled with embankment (the burial chamber is underneath and not in), and with a chapel adorned with tower towers, east oriented and is supposed to lead, via a false door, to the last resting place of the deceased, or the deceased. Because the candaces, these mythical queens of Merowe, were also entitled to their personal pyramid. The dead, in Egyptian fashion, were represented in the form of the Bâ bird, which had their head.

By visiting the various chapels, don't miss to observe the little marvels of bas-reliefs inspired by the Book of the Dead. As, for example, the only Sudanese representation of the soul, where the heart of the sovereign is placed on the balance and compared with the pen of Mâat, under the gaze of Anubis and Osiris… If you are passionate (and you have time) know that there is a pyramid whose height of angle has the hieroglyphic name d'Amun, another with, on an exterior wall of its chapel, a model of the angle used by architects to build these buildings, and one with the representation of a grape cluster and a jar, some of which bad languages say it was a boss to draw rich queens!!

Pyramids, there are many styles. First in stairs, in the south, they become smooth to the north. Archaeologists have reconstituted some of them in anastylose, giving a good idea, with their cream colour foam coating, what to look like the site originally. It should be noted that there are historically several necropolises in the region. The oldest (and the oldest), which probably dates from the beginning of the kingdom of Merowe, towards the th century BC, is located more west of the main site, near the Nile and above all the former royal city (see below). You will also notice, on the main site, several more remote pyramids in the southeast. Those that are aligned along the ridge, these pyramids that are seen by far from the road, are the most "recent" and in better condition.

The last thing about summits. The elements are not solely responsible for their disappearance! In 1834, Giuseppe Ferlini, an Italian fighter fighter, had the idea of ététer the pyramids with dynamite, believing that he would find thousand riches there. After he had massacred many, to the point that many seem to be about to collapse, one confirmed his hopes. That of Queen Amanishakheto, now known for her "treasure".

The site is more than 500 m from the road. Temple merchants sell souvenirs but you won't find any groceries. So think about bringing water and food. Sands will certainly invite you to climb on their camels (sorry, we don't know "dromadairiers"). An original experience on an extraordinary site! But that will not be free. Get ready to negotiate if you are interested.

For photos, if you are on the site at the sunrise, think of climbing one of the hills to the east to get a remarkable overview. In the evening, the orange light is simply magic.

The Ptolemaic temple of Kom-Ombo was built over two centuries, between the ^2nd and ^1st centuries BC, by kings Ptolemy VI and Ptolemy XII. The courtyard and surrounding wall are more modern and were built during the Roman period. The temple is dedicated to two deities: Sobek, the crocodile god, and Haroëris, one of the manifestations of Horus. Its diminished appearance is due to erosion and flooding from the Nile. The use of the temple's stones to build Coptic monuments has undoubtedly also contributed to its current appearance.

The monumental gate was erected by Ptolemy XII. Only two elements remain.

All that remainsof the pylon are a few bases, leading to two parallel paths of worship: to the left, towards Haroëris; to the right, towards Sobek. This leads into the Courtyard of Tiberius (14-35 BC), surrounded by 16 ornate columns. In the center of this courtyard, the altar is the only element common to both divinities, as their offerings were placed on it.

The portico is typical of the Ptolemaic period, consisting of a wall ending at mid-height and encircling the 5 composite columns belonging to the hypostyle hall. The outer scenes depict Pharaoh being purified by Thoth and Horus before Haroeris on the left and Sebek on the right.

The first hypostyle hall is supported by fifteen columns, five of which are integrated into the portico. It is common to both cults and gives access to the second, smaller hypostyle hall, supported by ten papyrus columns. Here, Ptolemy VIII is shown facing Haroeris, from whom he receives his sword and coronation. Both rooms have preserved numerous traces of polychromy.

The two chapels are preceded by three double vestibules, the first decorated with purification and consecration rites, the second with offerings. Little remains of the two chapels, apart from the resting places for the sacred boats. Numerous side chapels surround them. In the outer ambulatory, bas-reliefs provide information on the art of surgery as it was known at the time.

Outside the temple, opposite the monumental gate, stands the mammisi of Ptolemy IX (116-107), a small secondary temple. It is located not far from a nilometer and a well.

The Crocodile Museum, located halfway between the temple and the exit, features a fine collection of mummified crocodiles, with explanations to match.

One of the curiosities of Nefta, to be discovered by taking the road of the tourist area. It is a small natural depression, a basin dug in the rock where palm trees are planted. This layout emphasizes in a striking way the contrast offered by the desert landscapes that surround the city and the oasis. The oasis of Nefta was once irrigated by more than one hundred and fifty sources. Some of these springs meet at the bottom of what is called "the Basket". By placing itself at the edge this one, one enjoys a beautiful panorama on the city and the surroundings.

Where the devil is Simeon? We don't know, except that he gave his name to this superb monastery built in the 6th century by monks to protect themselves from the looters who came from the desert. It is a beautiful building surrounded by high walls (8 m) with a stone base and a brick top. It was sacked by the hordes of the warrior Salah al-Din in the 12th century, and it preserves impressive ruins, which are very photogenic, especially at sunset.

Several Nubian villages lie between the islands and the western shore of Aswan. The best-known (and most popular with tourists) is Gharb Sehel, opposite Sehel Island, which is partly man-made and most of the merchants don't live there... Gharb Assouan, on the western shore, is older and a real place of habitation, accessible by motorboat, or Sehel on the eponymous island. Here you can visit real settlements where crocodiles are the lucky charm of the house. The most beautiful village is on Elephantine Island, where the murals are real masterpieces.

Even more than its architecture, the site's location at the foot of a vertiginous limestone cliff is likely to surprise you. Extremely dilapidated when Auguste Mariette began clearing it, it is still being restored today.

Hatshepsut's temple, originally surrounded by hanging gardens with pools, was built by the architect Senmout during the reign of Queen Hatshepsut (1490-1468 BC). Access was via an alley lined with sphinxes. On the queen's death, her successor, Thutmes III, who had previously been kept out of power, had most of the bas-reliefs depicting Hatshepsut hammered out. During the reign of Amenhotep IV and his heresy, as well as during the Christian era, Hatshepsut's temple suffered further abuse before being transformed into a monastery. On either side of the ramps leading to the upper terraces are magnificent bas-reliefs, the finest being those on the middle level. They depict the maritime expedition organized by Hatshepsut to the land of Punt, identified today as Somalia and Ethiopia, from which animals and a particularly wide range of riches were brought back.

At thefar end of the left-hand portico is a small chapel dedicated to the goddess Hathor, whose cow-like ornaments make her easily recognizable as an ornament on the capitals. On the right wall, soldiers march in orderly rows, each carrying a different weapon: spear, stunner, axe... Next to them, rowers compete. The next room, long off-limits to visitors, is now open, so you can see the colors still adorning the walls.

On the right, there's a chapel of Anubis, sculpted with splendid bas-reliefs in absolutely intact colors. The ceiling, painted a deep blue and studded with yellow stars, is admirable.

The third terrace , whose restoration was completed in 2002, features a colonnade of Osirid pillars bearing the effigy of Hatshepsut, whose alignment of icy smiles is sublime. Inside, a former hypostyle hall, now roofless, opens onto several oratories, including the one to the left of Thutmose I, the sovereign's father.

To the left of Hatshepsut's temple, almost completely ruined and clearly visible from the top of the cliff, are the remains of the temple of Mentuhotep I, built six centuries earlier, and behind it, in a similar state, the temple of Thutmes III.

This amazing complex brings together a museum, a medina of the Thousand and A Nights and the Dar Zamen with its sounds and sounds, a gallery that revives scenes of Tunisian life, contemporary or old, festive or daily. The Thousand and One Nights in the Medina show the Diamond Valley, Ali Baba and the forty thieves. You then moved to an extraordinary world, from the belly of the cobra to the medina of Baghdad, frightening caves in the palace of the Sultan. We emerge dazzled, a little lost after being dragged back in childhood and had a full eye. The period costumes worn by the museum's staff bring a further note of truth to these reconstructions, which go through Bedouin tents and traditional Turkish cuisine. For more charm and excitement, it is advisable to visit the museum at night. In the lobby there is a small courtyard and a nice café. In another cafe, on the floor overlooking the site, you can enjoy a mint tea in a fairytale setting. Mr. Cheraït (Maire Mayor) recently opened a new space by condemning the museum's restaurant. The sound and light Show Dar Zamen (entrance 6 DT) reproduces the period dwellings of the zone and the Ksours De, it evokes 3 000 years of country history, in the Disney way!

At 2,637 metres, Mount Sainte-Catherine (djebel Katherin) is the highest point in the region and in Egypt as a whole. From its heights, you can enjoy an extraordinary panorama of the Sinai, the most beautiful in the entire peninsula and undoubtedly in the country. At the top of the mountain stands a chapel in which the imprint of the body of Saint Catherine, martyred in Alexandria, is embedded (note that the chapel is not open to the public). The body, brought back by the monks, is still in a sarcophagus inside the church. However, your guide can use the small brazier at the top of the mountain to help you enjoy some of the best mint tea you'll ever taste. Less frequented than Mount Moses, the ascent of Mount Sainte-Catherine requires a 5-hour walk from the monastery to climb the 1,200-metre ascent.

Itinerary. There are two possible routes to the top of Mont Sainte-Catherine. The first traverses a variety of sublime landscapes (including the "Wady Djebel", which means "valley of the mountains", "balcony of the plants" and "red mountain"), passing through outstanding granite rock landscapes. The second, more direct route to the summit mainly follows a zig-zag path. This hike is easier, but the scenery is less varied. It will be used to reach Mount Moses, if the two hikes are combined.

Nearby Korioumé, the port of Timbuktu is a family of hippos. It is the only place where we can observe them from afar. Finally, if you are lucky…

This magnificent dune plunges into the waters of the river. The site is accessible by canoe. There are also beautiful beaches in the surrounding area. The best time to go is the sunset. Take an hour to get there. Plan between CFAF 20 000 and CFAF 25 000.

A small museum featuring the habitat, costumes and tradionnels objects of the Tuareg and the Songhai peoples. See if you have some time.

The site was classified as UNESCO World Heritage on 30 June 2004. It was built in 1495 by Emperor Askia, Mohamed Askia, after his pilgrimage to Mecca. Very well preserved, it also houses the bodies of ten imams. The pyramid structure of the building, erect with piles, contrasts with the cubic architecture of the terrace houses. Déchaussez you before you enter. From the top of the tomb, we have a magnificent view of the city and the desert. The price of the visit is CFAF 1 500.

Located 15 km from Nefta, Oung Jemel (or "camel's neck") is famous for the sets of the movie Star Wars, at the GPS point 33° 59' 32" N - 7° 50' 41" in the middle of the chott Garsa. The site is quite surreal. You will see the Chott el-Gharsa, this saline depression generating mirages. You will find Mos Espa, the hometown of Anakin Skywalker (the future Darth Vader) because it is where the first Star Wars movie was shot. The #SaveMosEspa campaign helped save the film's sets from being buried by the advancing dunes, which are moving 50 feet a year.

The Red Lizard was offered by France to the Bey of Tunisia who used this train to travel with his relatives. For a long time it only had a tourist role and ran on the railway still used by the mines to transport phosphate. It had six cars (including the beylical car) and a bar car where refreshments were served to passengers. It was the only means of transport to reach the famous gorges of Selja. The locals strongly regret its closure, just like the tourists who used it!

This old mill is out of service. Little return 50 years earlier… 40 kg of olives are deposited on the stone base to be mixed with about 4 litres of hot water. With blindfolded eyes, a donkey or a little slug causes the 150 kg mineral to grind the olives. The mixture is then deposited in traps in braided fins. Stacked, the traps are compressed by a lever system. The oil thus obtained ends in terracotta jars.

Tozeur's Museum of Popular Arts and Traditions is a charming little museum housed in a former marabout. In these few rooms, Souad and her husband welcome you with all their heart, as if they were receiving friends. The museum is small, but very cute. The bridal room is particularly pretty, and the old kitchen full of traditional objects. Souad knows Tozeur and its history inside out, and is sure to enliven your visit with songs and poems.

They are hypogeums that can be seen from the cities, hanging on the hillside on the other side of the river. They house the tombs of powerful monarchs from the end of the Old Kingdom to the beginning of the Middle Kingdom. The tombs are located on the hillside, under the mausoleum of Ali Ben el-Hawa, which can be seen at the top. The place is in a poor state of conservation and the monuments have no information panels. Feel free to insist that the rooms be opened to you. On-site guides will not do it on their own.

Located in the southwest corner of the Valley of the Kings, the tomb of Sety II was dug a few meters from that of his wife Taousert. It is 75 m deep. It was partially unfinished at the time of his death. It takes up the same architectural canons of the other rectilinear tombs in which three corridors precede a vestibule, a funerary chamber. It was probably not Seti II who was buried there, for his name was largely erased from the cartouches in the tomb; the jealous work of Amenmes who succeeded him.

Located 3 km north of Aswan, on an island where species of shrubs were protected in huge weather, sixty species of birds were elected home.

The desert Zoo hosts all kinds of desert animals: scorpions, snakes, fennecs, gazelles, kebab, lions and the outstanding camel drinker of Coca-Cola! You can reach it by turning left on the road of the tourist area, in the direction of the restaurant Le Petit Prince. The guided tour begins with the tropical garden, where one walks among apricot, palm trees, banana trees, bougainvilleas and jasmines, continues through the animal park and ends with the inevitable souvenir shop.

The dromos (Greek for "path") is a 3.3 km-long path used by the sacred boats in the Opet ceremony procession to reach the Nile via the sacred lake and canal, paved with large boulders and lined with lion-bodied sphinxes. Some bear a ram's head, others a human head. At the time, there were over 1,000 sphinx statues in the alley. The two temples of Luxor and Karnak can be reached on foot along the ancient alley in less than 1 hour (if it's not too hot). Listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1979.

The mosque of Chinguetti is a superb dry stone building, restored many times. It is one of the rare buildings of the old city still intact, and for good reason! You can see from far away its characteristic minaret, which served as a landmark for the faithful returning from the pilgrimage to Mecca. The mosque having been founded in the ^13th century, its minaret would be the second oldest still in use in the whole world! The four corners of its tower end in spikes on which are impaled ostrich eggs.

The first Aswan Dam was built between 1898 and 1902 at the request of the British Governor. The aim was to regulate the flooding of the Nile in order to make better use of agricultural land. Similarly, the end of the flood allowed the development of Cairo, without fear of flooding. This first dam was raised twice. It was after its elevation that the island of Philae was submerged. Under the aegis of UNESCO, the temple of Philae was moved to the island of Agikia between 1972 and 1980.

Coming from Bahareyya, unusual limestone constructions follow yellow sand and black rocks (Black Mountains). They are in the form of pyramids, Paris mushrooms, icebergs, floating islands or igloo. The show is amazing. In the daytime, when the sun is in the vertical, the effect is not as great as in the evening or the first lueurs of the day, where the imperative of it to go on one night and if you can at the full moon, you will be on another planet. If it is only an adventure to try, it is this magical and timeless stroll in the white desert, where light creates a new and exciting decor every moment.

A good place to find drivers-guides is the Popular Restaurant.

Chak-Wak is an entertainment park created in 2006. It spreads over 5 hectares in the heart of the palm grove and is organized around the theme of the history of humanity with many activities on site. Among the amenities: the café, the restaurant, the space reserved for families. Musical evenings are also organized regularly. The museology is rather dated and the site is unfortunately poorly maintained. But the setting among the palm trees is still beautiful and children may find it interesting.

If you drive along the road to Gourna, you'll see two pillars which, as you approach, turn out to be two gigantic statues, the largest remains of the funerary temple built for Amenhotep III on the left bank. Originally carved in a single block, they reach a height of around 20 m on their plinths and represent Amenhotep III in a seated position, hands on knees, the position of peace. His mother and wife are depicted smaller at his feet. They originally adorned the entrance to the king's huge funerary temple.

Nothing remains of the temple - which explains their unusual presence in the middle of a sugarcane field - even though it was gigantic, stretching 700 m to the foot of the Theban Mountain. Shaken by an earthquake at the very beginning of the Christian era, the northern statue began to emit a sound due, it seems, to the heating of the stone exposed to the sun, a whistling sound that the Greeks attributed to Memnon, the mythical king of Ethiopia, son of Dawn, who inspired numerous pilgrimages and gave his name to the site. For two centuries, until Septimius Severus had the statue restored, depriving it of its distinctive sound, the Colossi of Memnon were a major tourist attraction. Among their famous visitors was the emperor Hadrian, whom Marguerite Yourcenar, in Memoirs of Hadrian, imagines resting in the shadow of the statue. Excavations are still taking place on the site, in the shadow of the colossi if you will.

Still welded to the rock from which it was to be extracted, it rests with its entire mass (1,200 tonnes) and length (42 m) on its granite bed. Abandoned as it was and left unfinished because of cracks that appeared in some places, it would have been the largest obelisk known once erected. The surrounding area is a former quarry where the workers used to work to remove the enormous blocks of stone that looked like temples, palaces or deities.

The work was insane, judge! You had to start by hammering the rock with a stone as hard as dolorite, until a sufficiently wide and deep notch was made. Wooden wedges, previously soaked in water, were driven in, and as they dried, the wedges expanded and shattered the rock. The operation was carried out on three sides. Depending on its use, it was roughened on the spot, sometimes even almost finished. It was then placed on a wooden sledge and taken down to the river by a special ramp. It was made of rubble, on which the masons sealed several layers of bricks covered with a thick layer of silt kept wet and slippery.

The felucca, in charge of transporting the blocks, landed a little before the receding water level near the bank. Once aground, there was time to load the felucca. At the next flood, the boat was afloat and set sail for the delivery. Unloading was carried out in the same manner.

Naama Bay is the main urban feature of the city's entertainment area. A long concrete driveway and delimited by trees arranged in a line. Much of the town's reputation for quality of life is directly related to the quality of the Naama Bay boardwalks. You will naturally come to this "waterfront" which is the entire length of Naama Bay. The languid and sustained glances that are cast upon it make it the first meeting place of the city. Beware of the gigolos, though..

The temple is dedicated to the god Khnum, represented with a ram's head, lord of Elephantine and part of the eponymous triad who commanded the Nile, god who created living beings on his potter's wheel. The goddesses Neith and Heket were also celebrated, the former being the mother of all gods, and the latter having participated with her in the creation of the world.

It was built during the Ptolemy period, in the 2nd century BC, and by the Roman Emperor Claudius between 41 and 54 AD. The hypostyle hall was then preceded by a second hypostyle hall, a naos, a main chapel and side chapels, with an ambulatory running all around the temple. The building is currently located 9 m below street level.

The openwork portico reveals six columns of the hypostyle hall. This structure is characteristic of Ptolemaic monuments and their Roman replicas. The scene represents Titus facing several deities. The two side doors were used by the priests

The hypostyle hall has preserved its 24 lotus-shaped columns whose scenes narrate the creation of the world orchestrated by Neith. The west wall is the oldest wall of the building and contains scenes of offerings from the periods of Septimius Severus and Caracalla. The east wall shows a scene of a massacre, while in the corner is a calendar of the festivities celebrated. Its ceiling is perfectly intact; it has astronomical elements that explain the solar race and the constellations.

In this small museum with its traditional architecture, you'll discover a facet of Siwi culture. It's the place to be if you want to get to know it better. However, if you don't have time to visit in the morning, it's advisable to arrange a private tour through the tourist office. You'll find all the traditional objects, culinary, domestic and decorative, that make this oasis a very special place in the Egyptian landscape.

It's a natural pool where Cleopatra is said to have bathed when she came to consult the oracle. Its clear, light water is incredibly transparent. The water that feeds it is pure and warm. A few years ago, only a small tent made of palm branches was erected here, offering siwi mint tea. The influx of tourists prompted Abdu to build a kitchen and toilets. In the evenings, sheep and goat barbecues are organized, as well as Siwi music concerts.

This superb but small tomb measures just 30 m in length and comprises just 3 chambers. It contained 3,000 pieces of the deceased's funerary furniture. Tutankhamun was hastily placed here in the surprise of his death. Only the burial chamber is represented. The 12 baboons depicted come from the Book of Amdouat and represent each of the 12 hours of the journey to the afterlife. Most of the treasure will be on display at the GEM in Cairo, but the red quartzite sarcophagus and the mummy are still on site.