Other names: Aghurmi; Temple of Amun; Ammoneion; Shaly Ghadi. The meaning of Aghurmi in Amazigh Siwa language is the small village. The temple stands on a rocky, acropolis-like outcrop in Siwa oasis, called Aghurmi (Berber for ‘village’). Aghurmi is approximately 1.7 km east of the town of Shali.The site lies 400m north the remains of Amun Temple (Om Obeidah), 3km north al-Takrur mountain and about 4km east Gabal al- Mawta. It is a limestone plateau with 30m height taking the shape of a horse shoe. The plateau carries Amun Temple and the royal palace from Ahmos II’s reign, (26th dynasty) and a Siwa village that dates to the 12th to the 19th c. The site is surrounded by Aghurmi dwellings from the north and west, by agricultural land from the east and by agricultural land and Aghurmi dwellings from the south.

History

The temple seems to date from the time of Amasis of the 26th Dynasty, although this interpretation is based on contested epigraphic evidence. The most famous moment in the temple’s history came in 331 BC, when Alexander the Great visited in order to consult its oracle, accompanied by a large party of friends and soldiers, including the historian Callisthenes. Alexander arrived at the temple to be greeted by its high priest as the king of Egypt, and to have the oracle bestow divinity upon him. It is unclear whether these events took place at this site, the other nearby temple of Amun at Umm ‘Ubaydah, or a combination of the two.