Gebel al-Mawta (Mountain of the Dead)
A conical hill honeycombed with rock tombs, including the painted Greco-Egyptian tomb of Si-Amun.
A hill of tombs
Gebel al-Mawta, the "Mountain of the Dead", is a conical limestone hill on the northern edge of Siwa town, its slopes honeycombed with hundreds of rock-cut tombs. It was the main necropolis of Siwa from the Twenty-sixth Dynasty, in the sixth century BC, through the Ptolemaic and Roman periods. Many of the tombs were plundered long ago, but a few preserve painted decoration of great interest.
The tomb of Si-Amun
The most famous is the tomb of Si-Amun, a wealthy man of the Ptolemaic period, whose name means "son of Amun". Its walls are painted in vivid colours with traditional Egyptian funerary scenes — the deceased before Osiris, the sky goddess Nut, the weighing of the heart — but Si-Amun himself is shown with a curly beard and Greek-style dress, a striking example of the blending of Egyptian and Greek cultures in the oasis. Other decorated tombs include those of Mesu-Isis, Niperpathot and the so-called Tomb of the Crocodile.
A wartime shelter
During the Second World War, when Siwa was bombed, the town's inhabitants took refuge in the tombs of Gebel al-Mawta, and in doing so rediscovered several decorated tombs. From the top of the hill, a short climb, there are wide views over Siwa town, the Shali fortress, the palm groves and the salt lakes.
Exhibo editorial
From a distance it looks like a sandcastle, a cone of pale rock riddled with holes. Up close, each hole is a tomb. Ask the guardian to open Si-Amun's: inside, the colours are still bright, and the dead man, painted with a curly Greek beard, kneels before Egyptian gods — two worlds meeting in a desert oasis two thousand years ago.
Then climb to the top for the view at sunset, over the town, the palms and the shining salt lakes. It's one of the best short walks in Siwa.
How to find it
Gebel al-Mawta is about 1.5 km north of Siwa's main square, a short walk or tuk-tuk ride. The ticket office is at the foot of the hill; ask the guardian to open the tomb of Si-Amun and the other decorated tombs, then climb the path to the summit for the view.
