The Siwa Oracle Alexander the Great Visited in Egypt

After Alexander the Great added Egypt to his conquests, he went on a long, perilous journey to meet the ancient Siwa Oracle where he received a mysterious message.

By 332 BC when the young king had already conquered vast swathes of the Persian empire in Anatolia, Syria, and the Levant, he proceeded south, taking over Palestine, Phoenicia, and Egypt, expanding his empire.

Alexander was a restless spirit and frequently pondered philosophical questions. He also faced several practical challenges, such as the assassination of his father, the dangers posed to a ruler, the purpose of his conquests, and how he would legitimize his rule as a Pharaoh. After all, his teacher was the great philosopher Aristotle who embedded some of his wisdom in his pupil.

When in Egypt, the king heard about the famous Oracle at Siwa, the most respected in the Eastern Mediterranean. He decided to make the journey to seek the oracle that would answer the questions that were torturing him.

The journey to faraway Siwa, deep in the desert bordering with Libya, is shrouded in mystery. Upon his return, Alexander had changed.

The Conquest of Egypt

The conquest of Egypt was crucial for Alexander the Great in order to secure his lines of communication. The Persian navy was still strong, maintaining bases in Egypt that were posing a threat to Greece. Persia still possessed a powerful navy that could threaten Greece and Macedonia, so Alexander needed to destroy all its bases. Furthermore, he wanted to secure Egypt from enemies who could attack his empire. He was also eyeing Egypt’s wealth.

At the same time, the Egyptians resented the Persian rule, so they greeted Alexander as a liberator and did not resist his army. During his time in Egypt, the young king made reforms such as organizing the military forces, introducing the Greek tax system, restoring temples of the Egyptian gods, offering traditional pharaonic sacrifices, and building the city of Alexandria to glorify his name.

Alexander the Great sought to govern Egypt in a manner that would earn him the Egyptians’ respect, portraying himself not as a tyrant, but as a benevolent ruler who would uphold their dignity and freedom. He showed respect for their civilization, their deities, and their way of life. And as the rulers of the past, he decided to visit the Oracle at Siwa.

Journey to the Oracle at Siwa

The Oracle at Siwa was located in a deep depression known as the Siwa Oasis, located in an isolated part of the desert towards the northwestern border with Libya. During the 26th Dynasty, the Pharaoh Amasis (r. 570-526 BC) built a shrine to Amun at the oasis to assert Egyptian control and win the favor of the Libyan tribes. The Egyptians worshipped Amun as the king of the gods, the equivalent of Zeus in Ancient Greece.

In February of 331 BC, Alexander the Great and his army entourage embarked from the city of Memphis with enough supplies to survive the Western Desert. It was a journey under scorching heat, full of hardships and disorienting mirages, but none of that would diminish Alexander’s determination, as the ancient sources say.

During the long journey, the Greeks ran out of water, but a hard rain helped quench their thirst and refill their water containers. Once they lost their way due to a sandstorm, but they were shown a path by two ravens or two snakes that guided them. This divine intervention proved to Alexander that he had the assistance of the gods, that his journey was truly purposeful, and that he would arrive safely at Siwa.

The Oracle at Siwa

It is not known how long the journey to Siwa was. But once the Greeks arrived, Alexander was mesmerized by the lush palm groves and cool, clear springs surrounding the ancient stone temples of Amun. The Oracle of Amun at Siwa was a deeply revered site. Just like the Oracle of Delphi in Greece, it was famous for its cryptic prophecies.

As instructed, he approached the oracle with the necessary reverence and asked to hear the divine message from the priests of Amun. There are three historians who wrote about the meeting of Alexander with the oracle, Arrian, Plutarch, and Quintus Curtius Rufus. Of the three, Arrian is considered the most reliable because he drew directly from Alexander’s generals. According to him, Alexander received a satisfactory reply by the Oracle at Siwa, but he did not write anything about Alexander’s questions and the answers he received.

Plutarch wrote that the priest greeted Alexander as the son of Zeus-Amun and informed him that the empire of the world had been reserved for him and that all of Philip of Macedon’s murders had been punished. The Roman Quintus Curtius Rufus, who was criticized as not being very reliable, also said that the priest greeted Alexander as the son of Amun. Alexander replied that his human form had made him forgetful of this and inquired about his empire and the fate of his father’s murderers. Quintus Curtius Rufus added that Alexander’s companions asked whether it would be acceptable for them to offer divine honors to Alexander and received an affirmative answer.

Alexander’s Change After Siwa

After visiting the Oracle at Siwa, Alexander had changed. He started presenting himself as a god. Other than advertising himself as a god, it was a political move. As a foreigner, he wanted to legitimize himself in the eyes of the Egyptians, since rulers as gods or with characteristics of gods were common in Egypt and other territories in the Near East.

As Alexander the Great’s conquests expanded his empire further and further, his Companions noted a shift in behavior. He became more unpredictable and despotic. He exhibited signs of megalomania and paranoia, demanding that members of the Court would kneel before hime. For the Greeks, such an act was reserved for the gods and that strained the relationship between him and his Companions.

While this behavior might have been a result of the message he received at the Oracle at Siwa, is not certain. After all, his behavior was changing gradually as his conquests were multiplying. The consultation of the Oracle at Siwa is still an event shrouded in mystery, because whatever the message he received was, Alexander continued his victorious campaign as before, albeit more confident and fearless.

The visit to the Oracle at Siwa further contributed to the mythologization of Alexander’s persona, both during his lifetime and in World history.