226 Outlines of European History In Egypt therefore he had deliberately taken the time, while a still unconquered Persian army was awaiting him in Asia, to march with a small following far out into the Sahara Desert to the Oasis of Siwa (see map, p. 80, and Fig. 100), where there was a shrine of the Egyptian god Amon. Anion had been identified Fig. 100. Oasis of Siwa in the Sahara In this oasis was the famous temple of the Egyptian god Amon (or Ammon), who delivered oracles greatly prized by the Greeks (p. 237). Alexander marched hither from the coast, a distance of some two hun- dred miles, and thence back to the Nile at Memphis, some three hundred and fifty miles (see map, p. 80). A modern caravan requires twenty-one days to go from the Nile to this oasis. Such an oasis is a deep depression in the desert plateau; the level of the plateau is seen at the tops of the cliffs on the right. Its fertility is due to many springs and flowing wells with Zeus, and the oracles of Zeus-Amon at Siwa enjoyed the respect of the whole Greek world. Here in the vast solitude Alexander entered the holy place alone. No one knew what took place there ; but when he issued again he was greeted by the high priest of the temple as the son of Zeus. Alexander took good care that all Greece should hear of this remarkable occurrence, but the Hellenes had to wait some years before they learned what it all meant.
