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A temple dedicated to the god Amun (Amun-Ra), a prominent deity in the Egyptian pantheon, was established some time around the 7th and 8th centuries BCE, and additional traces of Ancient Egyptian culture in Siwa were recorded in subsequent centuries.

Siwa was one of the seven most revered oracles of ancient times and the only one that was not Greek.

Its cultural significance radiated across the Greek and non-Greek Mediterranean worlds and it was particularly sought after for knowledge on the fate of political and military ambitions.
While Alexander’s Egyptian kinship had been recognised by the priests of Memphis, it was in the sanctity of Siwa’s temple that a priest declared him the son of Amun. King Alexander then, became a god; a distinction that mattered in pious societies, like that of Egypt.

The Greeks equated Amun to the chief of their Olympian gods, Zeus. Offerings to Amun were placed in the Acropolis in the 4th century BCE and temples dedicated to Amun could be found in Greece.

Alexander may have remembered the Greek teachings of his former tutor Aristotle, in which the philosopher may have conveyed the commonly-held view of the time: that Egyptian culture was vastly more sophisticated than that of the Greeks, and its rituals and beliefs preceded those held by them.

Perseus and Hercules, claimed by Alexander as distant ancestors, were also said to have consulted Amun.

Augurs, or signs foreshadowing a great destiny, surrounding Alexander’s birth may have nurtured an interest in mystical quests, especially if they granted divinity and immortality.

Middle East Eye