Temple of the Revelation of Amun

The Temple of Amun at Siwa, known as the Temple of the Oracle, sits atop Aghurmi hill in Egypt's Western Desert, about 50 km from the Libyan border. Built during the 26th Dynasty (6th century BC), it housed one of the ancient world's most revered oracles. Alexander the Great visited in 331 BC to be acknowledged as the son of Amun-Ra, following a tradition of Egypt's pharaohs. In 524 BC, Persian king Cambyses II sent 50,000 troops to destroy the oracle, but the entire army vanished in the desert sands. The oracle declined during Roman times, and by 23 BC Strabo noted it had lost nearly all importance.