In history, there were a few powerful people who died young. One of them was Alexander the Great. He studied under Aristotle and was one of the greatest military commanders in the history of the world.
Back then, after Alexander the Great defeated the Persian Empire and entered ancient Egypt, in order to become a pharaoh recognized by the ancient Egyptians, he personally led an army deep into the western desert to visit the Temple of Amon in the Siwa Oasis.
Before that, the Persians had also been troubled by this matter. Although they had occupied ancient Egypt for 200 years, the ancient Egyptians did not recognize the legitimacy of their rule. They did not recognize the Persians as their pharaoh and had resisted for 200 years.
In order to solve this problem, long before Alexander the Great, the Persians had sent an army of up to 50,000 people into the western desert. They also wanted to find the Temple of Amon in the Siwa Oasis. If they could not get a divine revelation, they would simply raze the temple to the ground.
The straight-line distance between Alexandria Port and the Siwa Oasis was about 500 kilometers. From today's perspective, it was not far, but in a few hundred years before Christ, this road was completely dangerous and barren.
It was said that after the Persian army entered the western desert, they encountered a terrible storm. All 50,000 people were buried in the yellow sand, and not a single person walked out of the desert alive … It sounded a bit like the plot of the Mongolian army's expedition to Japan, but they encountered a divine wind at sea and were completely annihilated.
The talented and bold Alexander the Great knew that the Persians had learned a lesson from their mistakes, but he set foot on this road again without hesitation.
His army also lost its way in the desert, but he seemed to really be favored by the Egyptian gods. Two crows appeared in front of him and guided him. After a fantastic journey full of myths and legends, he finally arrived at the Siwa Oasis. He received a divine revelation in front of the statue of Amon and was recognized by the priest of the temple as the Son of Amon. In other words, he was the Son of the Sun God and officially became the pharaoh of ancient Egypt.
Why was the status of the Temple of Amon so high? Because the oracle of the Temple of Amon was very accurate, but unfortunately, no one knew if God Amon had foreseen the future of Alexander the Great's untimely death.
The road from the Port of Mersa Matruh to the Siwa Oasis was very boring. There was only endless desert and low shrubs.
Lush greenery began to appear at the end of the monotonous desert. The tall date palm trees bore green fruits, which would only ripen in about two months. They slowly turned from green to pink, then yellow, and finally into a reddish-brown with the fragrance of wine.
The calm lakes reflected the dazzling white light under the sunlight. The white spots around the lakes were like frost or snow. They were salt formed by evaporation of water.
They had arrived at Siwa Oasis.
It only took Zhang Zian a few hours to cross the desert that had buried 50,000 Persian soldiers and almost buried Alexander the Great.
However, this was also the end of the highway.
From here to the west and south, there were no roads. At least, there were no flat roads. There was only the endless Sahara Desert.
Gradually, there was movement on the road. Other than the occasional bus carrying tourists, the most common one was actually a donkey cart. The Berber men who lived in this oasis sat on two-wheeled carriages, whipping their donkeys.
When Zhang Zian slowed down and cast a curious look, the middle-aged man, whose age could not be determined, smiled shyly. In order to cover up his shyness in front of strangers, he whipped the poor donkey.
If there were still a small number of tourists who went to the Port of Mersa Matruh for the beautiful beaches, then there were very few tourists here. After all, this place was more than 700 kilometers away from Cairo, close to the Libyan border.
However, this did not mean that there was nothing to see here. On the contrary, the Siwa Oasis was ranked 17th in the world's 50 natural wonders by CNN. It was also the highest-ranked place in Egypt.
Because there were fewer tourists, the indigenous Berbers here were not as glib as the Egyptians in Cairo and Alexandria. They retained most of their simplicity.
A towering hill sat next to the oasis. When Zhang Zian drove past, he noticed that the surface of the hill was covered with worm-eaten holes. This was the famous "Hill of the Dead." There were many tombs from the Ptolemaic period to the Roman period on the hill.
The Siwa Oasis was about 10 kilometers long and six to eight kilometers wide. It had a permanent population of about 20,000 people. In winter, rich Europeans would come here for a vacation.
Next to the road stood a yellow mud house. On the wall was written in black letters: "Welcome to the Siwa Oasis."
There were no tall buildings in the town. The tallest building was only about four stories. They all looked dusty.
It was the off-season for tourism, so there were not many people on the streets. Most of the hotels were empty. Donkey carts, motorcycles, three-wheeled motorcycles, buses, pickup trucks, and even convertibles were passing through the streets. Seeing the chaotic traffic, Zhang Zian knew that he had not left Egypt yet.
Salem stopped the car in front and got out to ask Zhang Zian if he wanted to sightsee. He was very familiar with the place and volunteered to be a tour guide.
Zhang Zian also wanted to visit the Siwa Oasis to see what was so commendable about a place that CNN had given such a high evaluation. However, he had a mission today. He had to first go to the Bedouin tribe to contact a guide to enter the desert. After that, when he had time, he could visit Siwa.
Salem expressed that he understood. He reminded him of what they had agreed on before, returned to the car, and continued to drive forward.
After passing through the small town, they really entered the desert no man's land this time.
There was no proper road in front of them. The vast desert was in front of them, and there were countless barren hills in the desert. The two cars rushed up the sand hills and slid down the sand valleys. It was almost like surfing in the sea of sand. Behind each car, there was a long trail of dust, like a tornado.
Zhang Zian, who was wearing a seatbelt, was fine. The elfins in the car did not wear seatbelts, and they were dizzy from the jolting. They complained about whether he knew how to drive or not.
He did not know how long they had been driving in the desert. Zhang Zian had long lost his way because the surroundings were all the same. He could not tell the difference between hills and sand dunes. He only hoped that Salem had not lost the Bedouin's ability to find his way and would not lead everyone deep into the desert.
Salem's car slowed down slowly. He stretched his arm out of the window, indicating that they were about to arrive at their destination.
A row of low shacks appeared in front of them. A Bedouin man in a long robe leading a camel walked slowly. The camel bell jingled. It was as if they had returned to the world of One Thousand and One Nights.
Zhang Zian and Salem stopped the car one after another.
There were also a few off-road vehicles parked near the entrance of the village. Could it be that other tourists had also come to visit this Bedouin settlement?
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