Short History. The Siwa Oasis is an oasis in Egypt , located between the Qattara Depression and the Egyptian Sand Sea in the Libyan Desert . Location: 29°11′N 25°33′E . About 80 km in length and 20 km wide, it is one of Egypt's most isolated settlements and is located approximately 50 km east of Libyan border, and some 560 km from Cairo . It is home to about 23,000 people, the majority of whom are ethnic Berbers who speak a distinct language known as Siwi . Agriculture is the main activity, primarily the growing of dates and olives . Although the oasis is known to have been settled since at least the 10th millennium BC , there is no evidence of any connection with ancient Egypt until the 26th Dynasty , when a necropolis was established. Greek settlers at Cyrene made contact with the oasis around the same time ( 7th century BC ), and soon the oracle of Ammon became famous; the oracle is said to have confirmed Alexander the Great as both a divine personnage and the leg...