Isolated and idyllic, the Siwa Oasis sits spun with sand and stone. Its water is clear, near-mythic, its shores baked with salt. For some, it is an escape—a place far removed from the bustle of the city. As the pulse of Egypt’s Western Desert, the location is a thing of immense beauty, sitting just short of the Libyan border. For others, the oasis is much more than beautiful. It is home. Among the palm and olive groves live the Siwi, a people of Berber origin often characterized as “independent, private, and resistant to central authority.” In their own words, they are Imazighen: ‘noble and free men.’ Nomadic in nature, the Siwi are farmers and vagabonds indigenous to North Africa. Although their communities are various, and often speckled with respective idiosyncrasies, the Siwi are most famously Swians: peoples who inhabit the Siwa oasis. Their staple crop includes olives and dates, a romantic duo associated with their intrigue. To a lesser extent, the Siwi farm wheat, barley, sorghum, onions, and broad beans. Land is bought and sold amongst them, as are water rights; the Western Desert is arid and inhospitable, and their…
