Mountain of the Dead

A pockmarked hill of rock-cut tombs from the Greco-Roman era.

Gebel al-Mawta — the Mountain of the Dead — is a small hill on the northern edge of town honeycombed with rock-cut tombs from the 26th Dynasty through to Roman times. Most of the tombs are empty, but a few preserve their painted walls: bright blues, ochres, and reds depicting the deceased before Osiris.

A caretaker unlocks the four most important tombs, including the Tomb of Si-Amun and the Tomb of the Crocodile. The interiors are small and the lighting is poor, so bring a torch. The hill itself is worth a climb for the view over the date palms.

things to do sight
A story
Most of the tombs were stripped centuries ago, but in 1940 villagers fleeing into the catacombs during an Italian bombing raid stumbled into an undisturbed chamber decorated with vivid 26th-Dynasty paintings — the Tomb of Si-Amun. The figure shown there is a wealthy landowner with what appear to be European features, hinting at the mixed ancestry of Siwa's classical-era population.

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