This small mountain, rising roughly a kilometer from Siwan habitation, was used as a cemetery over many centuries. The terraced slopes of Gebel el‑Mawta are honeycombed with hundreds of tombs, carefully carved into the rock, many of which preserved wall paintings, hieroglyphs, and inscriptions.

Archaeological studies suggest that the necropolis was already active by the time of Egypt’s 26th Dynasty, and continued in use during the Ptolemaic and Roman periods. During World War II, local Siwans used some of these vaulted sepulchers as shelters from aerial bombardment.

Research into the iconography and inscriptions in several of the tombs reveals a syncretic blending of Egyptian and Hellenistic motifs, reflecting the cultural interchange of that frontier oasis. Scholars have paid particular attention to the presence of scenes invoking Amun, the primary deity of the Siwa Oasis, including unusual depictions of a ram‑headed figure holding a knife, which some interpret as a psychopomp or underworld guardian rather than simply Amun himself.

From its summit, Gebel el‑Mawta also offers panoramic views across the desert and the palm groves of Siwa. The site has drawn attention not only from modern archaeologists such as Ahmed Fakhry, but also from early travelers in the nineteenth century CE who recorded its painted tombs and hieroglyphs.

The tombs, along with many others scattered across the terraces of Gebel el‑Mawta, constitute one of the most significant rock-cut necropolises in Egypt’s Western Desert. The combination of stylistic, epigraphic, and iconographic evidence provides invaluable insight into cross-cultural religious identity in a remote but spiritually important oasis.

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Gebel el‑Mawta is composed of middle–Miocene carbonate rocks, primarily hard limestone interbedded with marl and clay, belonging to the Marmarica Formation. The Siwa Oasis depression in which it stands is a karst‑modified landscape, having undergone long periods of dissolution and erosion that left residual inselberg hills such as Gebel el‑Mawta. The summit and upper slopes reach about 42 meters in elevation and expose clean limestone, while the more clay-rich marl and argillaceous layers contribute to the relatively soft character of the rock, facilitating the excavation of hundreds of tombs. The surface is overlain in places by Quaternary alluvium and aeolian deposits, giving the hill a thin mantle of more recent sediments in certain depressions.

circa 600 BCE

The necropolis at Gebel el‑Mawta reflects a long history of mortuary activity that spans several cultural phases, combining Egyptian, Hellenistic, and Roman funerary traditions. Its use as a burial site began in the 26th Dynasty of the Late Period, as evidenced by stylistically older tombs, and continued through the Ptolemaic and Roman eras, during which its most elaborate chamber tombs were carved and decorated.

Burial architecture at Gebel el‑Mawta typically consists of rock-cut plans carved into terraces on the hillside. Many tombs follow a three-part layout: an entrance, a long or broad hall, and an inner burial chamber, with loculi (side‑niches) carved into the walls of the hall for secondary burials. In the more ornate tombs, such as that of Si‑Amun, loculi added during the Roman period indicate that family reuse of the tombs became common, with multiple mummies found in these recesses.

The iconography of Gebel el‑Mawta is both syncretic and deeply grounded in local religious traditions. Egyptian deities like Osiris, Hathor, and Anubis appear frequently, but Hellenistic influences are clearly visible in technique, style, and subject matter. For example, in the Tomb of Si‑Amun, painted scenes show the deceased making offerings to gods, but the style of his garments and aspects of his facial depiction suggest Greek influence. Particularly striking is the representation of a ram‑headed figure holding a knife in some tombs (including the so-called Tomb of the Crocodile), traditionally identified as Amun. Recent interpretation argues that this figure might represent a netherworld guardian, a psychopomp rather than simply the god Amun, reflecting a more complex belief system regarding death and the afterlife.

Evidence from archaeological surveys suggests that many of the tombs were looted in antiquity. By the Roman period, tomb reuse was widespread, and the addition of family burials in loculi may indicate changing social or economic dynamics in the Siwa community. Moreover, when early explorers like Cailliaud and Von Minutoli visited the site in the 19th century CE, they recorded painted hieroglyphs, mummies, and even living use of the tombs by locals, pointing to centuries of disturbance and adaptation.

Finally, mortuary remains recovered from the tombs reflect burial practices similar to those in the Nile Valley. Excavators, notably Ahmed Fakhry, noted that the skeletal remains had been mummified in comparable ways and accompanied by objects such as amulets and sarcophagi typical of Pharaonic and Greco-Roman Egypt. This suggests that, despite the oasis’s relative isolation, its inhabitants partook in mainstream Egyptian mortuary culture while also expressing a distinctive identity shaped by desert life and cross-cultural exchange.

circa 600 BCE

Tomb of Niperpathot
The Tomb of Niperpathot, or Pat-Hot, is one of the largest tombs on the mountain and belonged to a man titled “Prophet of Osiris” and “Scribe of the Divine Documents,” among other religious designations. The court of the tomb, though somewhat ruined, opens into six small chambers and terminates in a burial chamber. Inscriptions in reddish ink cover parts of the interior; the prominence of his titles suggests the existence of an Osirian cult in Siwa.

circa 300-200 BCE

Tomb of Mesu‑Isis
The Tomb of Mesu‑Isis is named after a woman (Mesu‑Isis) whose name alone survives. This tomb dates roughly from the Ptolemaic period (around the 4th to 2nd centuries BC). Its entrance is framed by a cornice, above which are painted twenty-one uraei (royal cobras) in red and blue, each surmounted by a sun disk — a motif loaded with protective symbolism in ancient Egyptian funerary architecture.

circa 200-100 BCE

Tomb of Si-Amun
Discovered in 1914 CE, the Tomb of Si-Amun is often considered the most artistically important tomb on the mountain. This chamber features well-preserved, brightly colored reliefs and paintings. The deceased, possibly a wealthy Greek merchant or landowner, is depicted making offerings to Egyptian deities, demonstrating the fusion of Greek and native religious practice. The scenes include representations of Amun, sometimes in unusual iconography, such as a ram‑headed figure with a knife, which has sparked debate among scholars about whether it represents a traditional god or a more esoteric netherworld guardian.

One of the reliefs on the left wall of the tomb, possibly depicts the owner Si-Amun (his name literally means, "the man of Amun"). His father was a merchant from Cyrene and his mother was an Egyptian. Although the deities shown in his tomb are clearly Egyptian, he, himself is depicted as a Greek with black short-wavy hair and a short-full beared.

One of the peculiarities of his tombs is a lion-headed-male god is Mahes, a minor god with a small cult.

circa 30 BCE

Tomb of the Crocodile
The Tomb of the Crocodile, discovered in 1940 and excavated by Ahmed Fakhry, comprises three rooms coated in white plaster. The wall paintings include depictions of the deceased, the god Osiris, animals (including a fox), and most notably a yellow crocodile — an allusion to Sobek, the crocodile god. Though the name of the tomb’s occupant has been lost, the iconography reveals rich syncretism and funerary beliefs of the Greco‑Roman Siwa.