Seven hundred years before Christ the Greek hero Alexander the Great rode an arduous eight days from Alexandria on Egypt's coast inland to a remote oasis in the Western desert. His mission was to consult the world renowned oracle. What at first must have seemed like a mirage came into view. A narrow strip of green in a great sea of sand. His destination made him the most famous visitor to the oasis of Siwa. Although the question he put to the oracle is unknown, many others followed in his footsteps. Today Siwa is still an extraordinary place. It lies in a depression 12 metres below sea level. With over 200 natural springs the mainstay of life for the oasis' 18 thousands inhabitants. The oasis' unique characteristics and relative isolation combine to create a natural, self-contained bio-sphere. Sylvia Smith reports on how this tiny green spot in the middle of the desert is evolving.
OVER VIEW OF THE OASIS FROM ORACLE (ACRES OF GREEN TREES) + WIDE SHOTS OF PALM GROVES
On the ancient caravan route to Memphis and just 50 kilometres from Egypt's border with Libya is one of the most mysterious of all oases. Siwa the classic desert haven. Over 300,000 date palms create shade and the basis of the economy.
TENDING GARDENS
Every Siwan family has a plot of land, an allotment on which they grow their daily food requirements. Agriculture hasn't changed for a thousand years. No pesticide or fertiliser has ever been used.
DATES DANGLING FROM TREES, BEING PICKED, WATER SPRINGS UP, FLOWS, FOUNTAINS
GUSH
Thousands of tons of dates of all shapes and shades depend on the miracle of Siwa - it's abundance of water.
But this resource bubbling up exuberantly from the centre of the earth is paradoxically Siwa's greatest threat. The excess that the land can't absorb runs off into the salt lakes that surround the oasis.
OVER VIEW OF LAKES
And these saline inland waters are growing in size. Nibbling at the edges of the dates groves that lie on their shore.
MORE GARDENING
To compensate, Farmers started to drill individual wells to irrigate their land and produce more.
SET UP MOUNIR NEAMATALLAH
SOUND BITE MOUNIR
"Drilling wells - this new technology that we brought to Siwa could be the most dangerous weapon that could really impair the oasis. Because as we drill wells we are literally destroying the balances between the deep aquifers that provide the oasis with its water and the traditional springs
that have traditionally fed the Siwis with water."
DRILLING WATER STARTS TO APPEAR
So the first thing is to stop any drilling, any man-made wells and to rely on entirely on the 230 natural springs in the oasis.
BIBLICAL SCENE OF IRRIGATION
The second thing has to do with the management of the water resource itself. The water that's coming out of the natural springs may not be enough to meet the needs of the population now. If this is indeed the case then what we ought to do is use our knowledge and technology to help the Siwans improve
their irrigation so that they can expand the areas of land around these springs that they are currently planting."
MAN DRILLING
Now for the first time there are guidelines for new wells. Drilling for water has been in Abdul Raheem Moussa's family for generations. He has the new technology but is only allowed to practice his trade where the landowner has a very substantial plot to cultivate.
MAN TALKS AND GESTICULATES
According to Abdul Raheem there's plenty of water for everyone to grow what they need using the time-honoured methods of "time sharing". Every plot has a specific amount of time allocated each week for irrigation. Respect for
each owner's right to water his land - while accepting the restrictions - is the answer.
SET UP FARMER ON FATNESS ISLAND
SOUND BITE FARMER
"When you look at the results of all these new springs, you realise that more damage is caused than benefits to individual farmers. Now they've built a wall along this side of the lake. It is supposed to keep the water from reaching the roots of the trees and killing them. It seems to work for the moment anyway."
CLEOPATRA'S POOL (MEN REBUILDING WALL AROUND POOL)
The emphasis is on maintaining and sharing older, deeper wells that have served Siwa for centuries. This is Cleopatra's pool. Herodotus the Greek historian remarked on its qualities
WATER FACTORY BOTTLING LINE, LORRY OUTSIDE
Those same qualities are also the source of a new industry. This modern bottling factory is taking advantage of Siwa's plentiful, perfectly balanced pure water and delivering it around Egypt and the Middle East.
SHOT OF SALT LAKES, SALT CUTTING AND HARVESTING
The co-existence of these two types of water - sweet and saline -side by side may seem to offer Siwa a fragile future. The huge deposit of rock salt at the bottom of the lakes could - in some way- be seen as the villain of the piece. But this natural resource has a crucial role to play. It is the
basis for an important revival of traditional construction.
VARIOUS OF FORTRESS TOWN OR SHALI
The idea came from the original fortress town now abandoned on a hill. The Shali may look like a Gaudiesque sculpture. Until the last century these salt and mud houses protected the inhabitants from outside invaders.
ADRERE AMELLAL BUILDING. MOUNIR TALKS AND POINTS TO BRICK LAYER
Mounir Neamatallah is harnessing the mighty power of salt combined with mud from the lake to make an up-market, sand-castle fantasy . It's called the Adrere Amellal after the white mountain that casts its shadow over the spread of bohemian chic constructions
SOUND BITE MOUNIR
"The rock salt is a very strong material. It is the material that gives strength to the building. The mud, clay is the mortar. The Siwans build in layers where they put the rock salt and then the mud to bind the salt together. Each layer as it dries in the sun acquires more and more strength to the point where that when the different layers harden they become as strong as a beam. They can carry their own weight."
DISSOLVE TO CLOSE UP OF MAN SLAPPING ON MUD + SONS HELPING
The special technique had almost been lost when the Siwans moved down from their old homes. Modernising meant concrete. Now master craftsmen pass on their skills to others. It's as much about designing as simply building.
MOUNIR TALKS IN ANIMATED FASHION TO BUILDER
"Sidi Ahmed is really one of our principal builders, He's got his finger prints on practically every building in Adrere Amellal. He's got his children now working with him. He's forming another generation of builders. This technique, this is the mud the building material. It's how he lays this rock one on top of the other and makes sure that the entire wall - all the air holes are filed. That makes the difference between a good builder and an average builder."
MORE CONSTRUCTION UNDER WAY
MORE SHOTS OF ESTATE + MOUNIR WITH SALT BREAKERS
And it's salt that makes this possible
MOUNIR AND SAID THE SALT MAN
"Every summer we stock the salt and then we use it over the seasons for our buildings and all sorts of treatments and even culinary purposes - and Said is the man who takes care of that."
DONKEY CARTS ABOUT TOWN
OPEN AIR MARKET
A new asphalt road has linked the oasis with the outside world bringing new opportunities
DATE FACTORY. BOXES BEING DRIED AND THEN SORTED
And with the fashion for organic produce sweeping the West, Siwa is now Fair Trading its biggest commodity - dates
TEMPLE OF THE ORACLE OF AMUN
When Alexander the Great came to Siwa over two thousand years ago it was to ask the oracle an important question about his future. We don't know for sure what he asked, but the prophesy industry that kept Siwa on the map for hundreds of years is now being replaced by a new asset.
TEMPLE OF THE ORACLE OF AMUN
SOUND BITE MOUNIR
"That oracle centre in antique times is the same oracle centre that we have today but the commodity is slightly different. The commodity that the Siwans have here which is very precious is that they can and have a very good chance at proving that sustainable development really works in making
communities get out of the cycle of poverty."
WATER LYING IN POOL - GENTLE BUBBLES
The paradox of water - at once Siwa's greatest asset and its most imminent threat is at the heart of the oasis' development. If it can be managed correctly then this remote oasis could be an oracle for the future
ENDS
OVER VIEW OF THE OASIS FROM ORACLE (ACRES OF GREEN TREES) + WIDE SHOTS OF PALM GROVES
On the ancient caravan route to Memphis and just 50 kilometres from Egypt's border with Libya is one of the most mysterious of all oases. Siwa the classic desert haven. Over 300,000 date palms create shade and the basis of the economy.
TENDING GARDENS
Every Siwan family has a plot of land, an allotment on which they grow their daily food requirements. Agriculture hasn't changed for a thousand years. No pesticide or fertiliser has ever been used.
DATES DANGLING FROM TREES, BEING PICKED, WATER SPRINGS UP, FLOWS, FOUNTAINS
GUSH
Thousands of tons of dates of all shapes and shades depend on the miracle of Siwa - it's abundance of water.
But this resource bubbling up exuberantly from the centre of the earth is paradoxically Siwa's greatest threat. The excess that the land can't absorb runs off into the salt lakes that surround the oasis.
OVER VIEW OF LAKES
And these saline inland waters are growing in size. Nibbling at the edges of the dates groves that lie on their shore.
MORE GARDENING
To compensate, Farmers started to drill individual wells to irrigate their land and produce more.
SET UP MOUNIR NEAMATALLAH
SOUND BITE MOUNIR
"Drilling wells - this new technology that we brought to Siwa could be the most dangerous weapon that could really impair the oasis. Because as we drill wells we are literally destroying the balances between the deep aquifers that provide the oasis with its water and the traditional springs
that have traditionally fed the Siwis with water."
DRILLING WATER STARTS TO APPEAR
So the first thing is to stop any drilling, any man-made wells and to rely on entirely on the 230 natural springs in the oasis.
BIBLICAL SCENE OF IRRIGATION
The second thing has to do with the management of the water resource itself. The water that's coming out of the natural springs may not be enough to meet the needs of the population now. If this is indeed the case then what we ought to do is use our knowledge and technology to help the Siwans improve
their irrigation so that they can expand the areas of land around these springs that they are currently planting."
MAN DRILLING
Now for the first time there are guidelines for new wells. Drilling for water has been in Abdul Raheem Moussa's family for generations. He has the new technology but is only allowed to practice his trade where the landowner has a very substantial plot to cultivate.
MAN TALKS AND GESTICULATES
According to Abdul Raheem there's plenty of water for everyone to grow what they need using the time-honoured methods of "time sharing". Every plot has a specific amount of time allocated each week for irrigation. Respect for
each owner's right to water his land - while accepting the restrictions - is the answer.
SET UP FARMER ON FATNESS ISLAND
SOUND BITE FARMER
"When you look at the results of all these new springs, you realise that more damage is caused than benefits to individual farmers. Now they've built a wall along this side of the lake. It is supposed to keep the water from reaching the roots of the trees and killing them. It seems to work for the moment anyway."
CLEOPATRA'S POOL (MEN REBUILDING WALL AROUND POOL)
The emphasis is on maintaining and sharing older, deeper wells that have served Siwa for centuries. This is Cleopatra's pool. Herodotus the Greek historian remarked on its qualities
WATER FACTORY BOTTLING LINE, LORRY OUTSIDE
Those same qualities are also the source of a new industry. This modern bottling factory is taking advantage of Siwa's plentiful, perfectly balanced pure water and delivering it around Egypt and the Middle East.
SHOT OF SALT LAKES, SALT CUTTING AND HARVESTING
The co-existence of these two types of water - sweet and saline -side by side may seem to offer Siwa a fragile future. The huge deposit of rock salt at the bottom of the lakes could - in some way- be seen as the villain of the piece. But this natural resource has a crucial role to play. It is the
basis for an important revival of traditional construction.
VARIOUS OF FORTRESS TOWN OR SHALI
The idea came from the original fortress town now abandoned on a hill. The Shali may look like a Gaudiesque sculpture. Until the last century these salt and mud houses protected the inhabitants from outside invaders.
ADRERE AMELLAL BUILDING. MOUNIR TALKS AND POINTS TO BRICK LAYER
Mounir Neamatallah is harnessing the mighty power of salt combined with mud from the lake to make an up-market, sand-castle fantasy . It's called the Adrere Amellal after the white mountain that casts its shadow over the spread of bohemian chic constructions
SOUND BITE MOUNIR
"The rock salt is a very strong material. It is the material that gives strength to the building. The mud, clay is the mortar. The Siwans build in layers where they put the rock salt and then the mud to bind the salt together. Each layer as it dries in the sun acquires more and more strength to the point where that when the different layers harden they become as strong as a beam. They can carry their own weight."
DISSOLVE TO CLOSE UP OF MAN SLAPPING ON MUD + SONS HELPING
The special technique had almost been lost when the Siwans moved down from their old homes. Modernising meant concrete. Now master craftsmen pass on their skills to others. It's as much about designing as simply building.
MOUNIR TALKS IN ANIMATED FASHION TO BUILDER
"Sidi Ahmed is really one of our principal builders, He's got his finger prints on practically every building in Adrere Amellal. He's got his children now working with him. He's forming another generation of builders. This technique, this is the mud the building material. It's how he lays this rock one on top of the other and makes sure that the entire wall - all the air holes are filed. That makes the difference between a good builder and an average builder."
MORE CONSTRUCTION UNDER WAY
MORE SHOTS OF ESTATE + MOUNIR WITH SALT BREAKERS
And it's salt that makes this possible
MOUNIR AND SAID THE SALT MAN
"Every summer we stock the salt and then we use it over the seasons for our buildings and all sorts of treatments and even culinary purposes - and Said is the man who takes care of that."
DONKEY CARTS ABOUT TOWN
OPEN AIR MARKET
A new asphalt road has linked the oasis with the outside world bringing new opportunities
DATE FACTORY. BOXES BEING DRIED AND THEN SORTED
And with the fashion for organic produce sweeping the West, Siwa is now Fair Trading its biggest commodity - dates
TEMPLE OF THE ORACLE OF AMUN
When Alexander the Great came to Siwa over two thousand years ago it was to ask the oracle an important question about his future. We don't know for sure what he asked, but the prophesy industry that kept Siwa on the map for hundreds of years is now being replaced by a new asset.
TEMPLE OF THE ORACLE OF AMUN
SOUND BITE MOUNIR
"That oracle centre in antique times is the same oracle centre that we have today but the commodity is slightly different. The commodity that the Siwans have here which is very precious is that they can and have a very good chance at proving that sustainable development really works in making
communities get out of the cycle of poverty."
WATER LYING IN POOL - GENTLE BUBBLES
The paradox of water - at once Siwa's greatest asset and its most imminent threat is at the heart of the oasis' development. If it can be managed correctly then this remote oasis could be an oracle for the future
ENDS