The Temple of Amun in Siwa was the primary residence of the exalted Oracle of Amun, who guided the affairs of the village, and a significant religious site. It was built directly above an Isu vault which was incorporated into the temple as an underground chamber.[1]
History[]
In 49 BCE, Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII appointed Medunamun, a member of the Order of the Ancients, as Oracle of Amun in a bid to consolidate his control over the remote, dissident town. A year later, the Medjay Bayek freed a group of farmers from cages in the temple grounds, including Teremun, who had died from his wounds. He later carried his body out of the temple to his farm.[2]
Sometime thereafter, Bayek infiltrated the temple complex and freed several priests who were being abused under Medunamun's tenure,[3] before assassinating Medunamun himself.[4]
Behind the scenes[]
In Assassin's Creed: Origins, the statues standing at the entrance of the temple are based on similar looking statues from the British Museum. They depict an Egyptian Amun (as a ram-headed sphinx) protecting King Taharqa. The other possible option considered during development were the Greek Zeus-Ammon human-headed sphinx statues. Such statues were the popular representation of Zeus-Ammon in Siwa at the time.[5]