Localization problem of the "Temple of Amoudayn" (Temple of the two columns) in Siwa Oasis
The first western travelers who rediscovered Siwa and its oracle of Ammon in the early 19th century always speak of a temple, in the western part of the oasis, which they call "Amoudeyn" and say that it is located in the vicinity of the village of Khamisah. In 1820 one of these, probably Linant de Bellefonds or Fredric Cailliaud, made a sketch of the ruins of the temple and also a plan of the same.
In the following years other explorers report the temple until 1856 then every written trace of the name Amoudeyn disappears even if it is kept in the name of a spring in the area.
In recent times, attempts have been made to identify this temple with one of those that were discovered in the indicated area but with different opinions also considering that the travellers' indications are very imprecise and agree only in the reference to Khamisah.
For about 20 years, I thought it was the Temple of Timasirayn which is located in the desert less than a km south of the village but I was wrong because this is oriented to the north while Amoudeyn opens to the south.
Also the other 3 temples in the area can be excluded for different reasons so I came to the conclusion that the ruins indicated with the name "Amoudeyn" at the time and which still rose for about 8 meters have disappeared in the last two centuries.
So we can conclude that the remains of the Amoudyn temple are still to be found and probably not far from the homonymous spring.
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