The salt architecture in Siwa oasis – Egypt (XII–XX centuries)

The research concerns the peculiar and unknown building technique utilised in the construction of Shali, ancient fortress built in the XII century in Siwa, an oasis of the western Egyptian desert. The architecture is characterised by the use of salt blocks, taken from the nearby salty lakes. The blocks are utilised in the masonry with an abundant mud mortar very rich in salt. Such technique still lives in our time, utilised by old masons for some new buildings. A so peculiar technique is the result of the capability and skill of man to take advantage of the local environmental resources and at the same time made it possible to realise particularly comfortable buildings in the severe climatic conditions of Siwa. In order to understand the building technique, the behaviour and the decay phenomena observed in the masonries, building materials from old and new masonry, have been characterised from the compositional and mechanical point of view.