DAMANHUR

city, capital of Al-Buhayrah muhafazah (governorate) in the western Nile River delta, Lower Egypt. Its name is derived from the ancient Egyptian Timinhor (City of Horus) and has historically applied to several centres in Egypt, mostly in the delta. The capital of a Ptolemaic nome, Damanhur was known as Hermopolis Parva in Hellenistic times. It was severely damaged in 1302 by an earthquake, but in the late 14th century the Mamluk caliph Barquq restored its fortifications to thwart Bedouin incursions. It was first made a provincial capital under Fatimid rule (11th century AD), and in the European Middle Ages it prospered as a caravan town on the post road from Cairo to Alexandria. Damanhur is now a major centre of the western delta; it is the hub of a system of narrow-gauge railways transporting the cotton, dates, vegetables, and cereals of the region's agricultural hinterland. The city has date-packing, potato-processing, cotton-ginning, and textile industries. Damanhur is served by the Cairo-Alexandria main railway and is an important branch railway, road, and canal junction. Pop. (1986 prelim.) 190,840.