FAYYUM, AL-

Fayyum also spelled Faiyum, or Fayum, formerly Madinat Al-fayyum, capital of al-Fayyum muhafazah (governorate), Egypt. The town is located in the southeastern part of the governorate, on the site of the ancient centre of the region, called Shedet in pharaonic times and Crocodilopolis, later Arsinoe, in the Ptolemaic and Roman periods. Its ruins to the northwest of the city date to at least the 12th dynasty (19381756 BC), and during excavations numerous Demotic, Greek, and Coptic papyrus fragments were found. In medieval times there was a flourishing town on the site, and one mosque dates to the Mamluk period. The Yusuf Canal flows through the town; a large waterwheel system with buckets, the only known example in Egypt, raises water to irrigation channels. Al-Fayyum is a market and distribution centre for the governorate. It is linked by rail to Bani Suwayf in the Nile valley, and to Cairo by a highway that runs northward across the desert. Narrow-gauge railways radiate from the town to serve the agricultural communities of the governorate, and the Yusuf Canal also fans out into a series of irrigation channels. Pop. (1986 est.) 227,300. Fayyum also spelled Faiyum, or Fayum, muhafazah (governorate) of Upper Egypt, in a great depression of the Western Desert southwest of Cairo. Extending about 50 miles (80 km) eastwest and about 35 miles (56 km) northsouth, the whole Fayyum, including ar-Ruwayan Wadi, a smaller, arid depression, is below sea level (maximum depth 150 feet ). The muhafazah also includes a triangular tract of desert to the west, bounded by al-Jizah to the north and Bani Suwayf to the south. The name is derived from the Coptic Phiom (the sea), probably inspired by the ancient Lake Moeris that formed there during the Pleistocene epoch when the Nile, about 60 feet (18 m) higher than today, breached the gravelly ridge that separates al-Fayyum from the Nile valley proper. On the southeastern side of the depression is al-Fayyum, the capital of the muhafazah, formerly Madinat al-Fayyum (City of the Fayyum). The present Lake Qarun in the depression is sustained by a partial diversion of the Nile into the Yusuf (Ibrahimiyah) Canal, which follows the ancient channel of the Nile into the Fayyum, branching out to provide irrigation water. The brackish lake, occupying 85 square miles (220 square km), has been successfully stocked with saltwater fish, enabling a commercial-fishing industry to develop. The naturally protected, well-defined geographic entity of al-Fayyum was favoured by prehistoric hunters, who were probably attracted there by abundant game and equable climate. It was an important province in the 12th dynasty (19381756 BC), when the capital of Egypt was situated nearby. There is documentary evidence (3rd century BC) of Jewish settlement there. Ptolemy II (285246 BC) reduced the level of the lake to its present level, reclaiming much agricultural land. Greek settlers were brought to the area, creating prosperous Hellenistic communities. The ruins of these have yielded thousands of Greek, Demotic, and Coptic papyri. When occupied by the Arabs (c. AD 640), it was apparently still a prosperous agricultural region, chiefly producing rice and flax. Vulnerable to Berber desert raiders, it later declined, although it continued for centuries to be a centre of Coptic Christianity. Al-Fayyum muhafazah has an area of 705 square miles (1,827 square km). With the linking of al-Fayyum to the Nile valley by railroad (1874), the governorate's isolation was reduced and the way opened for development of the rich soils deposited by the Nile. Most of the area of al-Fayyum is now settled and cultivated. Cereals, rice, beans, grapes, olives, figs, dates, honey, cotton, and sugarcane are produced. Pigeons are raised for domestic commercial use. In the early 1970s about 9,900 acres (4,000 hectares) of desert were reclaimed for agricultural use. Attar of roses collected there is used in the perfume industry. Other industrial activities include manufacture of woolen and linen cloth, leather tanning, and tobacco processing. Construction of a chemical plant using solar evaporation to extract sodium chloride, sulfide, chlorate, and magnesium oxide started in 1980 near Lake Qarun. Coal and iron-ore deposits have been found in the governorate. The region has many ancient sites, including Shedet (later Crocodilopolis), chief centre for worship of the crocodile-god Sebek, near which al-Fayyum town now lies. In the time of the Ptolemies, Setje was named Arsinoe after the wife of Ptolemy II Philadelphus. Since pharaonic times al-Fayyum's irrigation waters, its lifeline, have been controlled by sluices at al-Lahun across the Yusuf Canal. Other modern centres in the great oasis include Sinnuris, Itsa, and Ibshaway. The governorate is linked by a highway across the desert to al-Jizah (Giza) and by local roads to Bani Suwayf. A branch railway off the CairoAswan line serves the governorate, and narrow-gauge railways radiate from the capital into the countryside. Pop. (1986 est.) 1,527,000.