QALYUB

also spelled Kalyub, town at the apex of the Nile River delta, in Al-Qalyubiyah muhafazah (governorate), Lower Egypt. It lies just north of Cairo, near the right bank of the Nile and Barrage Al-Khayriyah, which controls the division of the Nile's waters into the Rosetta and Damietta branches. Qalyub was reputedly constructed with materials taken from the ruins of Heliopolis (modern Misr al-Jadidah), a few miles southeast. Its earliest mention is in AD 641, a year after the Arab invasion of Byzantine Egypt, when the Arab conqueror 'Amr ibn al-'As built a bridge across the canal there to facilitate subjugation of the towns of Misr province. In 180405, three years after the Napoleonic forces left Egypt, Qalyub suffered from depredations by undisciplined soldiery of the Mamluk sultans. In the mid-19th century Qalyub lost its status as the capital of the province (now muhafazah) to Banha. The modern town preserves several old mosques, notably the Great Mosque (1182, renovated 173536). It is linked to the Cairo-Alexandria superhighway and serves as a railway junction for several lines fanning through the delta. Its industries include cotton and silk weaving. Pop. (1986 prelim.) 86,684.