QINA

also spelled Qena, town and capital of Qina muhafazah (governorate), Upper Egypt, on a canal 1 mile (1.6 km) east of the Nile River at its great bend, opposite Dandarah. The town was called Caene (New Town) by the ancient Greeks to distinguish it from Coptos (now Qift), 14 miles south, whose trade with Arabia, India, and China it eventually acquired. The shift resulted from the use of a more northerly route across the Eastern Desert to the ports at Bur Safajah and al-Qusayr. Excavations at al-Qusayr indicate that the route change occurred after the Mamluk period (after 1517). The northerly route's trade diminished in the Ottoman period, but the route remained in use for the Muslim Upper Egyptians making the Hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca. Qina revived during and after World War II because of its position as terminus of the road to the Red Sea coast, its status as a capital of the governorate, and the construction of a bridge across the Nile, together with the upgrading of the highway through Upper Egypt, which passes through it. The town is served by the CairoAswan railway; there is a military air base in the desert to the east. Qina is now a market town and service centre for road vehicles, and it has been traditionally noted for its production of porous clay water vessels used throughout Egypt. Pop. (1985 est.) 137,100. also spelled Qena, muhafazah (governorate) in Upper Egypt, extending 34 miles (56 km) on each side of the Nile River between the Arabian and Libyan deserts. Occupying the great bend in the Nile Valley, it has an area of 715 square miles (1,851 square km) and contains the celebrated ruins of Thebes and the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings. Qina has a dense agricultural population (more than 3,000 persons per square mile), and most of its land is under basin irrigation, yielding only one crop annually. Main crops are sugar (about three-fifths of the nation's production), lentils, and grains. Perennial irrigation water, mainly from the Kelabiya and Asfun canals, is supplied from the Isna Barrage. There are rich phosphate deposits near Isna, and a fertilizer plant is located there. Sugar refineries are located at Naj' Hammadi, Qus, and Dishna. The principal towns are Qina (q.v.), the capital, Luxor (al-Uqsur), and Isna. Pop. (1985 est.) 2,159,000.