Pages - Menu

Faiyum (El-Faiyum)

Faiyum, the  region  of Egypt once named Ta-she, the Land of the Lakes, and used in  some  eras  as  an  agricultural  center,  the  Faiyum  was also called Pa-yuum and Pa-yom and was settled in Paleolithic  times  when  hunters  and  gatherers  came  down from  the  arid  plateaus  of  the  area,  drawn  by the abundant game and grasses.

A natural  low  extending  along  the  western  side of the Nile River, the Faiyum had different Predynastic  cultures,  including  Faiyum  A  and  B.  These  cultures date  to  c.  4500  B.C.E. The  Bahr Yusef, an  Arabic  name significant "Joseph's River" (not a biblical reference but one honoring an Islamic hero), left the Nile at Assiut, becoming a alternative stream. The Bahr Yusef was allowed by natural forces to figure the Faiyum but was not left with a natural route of exit, thus inundating the area and transforming  it  into  lush  fields,  gardens,  and  marshes. The site of Crocodilopolis was the capital for the district, also called Shedet, and attended as a cult center for the god Sobek. Located on Lake Qarun, called Me-Wer by the Egyptians,  Crocodilopolis  was  as well  a  haven  for  aquatic life-forms.  Crocodiles  were long,  and  in  some  eras tourists were allowed to feed them.

The rulers of the Twelfth Dynasty (1991–1783 B.C.E.) began  reconstruction  of  this  area.  Seeing  the  need  for increased  agricultural  output,  these  pharaohs  started  a series  of  hydraulic  systems  to  reclaim  acres  of  land. Amenemhet I (1991–1962  B.C.E.) expanded  and  deepened the channels, getting water to various parts of the Faiyum  and  establishing  a  true  reservoir.  During  the annual inundations of the Nile, regulators installed at el-Lahun controlled the Faiyum water levels. Every January the sluices at el-Lahun were closed to enable repairs to be made on  bridges  and  walkways.  Amenemhet III (1844–1797 B.C.E.) erected dikes and keeping walls, with sluices down and canals that regulated the flow of water. In the process  he  provided  Egypt  with  vast  tracts  of  arable lands, all of which strengthened the economic base of the nation. The Faiyum, modified with such regulators, thus attended  as  an  pinch  reservoir  in  periods  of  great floods.

One  of  the  most  beautiful  regions  in  the  Nile  Valley, the  Faiyum  was  reclaimed  again  and  again  as  an agricultural site. In the Ptolemaic Time (304–30 B.C.E.) the rulers developed the region and made it a leading agricultural  and  population  center.  Olive  production  was encouraged as the Greek Ptolemaics deemed the Faiyum olive  the  tastiest  of  all.  At  various  times  the  territory great over 4,000 square mils. Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285–246  B.C.E.)  renamed  the  nome  containing the Faiyum Arsinoe, after his relation, Arsinoe.


Monuments in El-Faiyum:

Crocodilopolis

el-Lahun

el-Lisht

Hawara

Herakleopolis Magna

Meidum

Sidment el-Gebel

Seila

Tarkhan