Fayyûm

Fayyûm (from Egypt. Phiom, 'matsh-land'), a province of Egypt (pop. 160,000), consisting of a nearly circular basin or oasis, about 30 miles in diameter, or 840 sq. m. in area, sunk beneath the level of the Libyan desert, about half a degree S. of Cairo, and connected with the Nile valley by a narrow pass, through which an ancient canal (the Bahr-Yûsnf, or 'Joseph's stream,' so named after Saladin, who restored an original construction of the Theban Pharaohs) pours the fertilising water which renders the Fayyûm one of the most productive parts of Egypt. The irrigation was anciently regulated by a large reservoir, called Lake Mæris (q.v.), described by the Greeks as a work of extraordinary hydraulic ingenuity (the site of which was identified by Linant near the modern capital Médinet-el-Fayyûm, though other sites have been proposed by Mr Cope Whitehouse and others), and the overflow now forms the large sheet of brackish water, 35 miles long, known as the Birket-el-Karn, which marks the eastern boundary of the oasis. On the banks of Lake Mæris was the famous 'labyrinth,' probably built by Amenhemhat III., and reckoned one of the wonders of the world. The remains of this vast palace are seen in the ruins of numerous chambers near the brick pyramid of Hawâra. The capital of the Fayyûm was Crocodilopolis, afterwards named Arsinoë, after the queen of Ptolemy Philadelphus, near the site of which is the modern chief town (pop. 31,262). Fidimin is a picturesque village in the Fayyûm. Recent explorations by Mr Petrie and others have revealed more interesting remains of antiquity in the province than had formerly been suspected. The Fayyûm abounds in fruit, oranges, peaches, pomegranates, olives, figs, grapes, &c., and is famous for roses and other flowers. The inhabitants are chiefly agriculturists and fishermen. The fields yield splendid crops of cereals, besides rice, cotton, sugar, flax, and hemp. For an account of excavations in the Labyrinth, the ruins at Hawâra, &c., see Flinders Petrie's Hawâra and Arsinoë (1889); and Brown's The Fayyûm and Lake Mæris (1893).