Siout

Siout, or ASIOOT, the chief city of Upper Egypt, stands near the western bank of the Nile, about 200 miles by rail south of Cairo. It has some fine mosques, an imposing government palace, an American mission school, and well-built dwellings. The people, about 32,000 in number, make black and red earthenware, and fans of ostrich-feathers, and carve ivory. There is some trade (annual value £380,000) with Darfur and Senaar. Siout is built on the site of the ancient Lycopolis; but few remains of the Græco-Egyptian city are extant. From the neighbouring heights of the Libyan mountains, which contain numerous rock-sepulchres, the view over the valley of the Nile is perhaps the finest in Egypt. See F. L. Griffith's Inscriptions of Siout (1889).