|
|||||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||||
|
|
|
|
|
It is unfortunate, but the Fayoum continued a consistent decline from this period until the 19th century ruler, Muhammed Ali, with a brief respite in the late 13th century when a Syrian governor repaired the canals. It is believed that the region reached it's low point during the Ottoman rule. When Muhammed Ali, the ruler who modernized much of Egypt, took control of the country, the Fayoum immediately began to prosper. He instituted agricultural reforms and introduced new crops such as cotton, which continues to be one of the areas major cash crops. He settled the area with Bedouins, and in 1874, built a rail system which linked the region with the Nile delta. The region continued to benefit from the British, who built roads, repaired irrigation systems and began reclaiming some of the land which had been lost to the desert. While the area has never really reached it's pentacle of it's paraonic period, it is once again a viable and important region of Egypt.
|
|
|
|
|
