Fayoum
, Oasis of Peace
The
main town in the oasis is located 85 km south of Cairo, 75 km
from Giza Pyramids and 105 km from Cairo Airport. Its name is
probably derived from ‘Fayoum’ meaning water. Although
usually described as an oasis Fayoum is not fed by underground
water, like the Western Desert oasis further south west, but by
water from the Nile transported to this natural triangular
depression by a series of canals. Having irrigated the oasis, the
water runs into Lake Qaroun which despite having dramatically
shrunk over the past few thousand years, is at about 215 sq km
still Egypt's largest natural salt-water lake.
About 70,000 years ago the Nile flood first broke through the low
mountains which surround the large Fayoum depression and formed
lake Qaroun and the surrounding marshes. This is believed to be
one, if not the first, site of agriculture in the world, as
plants which grew around the lake were collected, land was fenced
in, and dry and guarded storage areas were built. Even today,
Fayoum is still famous for fruit and vegetables and its chicken.
To describe food as Fayoumi, it means delicious.
The 12th Dynasty Pharaoh Amenemhet I (1991-1992 BC) first drained
part of the marshes to develop the area for agriculture and also
dug a large canal from the Nile controlled by a regulator at
Lahun to the north west of Beni Swef. The result of this and
further developments by Amenemhet III (1842-1797 BC), who showed
great interest in the area and built a pyramid at Hawara, was
lake Moeris (Great Lake), twice the present size and teeming with
fish, and an agricultural area to the south renowned for its rich
and varied crops.
The Romans, who called the area Crocodilopolis (because of the
crocodiles) changed Fayoum's previous system of crop rotation and
forced the area to supply grain exclusively to the Roman market.
Muslims believe that Prophet Joseph developed the area during his
captivity in Egypt through the canalization of Bahr Youssef river
and by building the world's first dam. Although Fayoum's national
strategic importance diminished with the canalization of the Nile
Delta, it remains one of the most producer agricultural areas in
the country.
The water level in Lake Qaroun had been falling for about 2,000
years, as it received less and less water until the construction
of the Aswan High Dam led to greater stability in the level of
the Nile.
By the Middle Ages, the lake had become far too salty to sustain
fresh-water fish and new species were introduced. The shrunken
lake now lies 45 meters below sea level since 70,000 years ago.
It now appears that water table is rising again as houses and
fields at the lakeside have been flooded in recent years.
The beach resorts around Lake Qaroun still attract the more
affluent visitors to the region. The number of visitors is
increasing and while half are Egyptians, about a third are
Europeans. The season runs all year round, but from January to
April it is considered too cold to swim. The highly motivated
regional government is now studying new tourist desert sites to
the north and west of Lake Qaroun, a wild life park and
conservation area, and infrastructure is being developed. A
conference hall is being built together with museums showing
monuments, fossils and civilization. As part of its efforts to
persuade tourists to visit areas outside the Nile Valley, the
Egyptian Tourist Association is trying to encourage tours from
Cairo via Fayoum to both the Red Sea coast and Upper Egypt which
would undoubtedly be a wonderful and fascinating tour.
The city of Fayoum, in the center of the depression, is the
province's capital and the largest of its 5 small cities. The
oasis population is 1.45 million. In Fayoum City itself the
covered market place and the adjacent street of gold smiths found
across the 4th bridge to the west of the central tourist office.
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