Lake life. El Fayoum. Life at Pyramid Lake in Lisht
El Fayoum (Arabic الفيوم, Coptic Ⲫⲓⲟⲙ) is the administrative center of the Mustafaza of the same name in Central Egypt, located in the El Fayoum oasis and surrounded on all sides by the Libyan Desert. The city is connected to the Nile by the Yusuf Canal. Founded in 4000 BC e. this city is the most ancient in Egypt and one of the oldest ancient cities in the world. The area is known mainly due to the Fayum portraits once discovered in these parts. The modern name of the city comes from the Coptic payom, which means "lake" or "sea", which came from the early form pA y-m with the same meaning referring to the lake of Merida.
Story
In ancient Egypt, El Faiyum was the administrative center of the 21 nomes of Upper Egypt. The pharaohs of the 12th Dynasty often stayed at El Faiyum, which was then called Shedet, that is, "the sea." This is evidenced by the remains of temples and mastabas excavated by Flinders Petrie. In later times, Shedet was known as the City of Reptiles, or Crocodilopol, whose patron was the god Sebek with the head of a crocodile. Mounds to the north of the current city mark the location of the ancient Crocodilopolis, where the inhabitants of the waters of Lake Merida bred and worshiped crocodiles. This lake was artificially dug ca. 3900 years ago, as a reservoir filled by the Nile. In the pre-dynastic era, the modern territory of El Faiyum was swampy. During the reign of Amenemhat II and Senusret II, the area was drained by canals and dams for cultivation.
Ptolemy II Philadelphus (309-246 BC) gave the city and the whole nome a new euphonious name in honor of his deified wife Arsinoe (316-270/268 BC). Being under the protectorate of Rome, the city became part of the province of Arcadia and was called Arsinoe in Arcadia, not to be confused with other cities.
Here was the famous Labyrinth described by Herodotus and Strabo, which is associated with the name of Pharaoh Amenemhet III from the 12th Dynasty. In Khavar, he built a second pyramid for himself, to which, allegedly, a labyrinth led. It had 3000 rooms according to Herodotus, 1500 according to Strabo.
On the eastern side of the oasis is El Lahun, at the excavation site of which an ancient necropolis of the Middle Kingdom and the pyramid of Senusret II were discovered.
With the advent of Christianity, the city became the religious center of the Oxyrhynchus church. Today, the Catholic Church does not classify the city as a territory of its influence.
Modern city
El Fayoum has several large bazaars, mosques, baths and a popular weekday market. Residential buildings lined up along the Yusuf Canal, which flows through the city. Two bridges are thrown across the river: one three-arch bridge connects the main street with the bazaar; the other two-arched, over which rises the mosque of Sultan Kaytbey - a gift from his wife, as a Mamluk ruler in El-Fayoum. In the center of the city, four water wheels work above the canal, which have become the national symbol of the province of El Faiyum.
Maize, cotton, flax, rice, sugarcane, figs, dates, olives, grapes, and pomegranates are cultivated on vast territories. Roses are also grown here in large quantities, because the production of rose oil is concentrated here.
The highest temperature of 46 °C was recorded on June 13, 1965; the lowest 2 ° C - January 8, 1966.
Main Attractions
- A floating mosque built during the period of Ottoman rule in Egypt.
- Khawara is an ancient necropolis 27 km from the city.
- El Lahun - pyramids 4 km from the city.
- The Qaitbey Mosque is located in the city and was built by order of the wife of the Mamluk Qaitbey.
- El Rayyan - the largest waterfalls in Egypt, 50 km from the city.
- Wadi al-Khitan or "Valley of the Whales" is a paleontological find of whale fossils in the vicinity of the city, included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
City born
- Tefta Tashko-Koço was a famous Albanian singer from the 1930s who was born in Faiyum.
- Saadia Gaon is the largest halakhic authority of the era of the Gaons, the founder of rabbinical literature and Jewish rationalistic philosophy, a linguist and a poet. He was born in Fayum and was often referred to with the prefix el-Fayumi.
- Sebek is the Egyptian crocodile god.
1) Thought you knew everything about Egypt after visiting Luxor, Aswan, Cairo, Alexandria and the Red Sea resorts? Now we will go with you to the slightly salted Karun Lake, located at a depth of -45 m below the world ocean level, to a completely non-tourist Egypt, where only those students who study at the universities of the "country of the Pyramids" are taken.
2) Let's start with the city of El-Fayoum (الفيوم), the former Crocodinopolis, located in the oasis of the same name surrounded on all sides by the Libyan desert with a population of 315,000 people. Founded in 4000 BC e. this city is the oldest in Egypt and the oldest of all ancient cities in the world. The modern name of the city comes from the Coptic payom, which translates as "lake" or "sea". 
3) El Fayoum Oasis is a tectonic depression and is located 43 m below sea level. In the distant past, the oasis was called the gardens of Egypt and its size was several times larger than the current one. In the Faiyum oasis, Pharaoh Amenemkhet III built the oldest hydraulic structure - Lake Merida. Geological studies carried out here revealed traces of rapid climatic changes and, as a result, the transformation of the local fauna. Some of the findings of scientists are simply amazing. In addition to shells of various shapes and sizes, skeletons of ancient sharks, crocodiles, giant tortoises, some large-horned mammals, and even the skeleton of a giant whale were found. It's in the desert! However, now, after many centuries, only the oars of pleasure boats break the silence of Karun. 
4) In ancient Egypt, El Fayoum was the administrative center of the 21 nomes of Upper Egypt. The pharaohs of the 12th Dynasty often stopped at El Faiyum, which was then called Shedet, that is, "the sea." In later times, Shedet was known as the City of Reptiles, or Crocodilopolis, whose patron was the god Sebek with the head of a crocodile. Mounds to the north of the current city mark the location of the ancient Crocodilopolis, where the inhabitants of the waters of Lake Merida bred and worshiped crocodiles. This lake was artificially dug ca. 3900 years ago, as a reservoir filled by the Nile. In the pre-dynastic era, the modern territory of El Faiyum was swampy. During the reign of Amenemhat II and Senusret II, the area was drained by canals and dams for cultivation.
Ptolemy II Philadelphus (309-246 BC) gave the city and the whole nome a new euphonious name in honor of his deified wife Arsinoe (316-270/268 BC). Being under the protectorate of Rome, the city became part of the province of Arcadia and was called Arsinoe in Arcadia, so as not to be confused with other cities. 
5) Large-scale archaeological excavations carried out in this place in 1888-1910 by an English expedition led by Flinders Petrie made it possible to make a sensational find - a lot of portraits, which later received the name "Fayum".
Their origin is very curious. In the era of the Late Kingdom, Hellenistic and Roman art began to exert an increasing influence on the culture of the fading ancient Egyptian empire. Under its influence, starting from the 1st century AD, the tradition of putting a funeral mask on a mummy was supplanted by another custom - putting a portrait of the deceased on top of the mummified body. Having retained the cult purpose, he developed the artistic tradition of the ancient Egyptian portrait.
Fayum portraits were soon discovered in Memphis, Thebes, Saqqara, Lower Egypt, and other parts of Egypt. One of the largest centers for the creation of portraits was Alexandria, which became the capital of Egypt after the conquest of the Land of the Pyramids by Alexander the Great in 332 BC. A large number of artists, sculptors and pundits, immigrants from Greece, settled here.
A careful study of the Fayum portraits showed that their authors masterfully mastered the technique of chiaroscuro. In the future, this art began to be forgotten and became widespread only in the Renaissance. Painting by ancient masters was carried out using the encaustic technique, which was rare and complex at that time, previously known only from the writings of ancient authors. The composition of the mixture, which the artist applied to a thin layer of wood or canvas, included heated wax, white lead, red ocher and iron oxide.
This method made it possible to vividly and reliably capture the appearance of the people who inhabited Egypt, while emphasizing the individuality of each. Pay attention to the careful study of the details of the face, the transfer of the real color of the skin and eyes. Some artistic techniques used in the creation of Fayum portraits can also be found in Byzantine and Coptic icon painting. 
6) Today, at least 750 Fayum portraits are known in the world, scattered around the world's museums and private collections. A solid part of them is in the Egyptian National Museum, some were taken to Europe, a small collection reached Russia - it is stored in Moscow, in the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts ...
The picture shows the Yusuf Canal, dug by the order of Pharaoh Amenemhat IV on the site of one of the small tributaries of the Nile in 2000-1700. BC. During the New Kingdom period, the canal had a depth of 5 meters and 2 dams that regulated the drain. Dried up along with Lake Merida during the time of the Ptolemies, but was renewed by the Arabs, who believed that it was built by the biblical patriarch Joseph. 
7) The highest temperature of 46 °C was recorded on June 13, 1965; lowest 2 °C - January 8, 1966 
8) Since the pictures were taken in 2009, I didn’t follow the people and cars in the frame at that time, but somehow the pictures turned out more naturally with the display of the everyday life of a provincial Egyptian city. 
9) 
10) Since we were traveling by bus, from the windows we watched the change of landscapes from the outskirts of the metropolis of Cairo, the desert, the city of El Fayoum, agricultural land. 
11) The size of the oasis is estimated at 1270-1700 km², of which 1000 km² are agricultural activities. Cereals, cotton, figs, grapes, and olives are mainly grown. The production of rose oil from local raw materials has been developed. There are pastures for sheep. In the distant past, the oasis was called the gardens of Egypt (a kind of Kuban) and its size was several times larger than the current one. 
12) In the center of the city, 4 water wheels operate over the Yusuf Canal, which have become the national symbol of the province of El Faiyum. 
13) 
14) And now let's see how ordinary Egyptians live, to whom guests from Georgia and Russia have come to visit. Yes, I haven't seen Lana from Sakartvelo for 7 years. We met with Lyosha 3 months ago, he recently moved to Moscow, is conducting his own research at the Russian State University for the Humanities. 
15) We then took a picture again, whatever the trip. 
16) Merchants near their clay houses. 
17) Entrance to the courtyard of a private house. 
18) 
19) Literally, between residential buildings - a stream. 
20) The children were happy to be photographed. Often, not like in Russia, when adults themselves begin to turn away or be embarrassed. 
21) Utensils in the middle of palm trees. 
22) 
23) This is the ancient lake Karun (بحيرة قارون, ancient Egyptian Mi-ur, or Mer-ur, the ancient Greek name is Lake Merid), its area is about 233 km², 42 km long and 9 km wide (to the opposite shore in photo 9 km), located, as noted above, below the level of the world ocean by 45 m and the greatest depth of 10 m. 
24) Modern Lake Karun is the remnant of a large lake located in the same place and having an area of 1270 to 1700 km². Initially, it was a vast expanse of water, which gradually dried up for still unknown reasons (geological collapse, infiltration, strong evaporation due to climate warming, etc.). During the period of the Old Kingdom, Lake Merida, being freshwater, was used for irrigation , but already in those days the water level dropped so much that Amenemhat I (XII dynasty) carried out irrigation and drainage work, as a result of which the water rose to its current level. Under Pharaoh Amenemhet III, part of the lake was drained, and it was turned into an artificial reservoir connected to the Nile by the Yusuf Canal (mid-19th century BC). 
25) Here, dear readers, you had the opportunity to touch the ancient history, where the mass tourist almost never reaches. 
In a low basin of tectonic origin, there was everything to live comfortably, and what was not there was brought to mind by people: pharaohs, builders, whose main tools were a pick and a hoe, and farmers. The first traces of permanent human settlements (in the north of the oasis) date back to about 4500 BC. e., and the very first human sites belong to the Paleolithic. The city of Shedit (now Medinet el Faiyum) was built around 2050-1700. BC e. Under the pharaoh of the XII dynasty Amenemhat III (1842-1797 BC), large-scale irrigation works were carried out in the oasis, begun by his predecessors on the throne of Egypt. Locks and dams were built, a 43.5 km long embankment, thanks to which a huge area of fertile land was allocated for crops and orchards and at the same time it became possible to regulate the floods of the Nile. The water of the great river during the floods entered the reservoir, which the Greeks called Merida Lake, in consonance with the Coptic Miur - "great sea". The lake was also called (at different times) She (“lake”), Fiom (“swamp”) or Fiom-nte-mere (“lake, overflow”), in Arabic it began to sound like Faiyum. The place where the Nile Canal entered the Faiyum basin was called Ape-Tash, "the gorge of the land of the lake." Here was Rahunt, or Lahunt, in Arabic - El-Lakhun, that is, "a hole for draining water" - the canal locks. The son of Amenemhat III Amenemhat IV laid a canal along the bed of one of the small tributaries of the Nile. During the period of the New Kingdom (1550-1069 BC), this canal (Joseph, or Bahr-Yusuf) had two dams and reached a depth of 5 m.
The inhabitants of the oasis worshiped Sebek, the god of water and the flood of the Nile. He was depicted with the body of a man and the head of a crocodile. The crocodile's mouth was a kind of amulet, it was believed that it scares away dark forces, protecting other gods and people from them. In the "Pyramid Texts", covering the inner walls in the pyramids of the pharaohs near Memphis and compiled, according to historians, no later than the 4th century. BC e., that is, even before they were transferred to these pyramids, Sebek was equated with Set, the earth god Geb, the sun god Ra (Sebek-Ra) and Osiris. The city built on drained lands, the Greeks called Crocodilopolis, or rather, that part of it, which is now known as Cyman-Faris, or Arsinoe. Crocodiles in this case meant natural. With each flood of the Nile, their number in the swampy areas of Lake Merida increased. But no one touched them. According to Herodotus, a giant crocodile adorned with gold and precious stones lived in the main temple of Faiyum. How the priests managed to “dress it up” like that, the Greek historian does not say, most likely, it was not the crocodile that was decorated, but the room in which it was kept. The veneration of crocodiles ended with the accession to the throne of the Greek Ptolemaic dynasty. Under Ptolemy II Philadelphus (309-246 BC), Greeks and Romans received land plots in the Fayum oasis, merchants from the Middle East and India became frequent. With the development of trade, Hellenistic and then Byzantine traditions penetrate into the Faiyum, and the first Christians on the African continent appear here.
In the Ptolemaic era (IV-I centuries BC), the area of Lake Meridova decreased from 1270-1700 km 2 to 233 km 2, and the Joseph Canal also dried up. But the kings have nothing to do with it, the reasons for this are natural: geological collapse, infiltration, strong evaporation due to climate warming. Now it is a salt lake, and it bears the Arabic name Birket-el-Kerun (Karun). The Bahr Yusuf canal has been restored and passes through the city of Medinet el Fayoum, where you can also see two of the four water wheels, near which the pharaohs meditated, admiring the jets of water.
Your holiday in Egypt will be complemented by positive impressions of the Faiyum oasis, which is located in the north of Egypt, 85 km southwest of Cairo, in a lowland reaching 43 meters below sea level. The oasis is connected with the Nile Valley by the elongated narrow El-Lahun valley, through which the Bahr-Yusuf (Joseph) irrigation canal, laid even before our era, passes, having 12 branches and flowing into Lake Birket-el-Kerun, or Karun (in ancient times, the giant Meridovo lake, the area of which has significantly decreased by our time). Almost all cities and towns of Faiyum have an ancient history.
There are two significant royal pyramids in the oasis, they are the southernmost among the Egyptian ones and in their appearance are far from the famous pyramids of Giza.
El Lahuna is the pyramid of the XII dynasty pharaoh Senusret II (c. 1882-1872 BC). The foundation for it was a 13-meter limestone hill, and the pyramid itself was built of mud brick. Its total height is 48 m. Inside the pyramid, the breaks of the hill are used, connected by a small amount of mortar. The main finds during the so-called re-clearing were made in 1887-1888. famous British archaeologist Flinders Petrie (1853-1942). In the burial chamber, he found fragments of a wooden ceremonial boat, alabaster and ceramic vessels, a golden uraeus (part of the royal attire attached to the forehead) and parts of the mummy's legs that had decayed almost to the bones, and even balls of silt mixed with grain. And that's it: the pyramid was definitely looted. The burial chamber of the pyramid of Senusret II is surrounded by a complex corridor, at the base of the pyramid there were also traces of willows planted here during the burial. Grain in the silt, a corridor that symbolically turns the place of the last refuge of the king into an island, willows - all these are elements of the cult of Osiris. Thus, the pharaoh was recognized as equal to God - the reign of Senusret is considered the beginning of the heyday of the Faiyum. Nearby, the ruins of a balsamic temple and small pyramids of members of the pharaoh's family have also been preserved.
Amenemhat III built two pyramids for himself, one in Dahshur, in the Memphis region, and the second in Khawar, and was buried, as some Egyptologists believe, in Khawar. True, his mummy was not found there. Like the pyramid of Senusret II, the pyramid of Amenemhat III is built of mud brick. Herodotus, who visited her 13 centuries later, also described the majestic building, which he called the Labyrinth. Apparently, it was a funeral temple complex, and its daughter Amenemhat III Ptahnefru, Queen Sebeknefru, started it, and then other rulers of Egypt, including the Ptolemies, completed the construction. According to Herodotus, there were 12 walled courtyards in the Labyrinth - six facing north and six facing south. In total, the building had 3,000 rooms - 1,500 above ground and 1,500 underground; Herodotus examined several above-ground rooms, they did not let him into others, saying that the sacred crocodiles and the kings who built the Labyrinth were buried there. Now this pyramid looks like a crumbling mountain, outwardly unremarkable, and Herodotus points out that there were four statues on it, with them the height of the pyramid reached 73 m. In fact, its height is 58 m. But the most interesting thing is that this is a complex engineering structure . There was a sliding slab on its roof, the ceiling slabs also moved, the doors moved apart, the walls intersected. Between the walls - brick "filler". The facing material was white limestone. There were many dead ends and other, as we would say today, "anti-vandal" finds, arranged in order to deceive the robbers. When the burial chamber was explored in 1888-1910 by Petrie, it was filled with water, but he managed to find several alabaster vessels there, on which one of the names of Amenemhat III was written, and in the last corridor - a beautiful alabaster altar and several duck-shaped alabaster plates . They were inscribed: "King's daughter Ptahnefru." However, Petrie did not find the Labyrinth. But he was rewarded with another discovery of great importance in the history of art. To the north of the Khawara necropolis, he found a large necropolis of ordinary Egyptians. The dead were buried together with their portraits, perfectly preserved in a dry climate, made with wax paints on wood. Similar portraits are also found in other necropolises in Egypt, but all of them are called Fayum with the light hand of Pitri. In total, about 900 Faiyum portraits were found in Egypt. A small but excellent collection of them, collected by the Russian Egyptologist V.S. Golenishchev (1856-1947), is in the Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin in Moscow.
general information
An oasis in northern Egypt, south of the Nile Valley.Modern administrative affiliation: governorate (governorship, province) of El Faiyum.
Governorate and oasis administrative center: the city of Medinet el-Fayyum (Fayyum, El-Fayyum) - 349,883 people. (2012).
Language: Arabic.
Ethnic composition: Arabs.
Religion: Islam (Sunni).
Currency unit: Egyptian pound.
largest channel: Bahr-Yusuf.
largest lake: Birket el-Kerun (Karun).
Nearest airport: Cairo (international).
Numbers
Area: according to various estimates - from 1270 to 1700 km 2.Area used in agriculture today: 1000 km2.
Faiyum governorate area: 6068 km2.
Governorate population: about 2.5 million people (2006).
Population density in the governorate: about 412 people/km2.
lowest point: 43 m below sea level m.
Climate and weather
Tropical, dry, desert.January average temperature: +12°С.
July average temperature: +33°С.
Sharp fluctuations between day and night temperatures.
Average annual rainfall: about 50 mm (in ancient times the climate was more humid).
Economy
Agriculture: cultivation of cereals, cotton, figs, olives, viticulture, production of rose oil from local raw materials, sheep breeding.Service sector: trade, tourism.
Attractions
■ Medinet El Faiyum: Medinet Madi Castle, Bahr Yusuf Canal, Qaitbey Mosque.■ Lake Birket el Kerun(Karun).
■ Pyramid of Senusret II in El Lahun.
■ Pyramid of Amenemhat III in Khavar.
■ Deir el-Banat Archaeological Reserve(Maiden Monastery).
Curious facts
■ Some pharaohs of the Middle Kingdom (between 2040 and 1783 (or 1640) BC), which accounted for the reign of the XII-XIII dynasties, had names derived from the name of Sebek. There were six pharaohs named Sebekhotep - "Satisfied Sebek" and Queen Sebeknufru - "The most beautiful for Sebek." All bearers of these names had personal residences in the Faiyum. Many pharaohs believed in the power of this land blessed by Sebek, often visited and lived here for a long time.■ Faiyum portraits were placed on the mummy's face so that the body and the soul that left it could reunite in the afterlife. In many portraits created during a person's lifetime, so to speak, "for the future", the people depicted on them are young or in their prime.
■ On the northern outskirts of the lands drained under Amenemhat III, two pedestals were installed in the form of truncated pyramids, more than 6 m high, and on them - statues carved from monoliths of yellow quartzite depicting a sitting pharaoh, each 12 m high. the pedestals almost entirely, and then the statues seemed to rise straight from the lake.
■ In 2012, Angela Mikol from North Carolina, thanks to the Google Earth program, discovered mysterious pyramidal formations in the Libyan desert, not far from its border with the Faiyum oasis. Experts hastened to refute the naive, in their opinion, hypothesis of an amateur who imagined himself a virtual archaeologist, explaining that these were simply buttes, outcrops of rock. Unexpectedly, Mikol was supported by the El-Kadi couple from Egypt, who are passionate about collecting old documents. Collectors reported that they knew about 34 old maps and 12 documents that confirm the hypothesis of pyramids lost in the sands of precisely those places near the village of Abu Sidum. They also referred to specific archaeological maps from 1753 and the late 1880s. An expedition that visited the area found that the bases of the "pyramids" are composed of solid rock, presumably granite, which speaks in favor of their geological origin, but at the same time, the instruments showed that at least one of them has a corridor obviously of man-made origin, and it has been suggested that perhaps there is some kind of abandoned dwelling, temple or mastabas - tombs in the form of a truncated pyramid with burial chambers in the underground part. Coordinates : 29°18′00″ s. sh. 30°50′00″ E d. / 29.30000° N sh. 30.83333° E d. / 29.30000; 30.83333(G) (I)
Galal Mustafa
Crocodilopolis, Arsinoe
deserted
13,235 people/km²
The modern name of the city comes from the Coptic payom, what is translated "lake" or "sea", which came from an early form pA y-m with the same meaning referring to Lake Merida.
Story
In ancient Egypt, El Faiyum was the administrative center of the 21 nomes of Upper Egypt. The pharaohs of the 12th Dynasty often stayed at El Faiyum, which was then called Shedet i.e. "sea". This is evidenced by the remains of temples and mastabas excavated by Flinders Petrie. In later times, Shedet was known as the City of Reptiles, or Krokodilopol, whose patron was the crocodile-headed god Sebek. Mounds to the north of the current city mark the location of the ancient Crocodilopolis, where the inhabitants in the waters of Lake Merida bred and worshiped crocodiles. This lake was artificially dug ca. 3900 years ago, as a reservoir filled by the Nile. In the pre-dynastic era, the modern territory of El Faiyum was swampy. During the reign of Amenemhat II and Senusret II, the area was drained by canals and dams for cultivation.
Modern city
El Fayoum has several large bazaars, mosques, baths and a popular weekday market. Residential buildings lined up along the Yusuf Canal, which flows through the city. Two bridges are thrown across the river: one three-arch bridge connects the main street with the bazaar; the other two-arched, over which rises the mosque of Sultan Kaytbey - a gift from his wife, as a Mamluk ruler in El-Fayoum. In the center of the city, four waterwheels work above the canal, which have become the national symbol of El Faiyum province.
Maize, cotton, flax, rice, sugarcane, figs, dates, olives, grapes, and pomegranates are cultivated on vast territories. Roses are also grown here in large quantities, because the production of rose oil is concentrated here.
The highest temperature of 46 °C was recorded on June 13, 1965; the lowest 2 °C - January 8, 1966 .
Main Attractions
- Soaring Mosque, built during the period of Ottoman rule in Egypt.
- Khawara is an ancient necropolis 27 km from the city.
- El Lahun - pyramids 4 km from the city.
- The Qaitbey Mosque is located in the city and was built by order of the wife of the Mamluk Qaitbey.
- El Rayyan - the largest waterfalls in Egypt, 50 km from the city.
- Wadi al-Khitan or "Valley of the Whales" is a paleontological find of whale fossils in the vicinity of the city, included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Faiyum Oasis by Zorbey Tunçer.jpg
Faiyum oasis
QasrQarunFacade.jpg
Facade of the temple of Sebek-Ra
UmmAtlTemple1.jpg
Soknobkonneus stone temple, Umm el-Athl
City born
- Tefta Tashko-Koço was a famous Albanian singer born in Faiyum in the 1930s.
- Saadia Gaon is the largest halakhic authority of the era of the Gaons, the founder of rabbinical literature and Jewish rationalistic philosophy, a linguist and a poet. He was born in Fayum and was often referred to with the prefix el-Fayumi.
- Sebek is the Egyptian crocodile god.
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Literature
- Fakhry, Ahmed (1990): The oases of Egypt.
- Vivian, Cassandra (2000): The Western Desert of Egypt.
- Säve-Söderbergh, Torgny (1968): egyptisk egenart.
- Carolyn Arlt: Das Fayyûm in Hellenismus und Kaiserzeit. Fallstudien zum multicultural Leben in der Antike. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2013, ISBN 978-3-447-06925-0.
- Paulo Coelho "The Alchemist"
see also
Notes
Links
- // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
An excerpt characterizing El Faiyum
“Dronushka,” said Princess Mary, seeing in him an undoubted friend, that very Dronushka who, from his annual trip to the fair in Vyazma, brought her every time and served his special gingerbread with a smile. “Dronushka, now, after our misfortune,” she began and fell silent, unable to speak further.“We all walk under God,” he said with a sigh. They were silent.
- Dronushka, Alpatych has gone somewhere, I have no one to turn to. Are they telling me the truth that I can't even leave?
“Why don’t you go, your excellency, you can go,” said Dron.
- I was told that it was dangerous from the enemy. My dear, I can’t do anything, I don’t understand anything, there’s no one with me. I certainly want to go at night or tomorrow early in the morning. Drone was silent. He glanced frowningly at Princess Marya.
“There are no horses,” he said, “I also told Yakov Alpatych.
- Why not? - said the princess.
“All from God’s punishment,” said Dron. - What horses were dismantled under the troops, and which died, now what a year. Not to feed the horses, but not to die of hunger ourselves! And so they sit for three days without eating. There is nothing, ruined completely.
Princess Mary listened attentively to what he was saying to her.
Are the men ruined? Do they have any bread? she asked.
“They die of starvation,” said Dron, “let alone carts…
“But why didn’t you say, Dronushka?” Can't help? I will do everything I can ... - It was strange for Princess Mary to think that now, at such a moment, when such grief filled her soul, there could be people rich and poor and that the rich could not help the poor. She vaguely knew and heard that there was master's bread and that it was given to peasants. She knew, too, that neither her brother nor her father would have denied the need to peasants; she was only afraid to make a mistake somehow in her words about this distribution of bread to the peasants, which she wanted to dispose of. She was glad that she had an excuse for caring, one for which she was not ashamed to forget her grief. She began to ask Dronushka for details about the needs of the peasants and about what is masterful in Bogucharov.
“We have the master’s bread, bro?” she asked.
“The Lord’s bread is whole,” Dron said proudly, “our prince did not order to sell it.
“Give him to the peasants, give him everything they need: I give you permission in the name of your brother,” said Princess Mary.
Drone did not answer and took a deep breath.
- You give them this bread, if it will be enough for them. Distribute everything. I command you in the name of a brother, and tell them: whatever is ours, so is theirs. We will spare nothing for them. So you say.
Drone gazed at the princess intently while she spoke.
“Fire me, mother, for God’s sake, send me the keys to accept,” he said. - He served twenty-three years, did not do anything bad; quit, for God's sake.
Princess Mary did not understand what he wanted from her and why he asked to be fired. She answered him that she never doubted his devotion and that she was ready to do everything for him and for the peasants.
An hour later, Dunyasha came to the princess with the news that Dron had come and all the peasants, on the orders of the princess, had gathered at the barn, wanting to talk with the mistress.
“Yes, I never called them,” said Princess Marya, “I only told Dronushka to distribute bread to them.
- Only for God's sake, Princess Mother, order them to drive away and do not go to them. It’s all a deception,” Dunyasha said, “but Yakov Alpatych will come, and we’ll go ... and you don’t mind ...
- What kind of deception? the princess asked in surprise.
“Yes, I know, just listen to me, for God’s sake. Just ask the nanny. They say they do not agree to leave on your orders.
- You don't say anything. Yes, I never ordered to leave ... - said Princess Mary. - Call Dronushka.
Dron, who came, confirmed Dunyasha's words: the peasants came at the order of the princess.
“Yes, I never called them,” said the princess. You must have told them wrong. I only told you to give them the bread.
Drone sighed without answering.
“If you tell them to, they will leave,” he said.
“No, no, I will go to them,” said Princess Mary
Despite Dunyasha's and the nurse's dissuades, Princess Mary went out onto the porch. Dron, Dunyasha, the nurse, and Mikhail Ivanovich followed her. “They probably think that I am offering them bread so that they remain in their places, and I myself will leave, leaving them to the mercy of the French,” thought Princess Mary. - I will promise them a month in an apartment near Moscow; I am sure that Andre would have done even more in my place, ”she thought, approaching the crowd in the pasture near the barn at dusk.
The crowd, crowding together, began to stir, and hats were quickly taken off. Princess Mary, lowering her eyes and tangling her feet in her dress, went close to them. So many varied old and young eyes were fixed on her and there were so many different faces that Princess Mary did not see a single face and, feeling the need to suddenly talk to everyone, did not know what to do. But again, the realization that she was the representative of her father and brother gave her strength, and she boldly began her speech.
“I am very glad that you have come,” Princess Marya began, without raising her eyes and feeling how quickly and strongly her heart was beating. “Dronushka told me that the war ruined you. This is our common grief, and I will spare nothing to help you. I am going myself, because it is already dangerous here and the enemy is close ... because ... I give you everything, my friends, and I ask you to take everything, all our bread, so that you do not have a need. And if you were told that I am giving you bread so that you stay here, then this is not true. On the contrary, I ask you to leave with all your property to our suburban area, and there I take upon myself and promise you that you will not be in need. You will be given houses and bread. The princess stopped. Only sighs could be heard in the crowd.
“I am not doing this on my own,” the princess continued, “I am doing this in the name of my late father, who was a good master to you, and for my brother and his son.
She stopped again. No one interrupted her silence.
- Woe is our common, and we will divide everything in half. Everything that is mine is yours,” she said, looking around at the faces that stood before her.
All eyes looked at her with the same expression, the meaning of which she could not understand. Whether it was curiosity, devotion, gratitude, or fear and distrust, the expression on all faces was the same.
“Many are pleased with your grace, only we don’t have to take the master’s bread,” said a voice from behind.
- Yes, why? - said the princess.
No one answered, and Princess Mary, looking around the crowd, noticed that now all the eyes she met immediately dropped.
- Why don't you want to? she asked again.
Nobody answered.
Princess Marya felt heavy from this silence; she tried to catch someone's gaze.
- Why don't you speak? - the princess turned to the old old man, who, leaning on a stick, stood in front of her. Tell me if you think you need anything else. I'll do anything," she said, catching his eye. But he, as if angry at this, lowered his head completely and said:
- Why agree, we do not need bread.
- Well, should we quit everything? Do not agree. Disagree... There is no our consent. We pity you, but there is no our consent. Go on your own, alone…” was heard in the crowd from different directions. And again the same expression appeared on all the faces of this crowd, and now it was probably no longer an expression of curiosity and gratitude, but an expression of embittered determination.
Fayum El Fayum (in Latin transcription Fay ûm, Fajûm, Fayjûm, Fajyû m, ancient Egyptian. Pi-om and Ta-shet - "Land of the Lake") - a province in Upper Egypt, above Cairo; like an oasis, it is surrounded on all sides by the Libyan desert, and only a narrow valley (El-Lahun), crossing a chain of low hills, connects it with the valley of the river. Nile. The Bar-Yusuf canal flows through El-Lakhun, irrigating the oaz, breaking up into 12 branches and connecting with the slightly saline lake Birket-el-Kerun (54 km long and 10-11 km wide). The length of the province is about 45 km, the width is up to 60 km; its highest point lies at a height of 24 m, the lowest - 42 m below sea level and 65 m below the surface of the Nile, at Beni Suef. F. is the most fertile province in the country; supplies the bazaars and markets of Cairo with its agricultural and horticultural products, as well as fish. Fertile land 1277 sq. km. There are 228 thousand inhabitants, and together with the oases of El-Baharie and El-Farafre - 371 thousand. In recent times, cotton has been successfully planted here. Quite a significant mountain was built on the ruins of the ancient cities of Crocodilopolis and Arsinoe. Medinet-zl-F. (26,000 inhabitants; American missionary house, large bazaar, mosque with antique columns). The production of woolen fabrics, which has the character of handicraft. Railway to Cairo. Wed Brown, "The Fayum and Lake Moeris" (L., 1892).
Oaz F. probably existed in ancient times, but the kings of the XII Din. paid special attention to it, often having a seat here and building temples and funerary pyramids (see Lake Meridovo, Labyrinth). Numerous and interesting remains of cities that arose near these structures have recently become the property of science thanks to the excavations of Flinders-Petrie. In the later times of Egyptian culture, the city of Crocodilopolis, renamed by the Ptolemies into Arsinoe and having the patron god Sebek (cm) with the head of a crocodile, was the center of F.. Among the ruins of Arsinoe (Kom-Faris) many antiquities are found, especially from Roman and Christian times, among other things, a lot of Greek papyri (between them fragments of the classics), Arabic, Coptic, Persian, Syrian and other Egyptian. These are mostly business and tax receipts kept in the offices of this administrative center. The papyri are now partly in the Berlin Museum, partly in Vienna (Rainer's collection). By the name of the center, F. began to be called the Arsinoe nome. Luxurious fertility F. describes Strabo. And now the area is famous for oranges, peaches, olive trees, roses, it produces a lot of rice and sugar cane. See Flinders-Petrie, "Kahum, Gurob and Hawara"; his own, "Hawara, Biahmu and Arsinoe"; Brugsch, "Das aegyptische Seeland" ("Aegypt. Zeitschrift", 1872). In the XIII century. Abu Otman An-Nabulzi, the Syrian emir in the service of the Ayyubid sultan, appointed governor, compiled a report on the state of the province for the sultan. For this interesting monument, see "Bulletin de l" In stitut Français d "archéologie Orientale. T. I, Répertoire gé graphique de la province du Fayoum" (1901; published by Salmon from a manuscript found in the Khedive's library).
Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron. - St. Petersburg: Brockhaus-Efron. 1890-1907 .
See what "Fayum" is in other dictionaries:
See Faiyum (Source: Ancient Egyptian Dictionary Reference.) ... Encyclopedia of mythology
El Fayum (in Latin transcription Fay ûm, Fajûm, Fayjûm, Fajyû m, ancient Egyptian. Pi om and Ta shet Land of the Lake) a province in Upper Egypt, above Cairo; like an oasis, it is surrounded on all sides by the Libyan desert, and only ... ...
Fayoum region on the map of Egypt. El Faiyum is a city in Middle Egypt, located in the oasis of the same name and surrounded on all sides by the Libyan desert. Population 306,393 inhabitants (2005). History Pharaohs of the 12th dynasty often resided in ... ... Wikipedia
- (in Latin transcription Fayûm, Fajûm, Fayjûm, Fajyûm, ancient Egyptian. Pi om and Ta shet Land of the Lake) a province in Upper Egypt, above Cairo; like an oasis, it is surrounded on all sides by the Libyan desert, and only a narrow valley (El Lahun), ... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron
Faiyum- Fayum 1. F. or Moeris, often mentioned. in Greek texts. the authors of the (modern Birket el Kerun), 44 m below sea level, located west of the lower. tributary of the Nile. Water enters it from the old branch of the Nile Yusuf (length 334 km), the channel to the horn ... Ancient world. encyclopedic Dictionary
Faiyum- (Fayoum). 1. F. or Moeris (Copt, piom Faium lake), often mentioned in Greek texts. The lake (modern Birket el Kerun), 44 m below sea level, is located west of the lower tributary of the Nile. Water enters it from an old sleeve ... Dictionary of antiquity
After the departure of Baron Müller, I did not remain long in Alexandria; I wanted to return to Lake Menzale to add to our collections and notes there. But before I had time to leave, the news came of the arrival of Abbas in the harbor of Alexandria ... ... Animal life
I (Greek Αϊγυπτος; Latin Aegyptus; French Egypte; English Egypt; German Aegypten; Italian Egytto; Arabic Masz). position, boundaries. Country E. (in the narrow, historical sense of the word) lies between 24 ° 5 and 31 ° 35 north latitude and 28 ° 50 and 34 ° 41 east longitude ... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron
Rise of the Middle Kingdom- The development of productive forces during the heyday of the Middle Kingdom. Significant progress was made in the development of productive forces during the heyday of the Middle Kingdom. First of all, it should be noted that from the time of the XII dynasty ... ... The World History. Encyclopedia
El Faiyum Arab city. الفيوم, Coptic. Ⲫⲓⲟⲙ Country ... Wikipedia
Books
- Fayum portrait. Album, . The concept of `Fayum portrait` appeared in European art at the end of the 19th century, when the first funeral portraits were found in ancient burials near the Fayum oasis in Central Egypt.…
