Al Fayyūm

Al Fayyūm, also Fayum (Egyptian, “marshland”), region, northern Egypt, lying below sea level within a vast depression of the Libyan Desert and comprising an almost circular oasis. It is irrigated by the Bahr Yusuf Canal, which is connected with the Nile River. The canal, originally an irrigation project of the Theban pharaohs, was restored by Saladin, the 12th-century sultan of Egypt. Al Fayyūm also contains Birkat Qārūn, a lake that occupies a part of the basin of ancient Lake Moeris. The region, one of the most fertile in Egypt, produces cotton, flax, hemp, rice, sugarcane, roses, oranges, peaches, pomegranates, figs, grapes, and olives. Among the economically important occupations are the raising of sheep and poultry, fishing, and the making of most of the attar of roses produced in Egypt. The chief community of Al Fayyūm is Al Fayyūm (population, 1992, 250,000), a market center for the many agricultural products of the surrounding region. The site of the ancient city of Arsinoë, important archaeologically, is near the town of Al Fayyūm.