Faiyum

The Faiyum Oasis is a distinctive region with character between the main Nile Valley and other desert oases. It is a depression in the desert immediately to the west of the Nile south of Cairo. Its area is estimated to vary between 490 mi² (1,270 km²) and 656 mi² (1700 km²). Much of its floor is fields watered by a channel of the Nile, the Bahr Yussef, as it drains into a desert depression to the west of the Nile Valley. The Bahr Yussef veers west through a narrow neck of land north of Ihnasya, between the archaeological sites of El-Lahun and Gurob near Hawara; it then branches out, providing rich agricultural land in the Faiyum basin, draining into the large saltwater Lake Moeris (Birket Qarun). Lake Moeris was fresh water in prehistory but is today a saltwater lake. It is a source for tilapia and other fish for the local area. Differing from the typical oases, whose fertility depends on water obtained from springs, the cultivated land in the Faiyum is formed of Nile mud brought down by the Bahr Yussef, 15 miles (24 km) in length. Between the beginnings of Bahr Yussef at El-Lahun to its end at the city of Faiyum, several canals branch off to irrigate the Faiyum Governorate. The drainage water flows into Lake Moeris.

Over 400 mile² (1,000 km²) of the Faiyum Oasis is cultivated, the chief crops being cereals and cotton. The completion of the Aswan Low Dam ensured a fuller supply of water, which enabled 20,000 acres (80 km²) of land, previously unirrigated and untaxed, to be brought under cultivation in the three years 1903-1905. Three crops are obtained in twenty months. The province is noted for its figs and grapes of exceptional quality. Olives are also cultivated. Rose trees are very numerous, and most of the attar of roses of Egypt is manufactured in the province. Faiyum also possesses an excellent breed of