View source for Faiyum

{{Other uses}}
{{Infobox settlement
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'''Faiyum''' ({{IPAc-en|f|aɪ|ˈ|j|uː|m}} {{respell|fy|YOOM}}; {{langx|ar|الفيوم|el-Fayyūm}}, {{IPA|arz|elfæjˈjuːm|local}}){{efn|Borrowed from [[Coptic language|Coptic]] {{lang|cop|Ⲫⲓⲟⲙ}} ({{transl|cop|Phiom}}) or {{lang|cop|Ⲫⲓⲱⲙ}} ({{transl|cop|Phiōm}}), from [[Egyptian language|Egyptian]] {{lang|egy|pꜣ ym}}, meaning "the Sea" or "the Lake". Originally called '''Shedet''' ({{lang|egy|šd t}}) in Egyptian, the Greeks renamed it {{lang|grc-x-koine|Κροκοδειλόπολις}} ({{transl|grc-x-koine|Krokodeilópolis}}) in [[Koine Greek]], and later {{lang|grc-x-medieval|Ἀρσινόη}} ({{transl|grc-x-medieval|Arsinóë}}) in [[Byzantine Greek]].<ref name=Riggs/>}} is a city in [[Middle Egypt]]. Located {{convert|100|km|0|abbr=off}} southwest of [[Cairo]], in the [[Faiyum Oasis]], it is the capital of the modern [[Faiyum Governorate]]. It is one of Egypt's oldest cities due to its strategic location.<ref name=Riggs>{{cite book|author1=Paola Davoli|editor1-last=Riggs|editor1-first=Christina|title=The Oxford Handbook of Roman Egypt|date=2012|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780199571451|pages=152–153|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZOLuaRusoCgC&pg=PA152|chapter=The Archaeology of the Fayum}}</ref>
== Name and etymology ==
{|class="wikitable" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: none;"
|{{center|{{Hiero |''šd t''<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gauthier |first1=Henri|author-link=Henri Gauthier|title=Dictionnaire des Noms Géographiques Contenus dans les Textes Hiéroglyphiques |volume=5 |date=1928 |page=[https://archive.org/details/Gauthier1928/page/n77/mode/2up 150] |url=https://archive.org/details/Gauthier1928}}</ref> |<hiero>F30:d-t:O49</hiero> | align=center | era=default}}}}
|{{center|{{Hiero |''pꜣ ym'' |<hiero>pA-A-i-i-G20-mw:N36</hiero> | align=center | era=default}}}}
|}
Originally founded by the ancient Egyptians as Shedet, its current name in English is also spelled as '''Fayum''', '''Faiyum''' or '''al-Faiyūm'''. Faiyum was also previously officially named '''Madīnat al-Faiyūm''' ([[Arabic language|Arabic]] for ''The City of Faiyum''). The name Faiyum (and its spelling variations) may also refer to the [[Faiyum Oasis]], although it is commonly used by [[Egyptians]] today to refer to the city.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.trismegistos.org/fayum/fayum2/gen_name.php |title=The name of the Fayum province. Katholieke Universiteit Leuven |publisher=Trismegistos.org |access-date=2013-01-15 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120229045648/http://www.trismegistos.org/fayum/fayum2/gen_name.php |archive-date=2012-02-29 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eternalegypt.org/EternalEgyptWebsiteWeb/HomeServlet?ee_website_action_key=action.display.element&story_id=&module_id=&language_id=1&element_id=30630 |title=Faiyum. Eternal Egypt |publisher=Eternalegypt.org |access-date=2013-01-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120213182536/http://www.eternalegypt.org/EternalEgyptWebsiteWeb/HomeServlet?ee_website_action_key=action.display.element&story_id=&module_id=&language_id=1&element_id=30630 |archive-date=2012-02-13}}</ref>
The modern name of the city comes from [[Coptic language|Coptic]] {{Coptic|&nbsp;&#x300;Ⲫⲓⲟⲙ}} /{{Coptic|Ⲡⲉⲓⲟⲙ}} ''{{transl|cop|epʰiom/peiom}}'' (whence also the personal name {{Coptic|Ⲡⲁⲓⲟⲙ}} ''{{transl|cop|payom}}''), meaning ''the Sea'' or ''the Lake'', which in turn comes from late [[Egyptian language|Egyptian]] ''pꜣ-ym'' of the same meaning, a reference to the nearby [[Lake Moeris]]; the extinct elephant ancestor ''[[Phiomia]]'' was named after it.
== Ancient history ==
{{Redirect|Crocodilopolis|the namesake sites in Upper Egypt and Israel|Crocodilopolis (disambiguation)}}
Archaeological evidence has found occupations around the Faiyum dating back to at least the [[Epipalaeolithic]]. Middle [[Holocene]] occupations of the area are most widely studied on the north shore of [[Lake Moeris]], where [[Gertrude Caton Thompson]] and [[Elinor Wight Gardner]] did a number of excavations of Epipalaeolithic and [[Neolithic]] sites, as well as a general survey of the area.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Desert Fayum|author1=Caton-Thompson, G.  |author2=Gardner, E.|publisher=Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland|year=1934|location=London}}</ref> Recently the area has been further investigated by a team from the UCLA/RUG/UOA Fayum Project.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Holdaway|first1=Simon|last2=Phillipps|first2=Rebecca|last3=Emmitt|first3=Joshua|last4=Wendrich|first4=Willeke|date=2016-07-29|title=The Fayum revisited: Reconsidering the role of the Neolithic package, Fayum north shore, Egypt|journal=Quaternary International|series=The Neolithic from the Sahara to the Southern Mediterranean Coast: A review of the most Recent Research|volume=410, Part A|pages=173–180|doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2015.11.072|bibcode=2016QuInt.410..173H }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Phillipps|first1=Rebecca|last2=Holdaway|first2=Simon|last3=Ramsay|first3=Rebecca|last4=Emmitt|first4=Joshua|last5=Wendrich|first5=Willeke|last6=Linseele|first6=Veerle|date=2016-05-18|title=Lake Level Changes, Lake Edge Basins and the Paleoenvironment of the Fayum North Shore, Egypt, during the Early to Mid-Holocene|journal=Open Quaternary|volume=2|doi=10.5334/oq.19|issn=2055-298X|doi-access=free|hdl=2292/28957|hdl-access=free}}</ref>
According to [[Roger S. Bagnall]], habitation began in the fifth millennium BC and a settlement was established by the [[Old Kingdom]] ({{circa|2685}}–2180 BC) called Shedet (Medinet el-Fayyum).<ref name="Bagnall">{{cite book |last1=Bagnall |first1=Director of the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World Roger S. |title=Egypt from Alexander to the Early Christians: An Archaeological and Historical Guide |date=2004 |publisher=Getty Publications |isbn=978-0-89236-796-2 |page=127 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5ig4uQC20_IC&dq=SHEDET&pg=PA127 |access-date=21 November 2020 |language=en}}</ref> It was the most significant centre of the cult of the crocodile god [[Sobek]] (borrowed from the [[Demotic (Egyptian)|Demotic]] pronunciation as {{langx|grc-x-koine|Σοῦχος}} ''Soûkhos'', and then into [[Latin]] as ''Suchus''). In consequence, the Greeks called it "Crocodile City" ({{langx|grc-x-koine|Κροκοδειλόπολις}} ''Krokodeilópolis''), which was borrowed into Latin as ''Crocodīlopolis''. The city worshipped a tamed sacred crocodile called, in Koine, ''[[Petsuchos]]'', "the Son of Soukhos", that was adorned with gold and gem pendants. The Petsoukhos lived in a special temple pond and was fed by the priests with food provided by visitors. When Petsuchos died, it was replaced by another.<ref>{{cite book|last=Pettigrew|first=Thomas|author-link=Thomas Pettigrew|title=A History of Egyptian Mummies: And an Account of the Worship and Embalming of the Sacred Animals by the Egyptians : with Remarks on the Funeral Ceremonies of Different Nations, and Observations on the Mummies of the Canary Islands, of the Ancient Peruvians, Burman Priests, Etc|url=https://archive.org/details/b30456204_0001|year=1834|publisher=Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longman|page=[https://archive.org/details/b30456204_0001/page/211 211]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-6EJ0G-4jyoC&pg=PA90 |first=Margaret |last=Bunson |title=Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt |publisher=Infobase Publishing |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-43810997-8 |page=90}}</ref>
[[File:El Faiyum map.jpg|thumb|El Faiyum map]]
Under the [[Ptolemaic Kingdom]], the city was called ''Ptolemais Euergétis'' ({{langx|grc-x-koine|Πτολεμαῒς Εὐεργέτις}})<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bVWcAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA171 |editor-first1=Simon |editor-last1=Hornblower |editor-first2=Antony |editor-last2=Spawforth |editor-first3=Esther |editor-last3=Eidenow |title=The Oxford Classical Dictionary |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-19954556-8 |page=171}}</ref> until [[Ptolemy II Philadelphus]] (309–246 BC) renamed the city ''Arsinoë'' and the whole [[nome (Egypt)|nome]] after the name of his sister-wife [[Arsinoe II]] (316–270 or 268), who was deified after her death as part of the [[Ptolemaic cult of Alexander the Great]], the official religion of the kingdom.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dLr7rXZB35cC&pg=PA299 |first=Philippe |last=Guillaume |title=Ptolemy the second Philadelphus and his world |publisher=Brill |year=2008 |isbn=978-90-0417089-6 |page=299}}</ref> Ptolemy II Philadelphus also established a town at the edge of Faiyum named ''Philadelphia''. It was laid out in a regular [[grid plan]] to resemble a typical Greek city, with private dwellings, palaces, baths and a theatre.<ref name="McKenzie">{{cite book |last1=McKenzie |first1=Judith |last2=McKenzie |first2=Rhys-Davids Junior Research Fellow in Archaeology Judith |last3=Moorey |first3=Peter Roger Stuart |title=The Architecture of Alexandria and Egypt, C. 300 B.C. to A.D. 700 |date=January 2007 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-11555-0 |page=152 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KFNCaZEZKYAC&dq=philadelphia+faiyum&pg=PA152 |access-date=21 April 2021 |language=en}}</ref>
Under the [[Roman Empire]], Arsinoë became part of the [[Roman province|province]] of [[Arcadia Aegypti]]. To distinguish it from other cities of the same name, it was called "Arsinoë in Arcadia".
With the arrival of [[Christianity]], Arsinoë became the seat of a [[bishopric]], a [[suffragan]] of [[Oxyrhynchus]], the capital of the province and the [[metropolitan see]]. [[Michel Le Quien]] gives the names of several bishops of Arsinoë, nearly all of them associated with one [[heresy]] or another.<ref>{{cite book|last=Le Quien|first=Michel|author-link=Michel Le Quien|title=Oriens christianus: in quatuor patriarchatus digestus : quo exhibentur ecclesiae, patriarchae caeterique praesules totius orientis|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_86weAemI-e4C|year=1740|publisher=ex Typographia Regia}}, Vol. II, coll. 581-584</ref>
The [[Catholic Church]], considering Arsinoë in Arcadia to be no longer a residential bishopric, lists it as a [[titular see]].<ref>''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 {{ISBN|978-88-209-9070-1}}), p. 840</ref>
Fayyum was the seat of [[Shahralanyozan]], governor of the [[Sasanian Egypt]] (619–629).<ref>{{cite book|last=Jalalipour|first=Saeid|title=Persian Occupation of Egypt 619-629: Politics and Administration of Sasanians|url=http://www.sasanika.org/wp-content/uploads/GradPaper10-Persian-Occupation-of-Egypt-619-6291.pdf|year=2014|publisher=Sasanika|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150526201456/http://www.sasanika.org/wp-content/uploads/GradPaper10-Persian-Occupation-of-Egypt-619-6291.pdf|archive-date=2015-05-26|access-date=2017-12-07}}</ref>
The 10th-century Bible exegete, [[Saadia Gaon]], thought ''el-Fayyum'' to have actually been the biblical city of [[Pithom]], mentioned in Exodus 1:11.<ref>Saadia Gaon, ''Tafsir'' (Judeo-Arabic translation of the Pentateuch), Exodus 1:11; ''Rabbi Saadia Gaon's Commentaries on the Torah'' (ed. [[Yosef Qafih]]), [[Mossad Harav Kook]]: Jerusalem 1984, p. 63 (Exodus 1:11) (Hebrew)</ref>
Around 1245 CE, the region became the subject of the most detailed government survey to survive from the medieval Arab world, conducted by [[Abū ‘Amr ‘Uthman Ibn al-Nābulusī]].<ref>''The 'Villages of the Fayyum': A Thirteenth-Century Register of Rural, Islamic Egypt'', ed. and trans. by Yossef Rapoport and Ido Shahar, The Medieval Countryside, 18 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2018), p. 3.</ref>
=== Faiyum mummy portraits ===
[[File:Fayum-01.jpg|thumb|Portrait of a man, {{circa|125–150}} AD. [[Encaustic painting|Encaustic]] on wood; {{convert|37|x|20|cm|0|abbr=on}}]]
{{Main|Fayum mummy portraits}}
Faiyum is the source of some famous [[death mask]]s or [[mummy]] portraits painted during the [[Roman Empire|Roman]] occupation of the area. The Egyptians continued their practice of burying their dead, despite the Roman preference for [[cremation]]. While under the control of the Roman Empire, Egyptian death masks were painted on wood in a pigmented [[wax]] technique called [[Encaustic painting|encaustic]]—the [[Fayum mummy portraits|Faiyum mummy portraits]] represent this technique.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.encaustic.ca/html/history.html |title=History of Encaustic Art |publisher=Encaustic.ca |date=2012-06-10 |access-date=2013-01-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121223091730/http://www.encaustic.ca/html/history.html |archive-date=2012-12-23}}</ref> While previously believed to represent Greek settlers in Egypt,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.egyptologyonline.com/mummy_portraits.htm |title=Egyptology Online: Fayoum mummy portraits |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070808184841/http://www.egyptologyonline.com/mummy_portraits.htm |archive-date=August 8, 2007 |access-date=January 16, 2007}}</ref><ref>[https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-59912/Egyptian-art-and-architecture/ Encyclopædia Britannica Online - Egyptian art and architecture - Greco-Roman Egypt] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070528070847/https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-59912/Egyptian-art-and-architecture |date=2007-05-28 }} accessed on January 16, 2007</ref> modern studies conclude that the Faiyum portraits instead represent mainly native Egyptians, reflecting the complex synthesis of the predominant Egyptian culture and that of the elite Greek minority in the city.<ref>Bagnall, R.S. in Susan Walker, ed. ''Ancient Faces : Mummy Portraits in Roman Egypt'' (Metropolitan Museum of Art Publications). New York: Routledge, 2000, p. 27</ref><ref>Riggs, C. The Beautiful Burial in Roman Egypt: Art, Identity, and Funerary Religion Oxford University Press (2005).</ref><ref name="Katz 184">Victor J. Katz (1998). ''A History of Mathematics: An Introduction'', p. 184. Addison Wesley, {{ISBN|0-321-01618-1}}: "''But what we really want to know is to what extent the Alexandrian mathematicians of the period from the first to the fifth centuries C.E. were Greek. Certainly, all of them wrote in Greek and were part of the Greek intellectual community of Alexandria. And most modern studies conclude that the Greek community coexisted [...] So should we assume that [[Ptolemy]] and [[Diophantus]], [[Pappus of Alexandria|Pappus]] and [[Hypatia]] were ethnically Greek, that their ancestors had come from Greece at some point in the past but had remained effectively isolated from the Egyptians? It is, of course, impossible to answer this question definitively. But research in papyri dating from the early centuries of the common era demonstrates that a significant amount of intermarriage took place between the Greek and Egyptian communities [...] And it is known that Greek marriage contracts increasingly came to resemble Egyptian ones. In addition, even from the founding of Alexandria, small numbers of Egyptians were admitted to the privileged classes in the city to fulfil numerous civic roles. Of course, it was essential in such cases for the Egyptians to become "Hellenized," to adopt Greek habits and the Greek language. Given that the Alexandrian mathematicians mentioned here were active several hundred years after the founding of the city, it would seem at least equally possible that they were ethnically Egyptian as that they remained ethnically Greek. In any case, it is unreasonable to portray them with purely European features when no physical descriptions exist.''"</ref>
===''The Zenon Papyri''===
[[File:Papyrus in Greek regarding tax issues (3rd ca. BC.) (3210586934).jpg|thumb|left|Fragment of a papyrus letter discussing tax issues from the ''Zenon Archive'' ([[National Archaeological Museum, Athens]])]]
{{main|Zenon of Kaunos}}
The construction of the settlement of ''Philadelphia'' under Ptolemy II Philadelphus was recorded in detail by a 3rd-century BC Greek public official named [[Zenon of Kaunos|Zeno]] (or Zenon, {{langx|el|Ζήνων}}). Zeno, a native of [[Kaunos]] in lower [[Anatolia|Asia Minor]], came to Faiyum to work as private secretary to [[Apollonius (dioiketes)|Apollonius]], the finance minister to Ptolemy II Philadelphus (and later to [[Ptolemy III Euergetes]]). During his employment, Zeno wrote detailed descriptions of the construction of theatres, gymnasiums, palaces and baths in the 250s and 240s BC, as well as making copious written records of various legal and financial transactions between citizens.<ref name="McKenzie" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Who was Zenon |url=https://www.lib.umich.edu/reading/Zenon/WhowasZenon.html |website=apps.lib.umich.edu |publisher=[[University of Michigan]]|access-date=20 April 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Philadelpheia (Gharabet el-Gerza) |url=https://www.trismegistos.org/place/1760 |website=www.trismegistos.org |publisher=TM Places |access-date=20 April 2021}}</ref><ref name="zenonwhere">{{cite web |title=Where do the Zenon Papyri come from? |url=https://apps.lib.umich.edu/reading/Zenon/zenonwhere.html |website=apps.lib.umich.edu |publisher=[[University of Michigan]] |access-date=20 April 2021}}</ref>
During the winter of 1914–1915, a cache of over 2,000 [[papyrus]] documents was uncovered by Egyptian agricultural labourers who were digging for [[sebakh]] near [[Kôm el-Kharaba el-Kebir]]. Upon examination by [[Egyptology]] scholars, these documents were found to be records written by Zeno in [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] and [[Demotic (Egyptian)|Demotic]]. These papyri, now referred to as the ''Zenon Archive'' or the ''Zenon Papyri'', have provided historians with a detailed record of 3rd-century BC Philadelphia society and economy.<ref>[https://www.lib.umich.edu/reading/Zenon/about.html About the Zenon Papyri] - University of Michigan.</ref> The discovery site was identified as the former location of ancient Philadelphia. Today, the precise location of the town is unknown, although archaeologists have identified two sites in north-east Faiyum as the possible location for Philadelphia.<ref name="zenonwhere" /><ref name="idai">{{cite web |title=Kôm el-Kharaba el-Kebir |url=https://gazetteer.dainst.org/app/?lang=en#!/show/2277715 |website=iDAI.gazetteer |publisher=[[Deutsches Archäologisches Institut]] |access-date=21 April 2021}}</ref>
== Modern city ==
[[file:Jean-Léon Gérôme, View of Medinet El-Fayoum, c. 1868-1870, NGA 162261.jpg|thumb|[[Jean-Léon Gérôme]], ''View of Medinet El-Fayoum'', {{circa|1868}}–1870]]
Faiyum has several large bazaars, [[mosque]]s,<ref>[http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/qaitbeymosque.htm The Mosque of Qaitbey in the Fayoum of Egypt] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070527175735/http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/qaitbeymosque.htm |date=2007-05-27 }} by Seif Kamel</ref> baths and a much-frequented weekly market.<ref name="EB1911">{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Fayum |volume=10 |page=219}}</ref> The canal called [[Bahr Yussef]] runs through the city, its banks lined with houses. There are two bridges over the river: one of three arches, which carries the main street and bazaar, and one of two arches, over which is built the [[Qaitbay]] mosque,<ref name="EB1911"/> a gift from his wife to honor the Mamluk Sultan in Fayoum. Mounds north of the city mark the site of Arsinoe, known to the [[Ancient Greece|ancient Greeks]] as Crocodilopolis, where in ancient times the sacred [[crocodile]] kept in [[Lake Moeris]] was worshipped.<ref name="EB1911"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.umich.edu/~kelseydb/Exhibits/Karanis83/KaranisExcavation/temple2.html |title=The Temple and the Gods, The Cult of the Crocodile |publisher=Umich.edu |access-date=2013-01-15 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121013073516/http://www.umich.edu/~kelseydb/Exhibits/Karanis83/KaranisExcavation/temple2.html |archive-date=2012-10-13 }}</ref>
The center of the city is on the canal, with four waterwheels which were adopted by the governorate of Fayoum as its symbol; their chariots and bazaars are easy to spot. The city is home of the football club [[Misr Lel Makkasa SC]], that play in the [[Egyptian Premier League]].
=== Main sights ===
* The population of Faiyum Governorate is 4,164,914.<ref>{{Cite web |title=الجهاز المركزي للتعبئة العامة والإحصاء |url=https://www.capmas.gov.eg/Pages/populationClock.aspx |access-date=2024-08-13 |website=www.capmas.gov.eg}}</ref>
* The Hanging Mosque, built when the Ottomans ruled Egypt by prince'' Marawan bin Hatem''
* [[Hawara]], an archeological site {{convert|27|km|0|abbr=on}} from the city
* [[Lahun]] Pyramids, {{convert|4|km|0|abbr=on}} outside the city
* Qaitbay Mosque, in the city; built by the wife of the [[Mamluk]] [[Sultan]] [[Qaitbay]]
* Qasr Qarun, {{convert|44|km|0|abbr=on}} from the city
* [[Wadi Elrayan]] or Wadi Rayan, the largest waterfalls in Egypt, around {{convert|50|km|0|abbr=on}} from the city
* [[Wadi Al-Hitan]] or [[Valley of whales]], a paleontological site in the Al Fayyum Governorate, some {{convert|150|km|0|abbr=on}} southwest of Cairo. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
== Climate ==
The [[Köppen-Geiger climate classification system]] classifies its climate as [[hot desert climate|hot desert]] (BWh).
The highest record temperatures was {{convert|46|°C}} on June 13, 1965, and the lowest record temperature was {{convert|2|°C}} on January 8, 1966.<ref name="Voodoo Skies">{{Cite web |url=http://voodooskies.com/weather/egypt/el-fayoum |title=Al Fayoum, Egypt |publisher=Voodoo Skies |access-date=17 July 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140224115532/http://voodooskies.com/weather/egypt/el-fayoum |archive-date=24 February 2014}}</ref>
{{Weather box|width=auto
|metric first=y
|single line=y
|location =  Faiyum
|Jan high C = 21.1
|Feb high C = 22.2
|Mar high C = 25.0
|Apr high C = 30.0
|May high C = 33.9
|Jun high C = 36.1
|Jul high C = 37.2
|Aug high C = 36.1
|Sep high C = 32.8
|Oct high C = 31.1
|Nov high C = 27.2
|Dec high C = 22.2
| year high C =
|Jan mean C = 12.2
|Feb mean C = 12.8
|Mar mean C = 16.1
|Apr mean C = 20.0
|May mean C = 25.0
|Jun mean C = 27.8
|Jul mean C = 27.8
|Aug mean C = 26.1
|Sep mean C = 26.1
|Oct mean C = 22.8
|Nov mean C = 18.9
|Dec mean C = 12.8
| year mean C =
|Jan low C = 6.0
|Feb low C = 7.2
|Mar low C = 9.4
|Apr low C = 12.8
|May low C = 17.1
|Jun low C = 19.5
|Jul low C = 21.1
|Aug low C = 21.4
|Sep low C = 19.4
|Oct low C = 17.1
|Nov low C = 13.1
|Dec low C = 8.2
| year low C =
|rain colour = green
|Jan rain mm = 8
|Feb rain mm = 5
|Mar rain mm = 4
|Apr rain mm = 1
|May rain mm = 1
|Jun rain mm = 0
|Jul rain mm = 0
|Aug rain mm = 0
|Sep rain mm = 0
|Oct rain mm = 1
|Nov rain mm = 2
|Dec rain mm = 7
|year rain mm =
| Jan humidity = 68
| Feb humidity = 63
| Mar humidity = 58
| Apr humidity = 50
| May humidity = 42
| Jun humidity = 46
| Jul humidity = 51
| Aug humidity = 57
| Sep humidity = 62
| Oct humidity = 64
| Nov humidity = 69
| Dec humidity = 72
| year humidity =
|source 1 = Arab Meteorology Book<ref name=climate>{{cite web
| url = http://extras.springer.com/2007/978-1-4020-4577-6/Book_Shahin_ISBN_9781402045776_Appendix.pdf
| title = Appendix I: Meteorological Data
| publisher = Springer
| access-date = 14 October 2024
| archive-date = March 4, 2016
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304072830/http://extras.springer.com/2007/978-1-4020-4577-6/Book_Shahin_ISBN_9781402045776_Appendix.pdf
| url-status = dead
}}</ref>
|date=14 October 2024
}}
== Notable people ==
People from Faiyum may be known as al-Fayyumi:
* [[Tefta Tashko-Koço]] (1910-1947), well-known [[Albanians|Albanian]] singer, was born in Faiyum, where her family lived at that time.
* [[Saadia Gaon]] (882/892-942), the influential Jewish teacher of the early 10th century, was originally from Faiyum and often called al-Fayyumi.
* [[Youssef Wahbi]] (1898-1982), a notable Egyptian actor, well known for his influence on the development of Egyptian cinema and theater.
* [[Mohamed Ihab]] (b. 1989), Egypt's most decorated weightlifter. He is a World Champion competing in the 77&nbsp;kg category until 2018 and currently in the 81&nbsp;kg class.
== Gallery ==
<gallery>
File:QasrQarunFacade.jpg|Qarun Palace
File:UmmAtlTemple1.jpg|Temple
File:Whale skeleton 2.jpg|A whale skeleton lies in the sand at [[Wadi Al-Hitan]] (Arabic: وادي الحيتان, ‘Whale Valley’) near the city of Faiyum
</gallery>
==See also==
{{portal|Egypt}}
* [[List of cities and towns in Egypt]]
* [[Book of the Faiyum]]
* [[Fayum alphabet]]
* [[Faiyum mummy portraits]]
* [[Lake Moeris]]
* [[Lake El Rayan]]
* [[Phiomia]] (an extinct relative of the elephant, named after Faiyum)
* [[Nash Papyrus]]
* [[Roman Egypt]]
* [[Wadi Elrayan]]
== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}
== References ==
{{Reflist|40em}}
== External links ==
{{Wikinewspar|30 brightly coloured mummies discovered in Egyptian necropolis}}
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikivoyage}}
*{{cite web |url=http://crs.org/egypt/village-sanitation/ |title=Photo Gallery: Water Issues in Fayoum Villages |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090906030129/http://crs.org/egypt/village-sanitation/ |archive-date=2009-09-06}}
*{{cite web|url=http://www.fallingrain.com/world/EG/04/Al_Fayyum.html|title=Geographical information on Al Fayyum, Egypt|access-date=2011-03-22|author=Falling Rain Genomics, Inc}}
*[https://archive.org/details/faymtownsandthe00milngoog Fayum towns and their papyri, edited with translations and notes by Bernard P. Grenfell and Arthur S. Hunt] at the Internet Archive
*{{cite web |url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/13199895/Notes-From-DiaryFayum-Trip-1907-Walter-Granger-Bulletin-22-2002-NMMNH |format=PDF |title=Notes From Diary––Fayum Trip, 1907 |author1=Vincent L. Morgan |author2=Spencer G. Lucas |work=Bulletin 22 |year=2002 |location=[[Albuquerque, New Mexico]] |publisher=[[New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science]] |issn=1524-4156 |access-date=2017-09-09 |archive-date=2009-07-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090720001614/http://www.scribd.com/doc/13199895/Notes-From-DiaryFayum-Trip-1907-Walter-Granger-Bulletin-22-2002-NMMNH |url-status=dead }}. 148 pages, public domain.
*[http://www.imagesjourney.com/Main.aspx?Category=43 Fayoum Photo Gallery]
{{Governorates capital of Egypt}}
{{Sa'id / Upper Egypt Main Cities}}
{{Egyptian Cities}}
{{Egypt oasis areas}}
{{Ancient Egypt topics}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Faiyum| ]]
[[Category:Governorate capitals in Egypt]]
[[Category:Populated places established in the 4th millennium BC]]
[[Category:Populated places in Faiyum Governorate]]
[[Category:Cities in Egypt]]
[[Category:4th-millennium BC establishments]]