EL-FAYYUM

EL-FAYYUM, also Fayum (Egyp., "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 to the River Nile. The canal, originally built by the Theban pharaohs as an irrigation project, was restored by Saladin, the 12th-century sultan of Egypt. El-Fayyum also contains Birkat Qarun, a lake that occupies a part of the basin of the 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. The economy of El-Fayyum also includes the raising of sheep and poultry, fishing, and the making of most of the attar of roses produced in Egypt. The chief town and administrative centre of the region is El-Fayyum (population, 1992 estimate, 250,000), a market centre for the many agricultural products of the surrounding region. The site of the ancient city of Arsinoe, important archaeologically, is near the town of El-Fayyum.