Fayyum Oasis
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After the noise and crowds of Cairo, the Fayyum oasis, which includes Lake Qaroun, is literally a breath of fresh air. It offers both Egyptian and foreign visitors a relaxing break from city life, a day at the beach and a chance to see oasis life without having to venture too far. It has ancient monuments as well.
A relaxing day or two in Fayyum is strongly recommended for those in Cairo who are beginning to feel claustrophobic. Access to Bahr Youssef, the canal bisecting Fayyum, by train, buses and taxis from Cairo; all terminate close to the canal in downtown near one of the city's 8 tourist offices.
Negotiate the price then take one of the Hantours (horse-drawn carriages) to your destination. Local buses and taxis serving the Fayyum oasis can be obtained from the Al-Hawatim terminal to the south of Bahr Youssef.
Fayyum City, the main town in the oasis, is located 85 km south of Cairo, 75 km from the Giza Pyramids and 105 km from Cairo Airport. Its name is probably derived from 'Fayyum', meaning water. Although usually described as an oasis, Fayyum is not fed by underground water, like the Western Desert oases further south west, but by water from the Nile transported to this natural triangular depression by a series of canals. Having irrigated the oasis, the water runs into Lake Qaroun which despite having dramatically shrunk over the past few thousand years, is at about 215 sq km and still Egypt's largest natural salt-water lake.
About 70,000 years ago the Nile flood first broke through the low mountains, which surround the large Fayyum depression and formed Lake Qaroun and the surrounding marshes. This is believed to be one of the first, if not the first, site of agriculture in the world, as plants that grew around the lake, were collected, land was fenced in, and dry and guarded storage areas were built. Even today, the Fayyum Oasis is still famous for fruit and vegetables and its chicken. To describe food as Fayoumi, means it's delicious.
The 12th Dynasty Pharaoh Amenemhet I (1991-1992 BC) first drained part of the marshes to develop the area for agriculture and also dug a large canal from the Nile controlled by a regulator at Lahun to the north west of Beni Swef. The result of this and further developments by Amenemhet III (1842-1797 BC), who showed great interest in the area and built a pyramid at Hawara, was lake Moeris (Great Lake), twice the present size and teeming with fish, and an agricultural area to the south renowned for its rich and varied crops.
The Romans, who called the Fayyum Oasis area Crocodilopolis (because of the crocodiles) changed Fayyum's previous system of crop rotation and forced the area to supply grain exclusively to the Roman market.
Muslims believe that Prophet Joseph developed the Fayyum Oasis area during his captivity in Egypt through the canalisation of Bahr Youssef River and by building the world's first dam. Although Fayyum's national strategic importance diminished with the canalisation of the Nile Delta, it remains one of the largest agricultural areas in the country.
The water level in Lake Qaroun had been falling for about 2,000 years; as it received less and less water until the construction of the Aswan High Dam led to greater stability in the level of the Nile.
By the middle Ages, the lake had become far too salty to sustain fresh-water fish and new species were introduced. The shrunken lake now lies 45 meters below sea level, since 70,000 years ago. It now appears that the water table is rising again as houses and fields at the lakeside have been flooded in recent years.
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