Faiyum Oasis

The Faiyum Oasis (or Al-Fayoum Oasis, Al Fayyum Oasis, and other variations in spelling) is a depression or basin in the desert immediately to the west of the Nile south of Cairo. The extent of the basin area is estimated at between 1,270 km² (490 mi²) and 1700 km² (656 mi²). The basin floor comprises 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). The lake was freshwater in prehistory but is today a saltwater lake. It is a source for tilapia and other fish for the local area.

Differing from typical oasis, 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, 24 km (15 miles) in length. Between the beginning 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 1,000 km² (400 mile²) 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 sheep.