EL Fayoum
IL-Fayoum
Attractions
Do and see
Some 84 kilometers south-west of Cairo is IL-Fayoum, the closest oasis to the capital
of Egypt,. It is an extreme fertile Oasis watered by the River-Nile via the largest
canal-network (more than 100). IL-Fayoum is considered at the top of tourist
attractions as offering various products meet with the taste of everyone, from
Pharaonic Monuments, represented by the Pyramid of Meidum, Kasr Karoun, Kom
Oshim, down to the Wadi IL-Hitan (valley of Whales), Wadi IL-Rayyan and the
scenic lake "Qarun" for Nature's lovers.
The Pyramid of Meidum
To the north-east of the city of IL-Fayoum (half an hour drive), is the pyramid of
Meidum, today it is tower-like building rather than a pyramid, but historically is very
important as being the first true pyramid attempted by ancient Egyptian Architect /
Architects. It began once as an eight stepped structure, the steps then filled in and the
outer-casing was added, forming the first true pyramid shape. However, as the first
step towards a true pyramid construction it was not perfect, to the extent that the
pyramid suffered a disaster during or before the New Kingdom 1570 BC, when most
of its steps collapsed leving the pyramid at its present tower-like shape. Originally the
pyramid was built by king "Huni" (the last of the 3 rd dynasty, and was completed by
"Senefru" the founder of the 4 th dynasty, who succeeded to build the first true pyramid
(at Dahshur).
The Pyramid of Hawara
To the southeast of the city of IL-Fayoum and on th direction of Beni-Suef, is one of
two pyramids built by king "Amen-Em-Hat III" of the Middle Kingdon-12 th Dynasty,
(the other pyramid is the towel-like mud brick pyramid at south Dahshur). Once this
pyramid in Hawara was covered from top to bottom with limestone but unfortunately,
collapsed and nothing remained except for the mud-brick core. The pyramid of
Hawara is of great historical importance for its interior design, which revealed
technical developments, corridors were blocked in a series of huge portcullises to
ensure more safety against tomb' robbers. The pyramid' mortuary temple (sadly ruined
after being used as a quarry) was of great fame, as Herodutes (of Halicarnasus)
describes: (it was a great temple, the true Labyrinth of a maze of 3000 rooms, that
surpassed even the pyramids of Giza. Strabo (the Greek Historian, Geographer and
Philosopher 64 BC-24 AD), claimed it had as many rooms as there were provinces, so
that all the Pharaohs' subjects could be represented by their local officials in the
presentation of offerings.
The area came in use by the Greeks and the Romans who used it as a cemetery, where
the ancient Egyptian style of Mummification continued, but from now on the
mummies' wrappings incorporated a portrait-style face- athe true face of the deceased,
was represented and replaced the age-old Face-Masks, as many hundreds if not
thousands of such portraits found, all the period-style came to be known as the
Portraits of Fayoum.
Wadi Al-Hitan
Drive from IL-Fayoum for about 55 km, into the desert, is a unique place on planet-
earth, the Wadi IL-Hitan (Whales' Valley), Amid successive waves of sand- dunes of
endless desert, is a superb extensive fossil - cache of the earliest creatures at the
beginning of time, the prehistoric whales (the basilo-saurus and doro-dontus) , the
fossilized-Skelton of such creatures, have been lying here for over 50 million years.
The valley and its fossil-cache without doubt shed the light and aided our
understanding of the evolution of whales.
The great discovery's finds, some of them are kept in situ amid the desert sand, with
walking tracks for the area's visitors, and the rest of finds In the visitor center itself,
where a specialized museum dedicated to the finds including an 18 meters Skelton of
"basilos-aurus" whale, in fact the museum performs a good job focusing on the
importance of the site, which due to its uniqueness was declared a protected area
(N.P) and UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE.
Pyramid of IL-Lahun
The pyramid of the 12 th dynasty king "Sesostris II" at IL-Lahun stands on a natural
outcrop of rock and as the norm of this dynasty's pyramids, built of mud brick with
stone casing (unfortunately robbed in antiquity). Surprisingly the pyramid's entrance
is on the southern face (against the norm North), probably due to the land' nature, or
to confuse the tomb' robbers. The burial chamber is lined with Aswan red-granite and
contained a single block granite sarcophagus. To the North-East of the pyramid is the
satellite pyramid, and around both pyramids a thick mud-brick wall. In the precinct
are different tombs of the members of the royal family, in one of them, the British
Egyptologist "Sir. Flinders Petrie" found a fabulous treasure of jewelry (considered
the finest discovered in Egypt), belonging to princess "Set-Hathor-Inwit" (now on
display in two museums, the Metropolitan Museum and the Cairo Egyptian Museum).
Temple of Madinet-Madi
The partly filled with sand' temple of Madinet-Madi, was excavated by the Italian
Archaeological Mission of Milan University, has a sort of dromos before it (mostly
sanded-up), and extends for more than 150 meters. The starting point of the temple is
marked by two crouching lions facing each other, to the south of them are two
sphinxes stands before limestone basins. Between the right-hand lion and sphinx is a
limestone altar consecrated to the ancient Egyptian harvest-goddess (Renenutet), but
this dates back to the first century AD. The paved way leads through eight-columned
kiosk and a space in the center, to various sphinxes (partly buried in sand). The
temple dates back to the Middle Kingdom but with some additions in the Ptolemaic
period.
Kom-Oshim/Karanis
Kom-Oshim is the site of ancient "Karanis", where two temples were built, probably
dedicated to the local deity "Suchos" the crocodile-god "Sobek, and "Isis" (the
northern temple). It seems to have been used till the first century BC, however,
remains of an older structure were found beneath the foundation. The limestone
temple has two pylons and consists of three rooms, with outer court where some
interesting objects were found, including (a headless statue of a female-deity, a hawk-
headed crocodile and an altar). From the western side, passing an inner-court there is
a small inner room, used as a chapel, probably for oracular purposes. The second
temple, or the southern temple, is almost similar, although more recent than the
norther', dates back to the 1 st or 2 nd century AD, and was too dedicated to the
Crocodile god "Suchos", and the temple bears inscription of the Roman Emperor
"Nero". To the East of the main road there's a small museum containing objects
found in Karanis and other sites in IL-Fayoum.
During the second half of the last century, when the authorities was ambitious to
reclaim lands in the region, created three lakes in a depression located to the south-
west of the Scenic Lake Qarun, to regulate water from agricultural drainage. However
the project went little well than expected, resulted in one lake has been dried up, with
the other two, turned into brackish, but surprisingly turned into a nesting ground of
migrant birds, that led the authorities to declare the site a (protected area /or N.P).
Today, the renowned Wadi IL-Rayyan with its lakes on two different levels created
natural waterfalls is a stunning spot for people in Cairo and nearby cities to have a
relaxing day trip.
The Magic Lake
The sand-dunes of the Wadi IL-Hitan surrounds on of Egypt's most beautiful lakes,
the Magic-Lake, named after the different-changes of its colours during a day-time in
particular days of the year. Of its rich mineral it is considered a spot of healing,
especially those suffering rheumatism.