History of El Fayoum Oasis
El Fayoum Oasis is Egypt’s largest oasis and the closest to the Nile and Cairo. Lake Qarun formed naturally about 70,000 years ago during the flooding of the Nile in the Fayum depression, located 45 meters below sea level. Today, the canals that connect it to the river maintain the level Lake.
Historically, the oasis has been the “vegetable garden of Egypt,” It continues to produce large quantities of fruit and vegetables. The lake is also famous for the richness of its fauna. Many migratory birds use the lake in winter and autumn; it is also a stopover during their migration further south. The pharaohs and the modern nobility appreciated this region as a hunting ground.
If you want to spend the holidays in Egypt, check out our Egypt Vacation Packages & Trips and New Year and Christmas deals in Egypt.
Attractions In Fayoum
The Fayoum also has a fascinating archaeological heritage. Qasr Qarun is home to several Ptolemaic temples on the western shores of the lake, which were dedicated to Sobek, the Crocodile God whose congeners then flourished in the lake. However, the majority of Fayoum’s archaeological wealth comes from the Middle Kingdom, when the oasis was a center of political power in Egypt.
Thus, today we find a group of four pyramids scattered in the desert around the Fayoum. Most are in poor condition, mainly due to the poor quality of construction techniques and materials used in the construction of pyramids by the pharaohs of the Middle Kingdom.
The pyramids of Lahoun, Lisht, and Hawara are in deplorable condition, as some of them no longer resemble more than a pile of rubble in a more or less pyramidal shape. However, the fourth pyramid of Meidum is more remarkable, particularly for its unusual structure.
The Fayoum includes the protected area of Wadi Rayan, a desert area that surrounds two lakes connected by a small waterfall. As well as wadis and hills to explore, there is the monastery of Wadi Rayan, where monks carry on the traditions of their ancestors who dug caves in the rocks here at the dawn of Christianity.
Further into the protected area is the site of Wadi El-Hetan. The globally significant fossils of Wadi Al-Hitan (the Valley of the Whales) provide spectacular testimony to evolution’s iconic stories: the emergence of whales as marine mammals from their earlier state as animals.
This area is a UNESCO-listed site, strictly protected within the larger landscape of the attractive Wadi El-Rayan Protected Area. It is an excellent world reference site due to the quantity, concentration, quality, and accessibility of the remains of the first whales, often in the form of complete skeletons and testimony to the environment in which those were living.
Read More about Fayoum Attractions
0 Comment