Faiyum
(
Arabic
:
??????
Fayy?m
,
Coptic
:
'????
Paiom
) is a ceety in
Middle Egyp
an the caipital o the
Faiyum Govrenorate
. It is locatit 130 km soothwast o
Cairo
an occupies pairt o the auncient steid o
Crocodilopolis
. Foondit in aroond 4000 B.C., it is the auldest ceety in
Egyp
an ane o the auldest in
Africae
.
Its name in Inglis is an' a' spelled as
Fayum
,
Fayoum
,
Al Fayyum
or
El Faiy?m
. Faiyum wis previously offeecially named
Mad?net el Faiy?m
(
Arabic
for
The Ceety o Faiyum
). The name Faiyum (an its spellin variations) mey an' a' refer tae the
Faiyum Oasis
, awtho it is commonly uised bi
Egyptians
the day tae refer tae the ceety.
[1]
[2]
The modren name o the ceety comes frae
Coptic
'????
/
?????
efiom/peiom
(whence the proper name
?????
payom
), meanin
the Sea
or
the Lake
, which in turn comes frae late
Egyptian
pA y-m
o the same meanin, a reference tae the nearbi
Lake Moeris
.
Faiyum haes several lairge bazaars,
mosques
,
[3]
baths an a muckle-frequentit weekly mercat. The canal cried
Bahr Yussef
runs throu the ceety, its banks lined wi hooses. Thare are twa brigs ower the river: ane o three airches, which cairies the main street an bazaar, an ane o twa airches, ower which is biggit the
Qaitbay
mosque, that wis a gift frae his wife tae honour the Mamluk Sultan in Fayoum. Moonds north o the ceety merk the site o
Arsinoe
, kent tae the
auncient Greeks
as
Crocodilopolis
, whaur in auncient times the sacred
crocodile
kept in
Lake Moeris
wis worshipped.
[4]
The centre o the ceety is on the canal, wi the fower waterwheels, that are adoptit bi the govrenorate o Fayoum as its naitional seembol, thair chariots an bazaars are easy tae spat.
Portrait o a man, ca. 125-150 AD..
Encaustic
on wid; 37 x 20
cm
.
Faiyum is the soorce o some famous
daith masks
or
mummy
portraits paintit durin the
Roman
occupation o the aurie. The Egyptians continued thair practice o buryin thair deid, despite the Roman preference for
cremation
. While unner the control o the Roman Empire, Egyptian daith masks wur paintit on wid in a pigmentit
wax
technique cried
encaustic
?the
Faiyum mummy portraits
represent this technique.
[5]
While commonly believed tae represent Greek settlers in Egyp, the Faiyum portraits insteid reflect the complex synthesis o the predominant Egyptian cultur an that o the elite Greek minority in the ceety.
Undisputit remains o early anthropoids date frae the late Eocene an early Oligocene, aboot 34 million years ago, in the Fayyum aurie, soothwast o Cairo. Ane o the earliest fossil primates at Fayum is Catopithecus, datin tae aroond 35 million years ago.
Tefta Tashko-Koco
, weel kent
Albanian
sangster wis born in Faiyum, whaur her faimily lived at that time.
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