FAYUM, a mudiria (province) of Upper Egypt, having an area of 669 sq.m. and a population (1927) of 554,040. The capital, Medinet-el-Fayum, is 81 m. S.S.W. of Cairo by rail. The Fayum proper is an oasis in the Libyan desert, connected with the Nile by the Bahr Yusuf, which reaches the oasis through a gap in the hills separating the province from the Nile valley. South west of the Fayum, and forming part of the mudiria, is the Gharak depression. Another depression, entirely barren, the Wadi Rayan, covering 28o sq.m., lies west of the Gharak. The whole region is below sea-level, and save for the gap mentioned is encircled by the Libyan hills. The lowest part of the province, the north-west end, is occupied by the Birkat Qaroun, or Lake of Qaroun, whose surface level is 14o ft. below that of the sea.
Differing from the typical oasis, the fertility of which depends on the water obtained from springs, the cultivated land in the Fayum is formed of Nile mud which is brought down by the Bahr Yusuf, and distributed from it by irrigation canals. Over 400 sq.m. of the Fayum is cultivated, the principal crops being cereals and cotton. The completion of the Assuan dam by ensuring a much fuller supply of water enabled thousands of acres of land to be brought under cultivation. Three crops are obtained in 20 months. The province is noted for its figs and grapes, the figs being of exceptionally good quality. Olives are also cultivated. Rose trees are very numerous and most of the attar of roses of Egypt is manufactured in the province. The Fayum also possesses an excellent breed of sheep. Lake Kerun abounds in fish.
Medinet-el-Fayum (or Medina), the capital of the province, is a great agricultural centre, with a population (1917) of 44,400. Mounds north of the town mark the site of Arsinoe, earlier Cro codilopolis, where was worshipped the sacred crocodile kept in the Lake of Moeris (q.v.). Besides Medina there are several other towns in the province, among them Senuris and Tomia to the north of Medina and Senaru and Abuksa on the road to the lake, some of which are served by railways. There are also, especially in the neighbourhood of the lake, many ruins of ancient villages and cities. Miss Caton-Thompson has recently (1925 onwards) inaugurated a fresh investigation of the Fayum, with important consequences for the study of the physical geography and pre historic archaeology; these results are still in process of eluci dation.
See H. J. L. Beadnell, The Topography and Geology of the Fayum Province of Egypt (Cairo, 19o5) ; "Preliminary Report on Neolithic Pottery and Bone Implements from the Northern Fayum" in Man (1925. no. 96).