Beni Suef

Beni Suef lies on the west bank of the Nile south of Cairo, where the river valley opens toward the Faiyum depression. The town developed as a centre for the surrounding agricultural country. During the Middle Ages it became known for linen manufacture, turning the produce of the fields into cloth. Its position on the river joined the town to other settlements along the Nile and to the cultivated lands westward toward Faiyum.