Al-Fayyūm

Faiyum lies in a broad depression west of the Nile Valley. The Bahr Yussef carries Nile water into the basin, feeding a network of canals that irrigates fields and gardens before the excess reaches Lake Qarun. This meeting of desert and cultivated land made the oasis one of Egypt's distinctive agricultural regions.

The irrigation system has a long and complex history. During the Middle Kingdom, rulers enlarged channels and organized the distribution of water; later Greek and Roman settlements flourished among the irrigated villages. In the Middle Ages canals required repair and clearing, and works at the entrance to the basin renewed the flow of the Bahr Yussef. Further improvements under the Mamluk sultans helped restore the productivity of the Faiyum.