Lake Qarun

Lake Qarun occupies the lowest part of the Faiyum depression, west of the Nile Valley. Water entering the basin through the Bahr Yussef flows through the irrigated fields and drains toward the lake. It is the remnant of a much larger ancient body of water, known to Greek writers as Lake Moeris. As land was drained for cultivation in antiquity, the lake contracted, leaving farmland between its shores and the desert escarpments.