Desert · Faiyum
Faiyum Oasis
A green basin in the desert west of the Nile, about 100 km south of Cairo, cradling the lake of Birket Qarun.
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The story
The Faiyum is a deep desert basin immediately west of the Nile, about 62 miles south of Cairo, with an area estimated between 1,270 and 1,700 square kilometres. Unlike a typical oasis, its farmland depends not on springs but on Nile silt carried by the Bahr Yussef canal through the Lahun gap. Branch canals irrigate the governorate before the drainage empties into Lake Moeris, now called Birket Qarun. That lake is saltwater today but was fresh in prehistoric times, and it supplies tilapia and other fish to the local area.
Good to know
- The basin is estimated at between 1,270 and 1,700 km2, with Birket Qarun in its north lying roughly 45 m below sea level.
- Faiyum differs from the Western Desert oases because it is linked to the Nile Valley by the Bahr Yussef and its soil is Nile silt.