Place · region

Faiyum

Also known as Fayum

The Faiyum is a large depression and oasis west of the Nile, south-west of Cairo, watered by a branch of the river, the Bahr Yusuf, and containing Lake Qarun. Twelfth Dynasty kings, especially Amenemhat III, reclaimed land there, and the Ptolemies settled Greek veterans in it. It is famous for its Roman-period mummy portraits and papyri.

Faiyum
Image: Roland Unger · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 3 profiles

Middle Kingdom of EgyptFoundation, Socioeconomy, SummaryRoman EgyptSocioeconomyAncient EgyptianChange

Mentioned in 2 state histories

Herakleopolitan KingdomMiddle Kingdom of Egypt

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Faiyum. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/faiyum
MLA
“Faiyum.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/faiyum. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Faiyum.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/faiyum.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Faiyum’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/faiyum (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻