El Fayoum Oasis is Located 100 kilometers southwest of Cairo. It is famous for its biodiversity and scenic destinations. Also, it distinguishes with containing various types of tourism as Archaeological, tourist, rural, recreational, and environmental.
In El Fayoum, you will be able to enjoy visiting historical and archaeological buildings, the waterfalls and the natural beauty, natural reserves, doing sandboarding and Safari, and entertaining doing activities.
The name of El Fayoum Oasis In the Pharaonic period, this place was called (pa yam), meaning (the sea), referring to the sea existing in that place. In the Greco-Roman period, this word became (pa yum). Then in the Coptic period, it was changed to be (fa yum). Finally, after the Arabs entered Egypt, they added (El) to be El Fayoum.
The history of El Fayoum Oasis El Fayoum has a great position throughout history, but its golden age was during the middle kingdom in the 12th dynasty as it became the capital of ancient Egypt under the name (Itjtawy). Besides, it was the center of worshipping the god Sobek, taking the crocodile shape.
Kings of the 12th dynasty set up many reform projects in El Fayoum as reclamation of lands, construction of dams, and the cultivation of many crops.
It also had a great history during the Greco-Roman period as it was famous with Fayoum Portraits.
Sightseeing of El Fayoum Oasis As we said, El Fayoum Oasis distinguishes by containing various types of tourism. So let’s go on a tour to know more about these sightseeing:
1 – Lahun Pyramid: It belongs to King Senusret II of the 12th dynasty. It was built of mud bricks and coated with limestone.
2 – Hawara Pyramid:It belongs to King Amenemhet III of the 12th dynasty. It AKA the Black Pyramid due to using black mud bricks in its construction.
3 – The Valley of the Whales or Wadi El- Hitan: It is considered as one of the Egyptian heritage sites by UNESCO in 2005. Wadi Al-Hitan is famous for containing fossil remains Archaeoceti, mapping the evolution of the whales from a land-based to an aquatic mammal.
4 – Wadi El-Rayan
5 – Lake Qarun
6 – Qasr Qarun or Qarun Palace
7 – Karanis City
8 – Tunis Village
9 – Gabal El-Medawara and the magic lake
